| Grantee Name: | Miller R-II School District |
| Project Name: | Preserving America's Midwestern Heritage Fellowship |
| Project Director: | Carole Crumbliss |
| Funding: | $1,667,312 over 5 years |
| Number of Teachers Served Overall: | 40-70 |
| Number of School Districts Served: | 14 |
| Grade Levels: | 3-12 |
| Partners: | Missouri Southern State University, Bill of Rights Institute, Southwest Center for Educational Excellence, SuccessLink, American Institute for History Education, National Constitution Center of Philadelphia |
| Topics: | Year 1: Native Americans and Contested Ground Year 2: From Revolution to an Expanding Nation Year 3: Antebellum Reform, Civil War, and Reconstruction Year 4: Development of Modern America Year 5: Modern America |
| Methods: | Summer travel institutes, colloquia, seminars, Talking History Webinars,lesson development sessions, real-time lesson observations and reviews, turnkey training |
Led by the Miller R-II School District, a consortium of 14 rural Missouri school districts in need of improvement will address teachers' professional development needs in history education by implementing the Preserving America's Midwestern Heritage Fellowship. The fellowship program will offer 40 to 70 teachers of history in Grades 3-12 two professional development tracks. All participants will attend at least five 3-hour content seminars that include content and instructional skills training in inquiry; a 2-day fall colloquium, a 3 day spring colloquium ; and 2 days of research and review. Track 2 participants will attend a 7-day summer travel institute.
Teachers in both tracks will attend Talking History Webinars, prepare standards-based units, lessons, and/or other lesson materials, and receive classroom coaching that employs the thereNow IRIS telepresence coaching system. Five participants will become lead teachers and provide turnkey trainings for history teachers across the consortium. Each year, fellows will research and study the political, economic, legal, social and ideological contrasts found throughout American history. They will learn to use the Binary Paideia paradigm, the American Institute for History Education Signature Strategies, and the CICERO “digital toolbox” of resources to implement grade-appropriate, inquiry-based teaching in their classrooms. Fellows will create historical narratives and interactive lessons that will be shared on the fellowship Web site. In addition, they will create “traveling trunks” that will be available for check-out to teachers across the consortium.