Teaching American History Grant’s

Freedom Project Turning Points and Learning Points in American History.

Partnerships:

Red Clay & Christina School Districts University of Delaware’s Center for Teacher Education

Acknowledgements(national)

•United States Department of Education.

▫Teaching American History Grant Award.

$997,646 over 3 years

Acknowledgments(Local)

•Becky Reed rebecca.reed@redclay.k12.de.usSupervisor of Social Studies & Project Co-

Director.

•Portia Tysontysonp@christina.k12.de.us Social Studies Supervisor.

Other Partners

• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

• Delaware Historical Society.

• Delaware Public Archives.

• Office of Educational Technology.

• Center for Effective School Practices – Rutgers University.

Goals

Improve instruction.

Increase student achievement.

Foci

Deepen teachers’ content knowledge.

Identify and counter student misconceptions.

Benefits to Participants• Graduated stipends ($1300 for 1st year; then $1500 and $1700). Receive

after summer institute and all requirements are met. • $150 for participation in 3 after school PLC meetings. • Guest presenters provided by Gilder Lehrman Institute of American

History.• $500 in annual resources.• Lesson study (including release time to observe). • Food.• Primary source materials (US & Delaware).• Lectures by renowned historians & researchers in the areas of historical

thinking study (e.g. Peter Kolchin, George Rable, Abby Reisman, Sam Wineburg).

• Opportunities for graduate credit (limited subsidies - $10k per year).• Advanced placement professional development (4 teachers from Red Clay

& Christina each year).

Requirements

•1 year of participation (2 weekend workshops, 1 summer institute, 3 PLC meetings).

•Participation in lesson study.•Participation in evaluation plan (details on

next slide and handout).•Textbook readings. •Field test research lessons & contribute

student work samples (before & after).

Optional Events

•November 1: Tom Childers (Penn) WWII &

•November 8: Susan Schulten (Denver) Mapping the Nation.

•December 14-16: Williamsburg Trip.

•March 15: Sam Wineburg (Stanford History Education Group).

Evaluation Plan• Teacher pre-post tests (only those who started in Year 1…

sorry :( • Student pre-post tests (participants’ and their

comparisons’ each year).• Resource survey (each year).• Observations (each year). • State test scores (history).• Fidelity – attendance, completing assignments.

NOTE: This is PROGRAMMATIC evaluation. You are not be evaluated or reported on. The program is.

Question – is the program having an effect?

Surveys

Student Pre-Tests• Codes included in Excel document with teacher codes.• Type in students names and store securely for post-test.• Take ideally before 1st workshops (no later than Oct. 26 at 5

p.m.).• Recruit a non-participating colleague who is willing to have

his or her students serve as a comparison.

Resource Survey• Use same code number.• Take during summer institute.

Baseline Observations

•Will be conducted sometime in the near future.

•Klonda Speer (CESP-RU) will be contacting some of you by e-mail to set up.

•Follow-ups in the spring.

Contributions to Your Profession

•Unearth student misconceptions (about content and history).

•Develop a progression model.

•Create lessons and metacogntive tools that counter the misconceptions.

Cohort A: Workshops & Institutes

See http://www.tahfp.udel.edu/schedule/

for schedules and itineraries.

Cohort B: Workshops & Institutes

See http://www.tahfp.udel.edu/schedule/

for schedules and itineraries.

Freedom Why this Theme?

“No idea is more fundamental to Americans’ sense of themselves as individuals and as a nation than freedom.”

Eric Foner 2005 Professor of History, Columbia University

Lesson Study

1. Join a lesson study group.2. Select a “research lesson.”3. Meeting 1: Work with your group to design your research

lesson.4. Meeting 2: one volunteers to teach, the others observe &

record student responses. Substitutes paid for. See instructions on next page & website.

5. Meeting 3: meet to revise the lesson based on field testing.

Stipends: You may get paid $50 for each 2 hour meeting but they must occur AFTER school hours to get paid.

Teaching American History Grant’s Freedom Project

Substitute Instructions

Notification Required

Evaluation: Year 2 Findings

•See Executive Summary in binders.

•Lingering Issues•“too many teachers and students fail to

take both pre and post tests•“fail to enter valid ID numbers.”

•

Evaluation – Key PointsPositives

• Perceptions of resources received.

• Improve instruction.• Improved attention to

standards.• Teacher content knowledge

– open ended items +++.• Teacher content knowledge

– goals achieved (you v comparison teachers).

• Student achievement – multiple choice met goals.

Negatives• “too many teachers and

students fail to take both pre and post tests

• “fail to enter valid ID numbers.”

• Teacher content knowledge – multiple choice items ---.

• Student achievement – scores “so low on [open ended] items…that scores are meaningless.”

• Student achievement – “intervention has had little apparent effect…on open ended items.