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Northwestern University will provide the historical content and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." |