Partnerships: Red Clay & Christina School Districts

1. Teaching American History Grant’sFreedom Project Turning Points and Learning Points in American History. Partnerships: Red Clay & Christina School Districts University of Delaware’s Center for Teacher Education

2. Acknowledgements(national) • United States Department of Education. • Teaching American History Grant Award. • $997,646 over 3 years

3. Acknowledgments(Local) • Becky Reed rebecca.reed@redclay.k12.de.us Supervisor of Social Studies & Project Co-Director. • Portia Tysontysonp@christina.k12.de.usSocial Studies Supervisor.

4. 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.

5. Goals Improve instruction. Increase student achievement.

6. Foci Deepen teachers’ content knowledge. Identify and counter student misconceptions.

7. 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).

8. 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).

9. 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).

10. 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?

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Contributions to Your Profession • Unearth student misconceptions (about content and history). • Develop a progression model. • Create lessons and metacogntive tools that counter the misconceptions.

14. Cohort A: Workshops & Institutes See http://www.tahfp.udel.edu/schedule/ for schedules and itineraries.

15. Cohort B: Workshops & Institutes See http://www.tahfp.udel.edu/schedule/ for schedules and itineraries.

16. 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

17. Lesson Study • Join a lesson study group. • Select a “research lesson.” • Meeting 1: Work with your group to design your research lesson. • Meeting 2: one volunteers to teach, the others observe & record student responses. Substitutes paid for. See instructions on next page & website. • 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

18. Substitute Instructions

19. Notification Required

20. 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.”

21. Evaluation – Key Points Positives • 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.