Roll on Columbia
Teaching the History of the
Northwest and the Nation is an educational partnership involving
Educational Service District 101 (ESD 101), Eastern Washington
University’s Living History Institute for Teaching American History
(EWU), Central Valley School District (CVSD), the Northwest Museum
of Arts & Culture (MAC), the Washington State Archives, the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and a host of local teachers and
students.
Project quality: The project has developed three measurable
objectives (with accompanying performance measures) tied to teacher
quality, regional capacity and student performance. Grant services
will be offered on two tiers. The first will provide intense study
for 60 teachers (grades 3-12; 20 per year) enrolled in a year-long,
10-credit graduate seminar studying a specific era in Northwest
history and its relationship to national events. This initiative
will directly benefit an estimated 1,800 students. The second tier
of activity, open to all teachers in the ESD 101 service area, will
include American history in-service courses and a guest lecture
series that will serve an estimated 250-300 teachers per event.
Sustainability will be provided through the distribution of
materials to 300 teachers after the project is completed and through
EWU pre-service courses, emphasizing history, for current educator
majors preparing for teaching careers. The pre-service course is
expected to enroll 100 students per year.
Significance: Project significance will include standards-based
improvements in teaching and learning; the building of local
capacity; the connection of local, regional and national history;
the connection of diverse partners; the creation of permanent
products; and the use of rigorous evaluation methods. Project
strengths will include alignment to state and national history
standards, participant support by a master teacher team and
development of hands-on lessons including primary documents.
Evaluation: A third-party evaluation will be conducted, using
rigorous, objective, scientifically based methods in a
quasi-experimental design. The evaluation will be aligned to grant
objectives and performance measures related to student performance,
increased capacity and teacher knowledge.