Spring Break
Grant to give professors American history lesson
$1.5 million to develop, improve teaching techniques for better education in historical courses
Breann Bieman
Issue date: 10/20/05 Section: Campus News
A $1.5 million federal grant will help teachers and professors throughout the state enhance teaching history more creatively and effectively. The grant was funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
A large majority of the grant will support the 70 teachers who will enroll in the "Making Americans, Making America" project. The program is set up "to improve the teaching of American history by teaching teachers," said John Mann, assistant professor of history. Mann wrote for the grant with Oscar Chamberlain, a senior lecturer, and Patricia Turner, an associate history professor.
The teachers from Cooperative Educational Service Agency, which represents more than 200 school districts throughout Wisconsin, who complete this program can earn a graduate certification in American history free of charge; therefore the grant would be covering tuition and other expenses, Mann said.
The grant will be more geared toward rural schools, Mann said, and will include all of the CESAs of Wisconsin except the districts of Madison and Milwaukee.
Another part of the grant will be used to support UW-Eau Claire's Center for History, Teaching and Learning, which is co-directed by Roger Tlusty, department chair of foundations of education and Katie Lang, associate professor of history.
The Center is a collaborative effort of the history department and the College of Education and Human Sciences to help meet the professional development needs of K-12 teachers, Lang said.
Created in 2001, the program is unique because most colleges don't overlap or collaborate with professors in the history and Education departments, she said.
The program receives no funding from the university except for a History Day activity.
Lang said this is the first time they have received administrative money, allowing them to hire a Web developer to work on their currently overcrowded Web page and hire a retired K-12 teacher who will travel throughout Wisconsin and see the needs of the schools the Center can provide for.
"I often go to international and educational meetings where they talk about how they have a lot of staff but not a lot of money," Lang said. "We have a ton of money to do programs but few people to run them ... kind of ironic."
The Chippewa Valley Museum will also play an important role in helping teachers learn to identify and interpret primary sources in their own district, she said.
The museum worked on two previous grants in 2002 and 2004 but its biggest role is in this, the third and largest, grant.
Lang said the program is also geared toward the public. The Chippewa Valley Museum has collaborated with the Center to help the public learn more about migration. The center also worked with the public library to set up a discussion on Islam in the Middle East.
"I think this grant is a great opportunity for American history teachers in Wisconsin," Mann said.
A large majority of the grant will support the 70 teachers who will enroll in the "Making Americans, Making America" project. The program is set up "to improve the teaching of American history by teaching teachers," said John Mann, assistant professor of history. Mann wrote for the grant with Oscar Chamberlain, a senior lecturer, and Patricia Turner, an associate history professor.
The teachers from Cooperative Educational Service Agency, which represents more than 200 school districts throughout Wisconsin, who complete this program can earn a graduate certification in American history free of charge; therefore the grant would be covering tuition and other expenses, Mann said.
The grant will be more geared toward rural schools, Mann said, and will include all of the CESAs of Wisconsin except the districts of Madison and Milwaukee.
Another part of the grant will be used to support UW-Eau Claire's Center for History, Teaching and Learning, which is co-directed by Roger Tlusty, department chair of foundations of education and Katie Lang, associate professor of history.
The Center is a collaborative effort of the history department and the College of Education and Human Sciences to help meet the professional development needs of K-12 teachers, Lang said.
Created in 2001, the program is unique because most colleges don't overlap or collaborate with professors in the history and Education departments, she said.
The program receives no funding from the university except for a History Day activity.
Lang said this is the first time they have received administrative money, allowing them to hire a Web developer to work on their currently overcrowded Web page and hire a retired K-12 teacher who will travel throughout Wisconsin and see the needs of the schools the Center can provide for.
"I often go to international and educational meetings where they talk about how they have a lot of staff but not a lot of money," Lang said. "We have a ton of money to do programs but few people to run them ... kind of ironic."
The Chippewa Valley Museum will also play an important role in helping teachers learn to identify and interpret primary sources in their own district, she said.
The museum worked on two previous grants in 2002 and 2004 but its biggest role is in this, the third and largest, grant.
Lang said the program is also geared toward the public. The Chippewa Valley Museum has collaborated with the Center to help the public learn more about migration. The center also worked with the public library to set up a discussion on Islam in the Middle East.
"I think this grant is a great opportunity for American history teachers in Wisconsin," Mann said.