Rediscovering Our Past: New Directions in U.S. History Instruction
In September 2003, CESA 6 and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh received a three-year, $762,000 Teaching American History (TAH) grant from the U.S. Department of Education to launch a multi-faceted professional development program titled "Rediscovering Our Past: New Directions in U.S. History Instruction."

This professional development program aims to provide teachers of U.S. history (grades K-12) with new perspectives -- particularly various local and Wisconsin statewide perspectives -- on significant events and eras from the American past. It is designed to draw upon American history teachers' interests and expertise in the field. This program also aspires to assist teachers with: (1) the acquisition of new content knowledge in American history from the various perspectives noted above; (2) acquisition of knowledge on the nature and use of artifacts, journals and diaries, photos and maps, and other primary source items for history instruction; and (3) improving their capacity to utilize innovative resources, presentation technologies, and instructional strategies in the classroom.   Program partners include: Oshkosh Public Museum, Outagamie Museum, Hearthstone Museum, EAA AirVenture Museum, Wisconsin State Historical Society, and the UW Oshkosh Area Research Center.

During the program's first year, thirty area K-12 teachers enrolled in the one-week summer academy and participated in several workshops during the 2004-05 school year.

Summer 2004 TASAH participants, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

TASAH II

This free professional development program will again be open to interested teachers in 2005. TASAH II will serve 35 elementary, middle school and high school U.S. history teachers from the forty-two member school districts within CESA 6 as well as adjoining districts.  

The overarching theme of this second year's program is "Thinking Globally, Teaching Locally: Connecting Wisconsin's Past To U.S. and World History."   Participants in TASAH II will focus on the history of Wisconsin. Specifically, the program will encourage teachers to see how their students can better understand and connect to U.S. history through the fascinating histories of the Badger State. Ideal for elementary teachers who focus on Wisconsin and local histories, TASAH II is also perfectly geared toward secondary school teachers interested in making Wisconsin connections in their U.S. history classes.

Teachers selected into the program will participate in two stages. First, participants will attend the five-day Teachers Academy for the Study of American History (TASAH), to be held at Reeve Memorial Union on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus during the week of July 18-22, 2005. Second, participants will devote the 2005-06 school year developing and implementing their own curricular units or lesson plans which incorporate U.S. history content and instructional themes presented at the Academy. As part of this second stage, participants will attend several follow-up workshops that will encourage feedback and the exploration of additional historical issues with professional historians.

The Teachers Academy for the Study of American History: July 18-22, 2005
The five-day Academy will include: (1) a plenary presentation from a renowned historian; and (2) breakout sessions featuring faculty members from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and other area universities and colleges; these session will focus on a variety of content-rich U.S. history themes from local and statewide perspectives.   Examples of potential session topics include the following:

•  Wisconsin's role during the Civil War, World Wars, Vietnam War and other conflicts

•  Women's Suffrage Movement in Wisconsin

•  Famous Wisconsin Women

•  Famous Political Figures ("Fight Bob" La Follette, Joe McCarthy)

•  History of Immigration in Wisconsin

•  Native American History & Culture in Wisconsin

•  The "Wisconsin Idea" and Progressivism

•  The 1960s in Wisconsin

•  Great Depression

•  Environmentalism from a Wisconsin perspective

•  Fur Trading History in Wisconsin

•  Industrialization in Wisconsin and the Fox Valley

To augment teachers' knowledge of Wisconsin history and their use of locally-based primary sources, TASAH II will encourage teachers to participate in National History Day and make use of the Wisconsin State Historical Society's "Turning Points Initiative" website, located at www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/ TASAH II proudly supports the Wisconsin State Historical Society's initiative and will demonstrate how its resources can help make history come alive in primary and secondary school classrooms. TASAH II is also partnering with the Oshkosh Public Museum on a similar on-line resource, to be unveiled during the summer program.

In addition, the Academy sessions will acquaint teachers with a variety of technological and project-based learning resources. With the assistance of curators and program specialists from area content centers (e.g., the Oshkosh Public Museum and the Wisconsin Historical Society), the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Area Research Center archivist, and other history specialists, teachers will also have the opportunity to learn best practices for finding, identifying and incorporating the use of artifacts, diaries and journals, photos and other primary source material within their classrooms.

