Overview:
In June 2007, CESA 6 received its second federal Teaching American History (TAH) grant award from the U.S. Dept. of Education, more than $998,000 for three years, to coordinate and deliver additional professional development programming and opportunities to grade 4-12 teachers of U.S. history. This new programming, entitled the WASAH Project, (or the Wisconsin Academy for the Study of American History) is more expansive in scope than CESA 6's first TAH project, and targets teachers from school districts and private schools located within CESAs 6, 7 and 9.
K-12 Teacher Participants:
The WASAH Project has enrolled more than 50 history teachers to participate in program activities for 3 years, starting with the April 26, 2008 kickoff workshop at UW-Marathon County, and running through the conclusion of third-year project activities during the spring of 2011. This new WASAH Project will specifically serve teachers of U.S. history and Wisconsin history in grades 4-12, as well as other social studies teachers, and other teachers (e.g., English and American Literature teachers) who extensively incorporate U.S. history themes into their curriculum.
WASAH Activities:
Project activities for each year will include a 7-day summer academy in late July, site visit at historical content providers throughout the state, two full-day workshops and six half-day seminars throughout the subsequent school year. (Participants must attend a minimum of two of those seminars.) Activities and programming will include the following:
April 26, 2008 -- Full Day Kickoff Workshop at UW-Marathon County July 22-25th & 28-30th, 2008 -- Summer Institute at UW-Marathon County. Participants will attend sessions featuring content, use historical resource and use of instructional best practices. Sessions will also include visits to historical archival sites. At conclusion of institute, participants will select a lesson unit/lesson plan project to work on and complete by April 2009, along with a reflective narrative recounting each participant's experience with researching and reading historical sources, developing lesson plans and using instructional and classroom strategies. Lesson plans will incorporate content, resource and instructional themes covered during the summer institute. Fall 2008 Workshop -- Participants will attend one full-day workshop at UW-Marathon County that features content and instructional-based themes that complement topics covered during the summer institute. Time of workshop to be announced later. Fall 2008 Seminars -- Three half-day seminars will be scheduled, covering content themes and providing a forum for discussing assigned readings. Times and location of seminars will be announced later. (Participants are required to attend a minimum of 2 half-day seminars during the 2008-09 school year.) Spring 2009 Regional Workshops -- Participants will attend a second-full day workshop that again features content and instructional-based themes covered during the previous summer institute. Regional workshop sites will be schedule within CESAs 6, 7 and 9 to minimize travel distance. Other teachers from the regions will be invited to attend this workshop and learn about content, resource and instructional themes covered during the year. Core participants will also share their lesson plans, work products, and best practice strategies with the other teachers. Times and location of workshops to be announced later. Winter/Spring 2009 Seminars -- Three additional half-day seminars will be scheduled, again covering content themes and providing a forum for discussing assigned readings. Times and location of seminars will be announced later. Other Resources -- Core participants will also have opportunities to seek small group and one-on-one assistance from experienced teachers, historians, archivists, curators and curriculum specialists on the use of strategies for developing lesson plans and incorporating learner-based and project-based activities in the classroom that promote historical and critical thinking skills. Submission of Written Project -- In late April 2008, participants will submit their complete lesson plans and reflective narratives. WASAH staff will ultimately post these lesson plans on the online website for sharing with other teachers. Assessment Activities -- Throughout the first year cycle (July 2008 - May 2009), teacher participants will complete multiple choice instruments and essays designed to help WASAH project staff measure impact of project activities on teacher content knowledge and historical thinking skills, and application of historical thinking and student-centered learning principles in lesson plans and classroom activities. Also, teachers will help administer annual instruments to their students designed to measure student U.S. history content knowledge and motivation to learn U.S. history. Teachers will also be asked to complete session/workshop questionnaires to provide feedback on the nature and quality of those sessions.Year 2 -- Above cycle will repeat itself from July 2009 through May 2010 Year 3 -- Above cycle will repeat itself from July 2010 through May 2011
WASAH Topics & Themes:
The WASAH Project will feature U.S. history content themes and topics that focus around the unifying theme of "American freedom." This theme was selected to promote the exploration and study of the many eras, events and persons comprising U.S. history through the perspectives of economic, political, social and religious freedom. This project will help teacher participants and their students to better understand how various events, persons and activities defined, impacted, and expanded and restricted how and whether various American groups enjoyed freedom politically, economically, socially, and so on. This approach will help all to make greater sense of the significance of our nation's history, how events or persons have affected various groups, and how seemingly unrelated events or eras are in fact connected. Specific topics and themes for the Year 1 Summer Institute, workshops and seminars is currently being developed by WASAH leadership.
Project Partners:
CESA 6 will partner with the history departments for UW-Oshkosh, UW-Marathon County and UW-Green Bay in the design, coordination and implementation of all project activities and services. Those lead partners will also collaborate with the Wisconsin Historical Society, CESA 7, CESA 9, Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Outagamie Museum in Appleton, the Marathon County Historical Society, other area museums and historical societies, and the Archives and Area Research Centers at UW-Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay and UW-Stevens Point in the delivery of project activities and resources.
