Local schools receive US history grant

U.S. history teachers in Monroe County received some good news last week with the announcement of a $497,917 grant being awarded to county schools for history education by the U.S. Department of Education. The Monroe County Community School Corporation was the only school district in Indiana to receive the award.

The office of Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., announced the grant July 7.
Grants for teaching American history are awarded to school districts to cover professional development expenses for U.S. history teachers.

The grant’s stated goal is “to demonstrate how school districts and institutions with expertise in American history can collaborate ... to ensure that teachers develop the knowledge and skills necessary to teach traditional American history in an exciting
and engaging way,” according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site.

The money could not have come at a better time for educators, who have seen their professional development budgets tightened amid the economic recession.

John Coopman, superintendant of schools for Monroe County Community School Corporation, said news of the grant came the day after the district received word that the Indiana General Assembly had reduced funding for professional development as part of the state’s budget.

“That’s a real blow to us, when we’re trying to implement best teaching practices, but we’re not going to have any money or opportunities to work with our teachers,” he said. “The grant really came as a blessing.”

Pat Wilson, U.S. history teacher at Bloomington High School North, led the team that established the professional development program, titled “History Educators Project: Teaching American History through the Lens of Indiana,” and submitted the application for the grant.

The program will involve seminars, teacher retreats, book discussions and museum visits and will require participating teachers to submit lesson plans for review by outside observers, Wilson said.

Additionally, a program Web site will be established that will feature all of the content and lesson plans used in the program and will be accessible to teachers everywhere.

“We are trying to improve teachers’ delivery of history content as a separate academic subject,” Wilson said.

Program coordinators are collaborating with several local organizations, such as the Agency for Instructional Technology, the Bloomington Historical Society and IU
education and history professors who will help teachers gather educational materials.

Wilson said she feels the program is especially important now, despite a noted rise in student performance in U.S. history.

“With more and more of an emphasis on end-of-the-year exams focused on science, math and English, we were concerned that even though there was a bit of an upswing in student achievement in American history, that it would be de-emphasized,” she said. “We don’t want to get lost between math, science and English.”

Debra Tyree, a U.S. history teacher at Bloomington North, also said she sees this as a chance to bring history home for her students.

“Most students have grown up in this area, and I think that when they learn about history, knowing specifically how it affected the area where they live, it would be more interesting to them,” she said.

Wilson said she hopes, ultimately, that the program will help students better understand U.S. history and become better citizens.  

“If you want an educated citizenry that understands how a democracy functions, they have to have the background in U.S. history,” Wilson said.