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Teachers Discovering History as Historians

The goal of the project is the improvement of teacher content knowledge and pedagogical skills across involved school districts, positively impacting student achievement and engaging students in learning history not as a litany of facts, but as an interconnected series of ideas relevant to the past, present and future.

Three Grants: 2002 Chautauqua County (100 Teachers); 2005 Allegany, Cattaraugus and Southern Erie (100 Teachers); 2006, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Schuyler, Southern Erie, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins Counties (100 Teachers).

At the conclusion of the project, over 300 teachers will have participated in professional development summer seminars and inservices developed around the following three topics:

• The Constitution and the Impact of Key Turning Points
• Civil Rights and the Struggles for Justice in the United States
• United States Foreign Policy and International Relations

Emphasis is placed on technology training to integrate electronic resources into the classroom to develop powerful and enriching teaching activities. Professional development focuses on pedagogical and personal skills to address educational change.

Teachers provided stipends to develop 111 classroom projects published on the website. Summer sessions are followed by professional development in-service days in the fall and spring; and optional free access to lectures during the summer at the Chautauqua Institution. Summer Seminar teachers paid at the district’s negotiated hourly professional development rate. Application at website.

Partners: The Chautauqua Institution, Corning Museum of Glass, the Robert H. Jackson Center, Jamestown Community College, the Fenton History Center in Jamestown and Rockwell Western Museum in Corning.

Content is provided to teachers of American History by nationally prominent historians; professional development is focused on critical thinking skills and technology and their utilization in the classroom.

To date, we serve 300 teachers in 68 Districts across south western New York. The Western Southern Tier Council for the Social Studies is in place to act as a networking, collegiate and advocacy group with an annual fall conference.
See: www.wstcss.org.

Teacher Projects:
http://www.tdhah.com/site_files/Teacher_Resources/TAH%20Teacher%20Projects_files/Teacher%20Summaries.php%%%

Paul Benson
Teaching American History Grant, Project Director
Jamestown Public Schools
197 Martin Road
Jamestown, NY 14701
716.483.7112
Fax 716.483.7104
http://www.tdhah.com

Paul Benson
Project Director

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