TEC                 A Teaching American History
        A             Federal Grant Program presented by
H                        The Education Cooperative  

WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF LEGENDS AND ORDINARY FOLK:
BOSTON AS BACKDROP AND BATTLEGROUND
A UNIQUE AMERICAN HISTORY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATORS



PROJECT DESCRIPTION:


In the fall of 2005, TEC was awarded a Teaching American History grant by the federal government.  The purpose of this three-year grant is to provide teachers, administrators and library/media specialists in TEC districts free professional development in American history.  These professional development courses have been designed to meet three main objectives:  (1) to improve the American history content knowledge of teachers and library/media specialists; (2) to allow teachers to work collegially with teachers from their own school and district as well as others; and (3) and to have a positive impact on student achievement in the area of American history.  For the first year of this three-year grant period (2006), the graduate courses were offered to elementary educators only, the second year’s programs were offered to secondary educators (2007), and this final year of the grant will again be focused on elementary educators (2008).

For the course offerings, TEC has partnered with UMass Boston as well as a variety of nationally renowned museums in Massachusetts.  This unique partnership has worked together to create high quality programs designed to engage educators in a study of American history.  These offerings focus on the development of important historical skills (such as the ability to learn from primary source documents); content related to events in Boston leading up to and during the American Revolution, the in-depth examination of the work of Paul Revere and his (artistic and political) contemporaries within the context of Revolutionary Era American history; learning about the past through the stories of legends as well as ordinary folks; and the economic, social and political aspects of life in rural New England in the early part of the century following the American Revolution.  Each of the courses is aligned with the most recent version of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in History and Social Science, with an emphasis on the related elementary US history standards. 

PLEASE NOTE:  Educators who are chosen to take part in Cohort 3 are required to take all courses in 2008.  Please examine the dates below carefully to make sure that you are able to commit to the completion of all courses.
TIMELINE FOR COHORT THREE:

 
•    APPLICATION Deadline November 30, 2007 @ 4:00PM

•    APPLICANTS NOTIFIED OF ENROLLMENT DECISIONS BY:  December 7, 2007

•    KICKOFF EVENT AT OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE:
      Saturday, January 12, 2008 from 9 AM-4 PM (snow date is January 26, 2008)
•    FOUNDATIONS OF HISTORY AT WESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL:
         Wednesdays from 4:00-6:30 PM
         February 13 & 27,March 12 & 26; and April 9, 2008 (snow date is April 16, 2008)
•    COURSE 1 AT THE MFA, BOSTON AND OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE:
      Monday – Friday from 9 AM – 4 PM (July 14-18, 2008)
•    COURSE 2 ON THE FREEDOM TRAIL, BOSTON:
     Monday – Friday from 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM (July 28-August 1, 2008)

•    COHORT 3 COURSE PROJECTS DUE:
      Friday, August 22, 2008 at 4 PM (Please note that projects will be accepted early if they are completed prior to the due date.)
•    COHORT 3 PROJECT SHARING & CULMINATING EVENT:
     Fall 2008 date to be announced



2007-2008  AUDIENCE:
Elementary school teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators & library/media specialists.

Teams of 2-3 educators from a school and/or district within the TEC region will be given preference.  These teams could include teachers of subjects other than US history as well as special educators and/or fine and performing arts teachers.

 
6 graduate credits will be available (from UMASS Boston) for a fee of approximately $600.
Participants who complete all courses will receive a total stipend of $500.

APPLICATION INFORMATION:
We are only able to accommodate 35 participants in each year of this program.  As a result, this is a competitive application process (please see accompanying application).  If applying as a team, each team member should complete page 2 separately (please photocopy as many pages as necessary) but complete pages 1 & 3 as a group.  Please mail the completed application packet to arrive at TEC no later than 4 PM on Friday, November 30, 2007 with a $25 deposit per individual.  This $25 deposit will be returned to you if you are not chosen to take part in the program or on the first day of the coursework (2/13/08).

INFORMATION ABOUT TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY GRANTS:
“The Teaching American History Grant program is a discretionary grant program funded under Title II-C, Subpart 4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The goal of the program is to support programs that raise student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American history…The purpose of these grants is to promote the teaching of traditional American history in elementary and secondary schools as a separate academic subject. Grants are used to improve the quality of history instruction by supporting professional development for teachers of American history…The Teaching American History Grant program will support programs to raise student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American history.” Source:  http://www.ed.gov/programs/teachinghistory/index.html

As a condition of our funding, a study will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of these professional development programs.  Teachers will be involved in serious scholarly work, and teacher content knowledge will be anonymously assessed at the beginning and end of the program.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

TEC DISTRICTS:  CANTON, DEDHAM, DOVER, DOVER-SHERBORN, FRAMINGHAM, HOLLISTON, HOPKINTON, MEDFIELD, NATICK, NEEDHAM, NORWOOD, SHERBORN, WALPOLE, WAYLAND, WELLESLEY & WESTWOOD


APPLICATION


PROJECT PARTNERS:                PROJECT FUNDER:
The Freedom Trail Foundation            United States Department of Education
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Old South Meeting-House
Old Sturbridge Village
UMass Boston