MEDIA CONTACT: Charles R. Loebbaka at (847) 491-4887 or at c-loebbaka@northwestern.edu

November 18, 2003

University Partners With ETHS in History Project

Northwestern University will play a key role in an Evanston Township High School (ETHS) project to enhance students' understanding of American history and its government, two cornerstones in the development of future civic and political leaders.

ETHS received nearly $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education for the project that seeks to have a far-reaching national impact on improving the achievement of American history students, particularly those of color.

The Teaching American History grant ($962,038) will fund a three-year professional development program for middle and high-school American history teachers.

The ETHS project will involve teachers from many of the 21 school districts in the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN), including the high school and elementary districts in Evanston and Oak Park as well as experts from Northwestern University, The Newberry Library and the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

The grant will be used to enrich teachers' knowledge of American history and their classroom skills and to improve student achievement in traditional American history, particularly among underachieving students who are predominantly, but not exclusively, students of color. In addition, through the MSAN connections, the grant will be used to develop, evaluate, and disseminate nationally a professional development model for teaching American history.

The project will consist of three summer institutes hosted at Northwestern University, beginning in 2004, where teachers will focus on the essential questions, themes and issues of American history, and a year-long Historians-in-Residence program, where teachers collaborate with University professors through classroom observations and workshops led by period specialists.

Northwestern University will provide the historical content and leadership for the summer institutes and Historians-in-Residence programs. Lane Fenrich, senior lecturer in history, will serve as academic director, assisted by Nancy MacLean, associate professor of history, who will serve as Senior Academic Advisor.

Fenrich said, “This is an exciting opportunity for Northwestern faculty to help by doing what we do best: talking about history. Northwestern is an ideal player in that regard, especially when it comes to American history. I've been fortunate to work with some of the best and brightest scholars in the country, all of them first-rate classroom teachers in addition to being outstanding researchers and writers.”

MacLean said, "At a time when more than four in five high school students in this country lack basic proficiency in American history, according to the 2001 National Assessment of Educational Progress, it is great news that ETHS has taken a lead in finding a solution. Northwestern history faculty are honored and excited to be part of this important initiative."

Tobias Higbie of the Newberry Library and Nisan Chavkin of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, both of whom have extensive experience working with Teaching American History projects in Chicago, will serve as project advisors. All teacher participants will be connected with a School of Education and Social Policy partner to help link classroom instruction to state standards and align curriculum within individual school districts.

Technology is also key to the project's national influence. A Web site will be created with an electronic library of valuable online historical resources, curriculum units, and proven teaching strategies. An online chat room and forum for project participants will help teachers and professors continue their discussions around historical issues and teaching techniques, review units created during the summer institutes, and examine exemplary student work during the school year. In addition, Northwestern's extensive technological capacity will make possible the Webcasting of the Historian-in-Residence workshops to participants outside of the Chicago area.

According to ETHS history teacher Charles Brady, who will serve as project director, "The program is predicated on the belief that an informed citizenry is the foundation of our democracy. Yet students in the United States are increasingly less well informed about their nation's history. Results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress further document a huge gap in achievement between students of color and their white peers in their understanding of United States history and government. This fact, plus the national trend in teacher retirements and increased numbers of new teachers necessitates the development of an effective teacher-training model for American history faculty."

MSAN, founded by ETHS Superintendent Allan Alson, is a national network of racially diverse, urban-suburban school districts that have joined forces to study ways to close the academic gap that exists nationally between white students and students of color. Teachers from the MSAN districts will participate in the project's summer institutes and take information back to their own districts, an essential key to effective staff development. By sharing teaching strategies and curricula with their colleagues at home and at two of MSAN’s annual conferences, one exclusively for teachers, this project will build a nationwide network of American history teachers dedicated to improving student achievement and to forming meaningful partnerships with universities and community organizations.

"I am very proud that ETHS received this history funding award that will help build on an already impressive academic program," said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9th), who represents Evanston and who was instrumental in ETHS receiving the federal education grant. "This grant will serve as a valuable tool for teachers," she added, "by expanding learning opportunities for students and by helping make history more exciting, interesting, and engaging."