During the summer Academy, teachers will devise plans for selecting, creating and implementing innovative lesson plans and curricular units that incorporate the use of history-rich content, primary resources, historical research methods, and technology-infused units in their classrooms. These plans will guide them in completing their follow-up activities during the 2005-06 school year.


Follow-up Activities
TASAH participants will devote time and energy during the 2005-06 school year to developing, refining and successfully implementing their content-based curricular units and lesson agendas or plans. During this time, participants have the option of requesting assistance, mentoring and support from a roster of field consultants consisting of experienced classroom teachers, higher education faculty, historians, curators, and other history experts. Participants will also be encouraged to utilize UW Oshkosh's online educational resource--Desire2Learn--and other forms of online communication in order to jointly discuss historical issues, their content/curricular agendas, and share ideas regarding relevant historical topics and resources. The grant program will also provide the option of developing internships or other field-based experiences allied with area museums or historical societies.   In order to facilitate continuous communication, information sharing, and acquisition of history content, methods and resources, the program will deliver several Saturday morning and weekday follow-up workshops that focus on a specific theme.   In March 2006, participants will attend a full-day workshop during the week to share updates on their curricular unit/lesson plan projects.

In addition, TASAH participants may seek grant funding to secure historical books, publications and subscriptions to journals and historical organizations (e.g., Organization of American Historians), attend regional training and professional development events.   Moreover, participants and their students will be encouraged to participate in National History Day competitions and activities held in the Fox Valley region.

Program Requirements and Expectations
All participants in the program will be required to submit a teaching portfolio (due in April 2005) that: (1) contains their completed curricular units or lesson plans, bibliography and description of other research, (2) demonstrates the specific historical content themes, resources, and pedagogical techniques covered during the summer academy, (3) discusses efforts to implement the completed unit or lesson plan; and (4) discusses how the unit or plan aligns with State Model Academic Standards for U.S. history. Other program requirements include the following:

• During the 2005-2006 school year, each participant will attend two Saturday morning workshops that focus on a specific content or resource/pedagogical theme.   Participants will have an opportunity during these workshops to share their experiences with developing and implementing their curricular units or lesson plans, and acquire updates regarding program resources and operation. Three or four workshops dates will be offered during the school year to provide participants with choices for attending. Workshop dates and themes will be selected next summer.
• In March 2006, participants will attend one full-day workshop during the week for the purpose of sharing updates on the nature and status their curricular unit/lesson plan projects, including a brief presentation.
• Participants will provide Professor Stephen Kercher with hard and electronic copies of their completed portfolios, including the completed unit and lesson plan projects.   CESA 6 and UW-Oshkosh have the right to post each participant's completed unit or lesson plan on the project web site for the purpose of sharing with other American history teachers.
• By April 2006, each participant will have facilitated one or more inservice workshop or training activity for fellow American history and social studies teachers in their home district, featuring at least one content-based or instructional method-based topic covered at the Academy.   One purpose of this grant program is for participants to utilize the professional development experiences and resources to help districts make U.S. history a more prominent feature of their social studies curriculum.

Participants in the TASAH can elect to receive either three graduate credits in history from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh or a cash stipend ($500 for the 2004-05 participants), upon the successful completion of the components discussed above.

Final course grades will be based on the level of participation during the Academy and follow-up workshops, and the quality of the completed curricular unit or lesson plan.

Please note that credits and stipends will be provided only after successful completion of all components (i.e., May of 2006).

Registration Process
Approximately 35 participants will be selected through a competitive application process, which will take into consideration the level of administrative support the school district demonstrates for each applicant's participation in this program, what each applicant hopes to gain from this program and how it will impact U.S. history instruction in their district, and the applicant's level and nature of experience teaching U.S. history.   Every effort will be made to select a pool of participants with diverse backgrounds relative grade levels and types of courses taught and representing a large number of school districts.

Teaching American History grant funds will cover all instructional costs associated with earning credits or stipends, plus travel, lunch, and books and reading materials provided at the summer workshops and follow up workshops.

Download an application as a pdf document.

Please submit your completed application by mail (postmarked no later than March 21, 2005) to:

Mike Derr, Coordinator
CESA 6/UW-Oshkosh TAH Project
c/o Prairie View Elementary School
510 N. Crystal Lake Road
Beaver Dam, WI 53916

or

Professor Stephen Kercher
Department of History
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
800 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh, WI 54901