Dr. Ron Childress, Marshall University, Huntington, WV served as the outside evaluator for the project including data collection and analysis. Dr. Childress created a pre and post survey based on the textbook used in the project. He also reviewed journals/reflective logs from project participants.
RESA 2 TAH participants were also offered the opportunity to attend week-long summer institutes held at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. There were four weeks of summer institutes offered, and participants were asked to attend two weeks of the four offered. Ashland University invited expert historians/authors and also utilized Ashland University history/political science professors to lecture and interact with the TAH participants. The TAH participants were sent historical reading materials (original documents) to read prior to attending the summer institutes. Feedback received from the TAH participants has been very positive.
Monies left over from year three will be used to extent to project through December 2008 pending approval of the US Department of Education. There are many historical sites/locations close to our area that are of great historical value that would enhance teacher knowledge. Participants would collect pertinent material and document the field trip (i.e., videotape, digital pictures, slides, etc.) to share with students in their classrooms.
As was reported in the original grant proposal, this area of West Virginia (southwestern WV) is economically deprived and school systems do not have funds to supply TAH teachers with supplemental American history materials; therefore, we would like to extend the project funds to assist teachers with this need.
Teachers attending the Summer Institutes at Ashland University receive excellent information to share with their students. Teachers attending the institutes also receive a wealth of historical materials for use in their classrooms. Teachers are also provided a stipend, housing, and meals while attending these summer institutes.
We feel that year three of the grant was very successful; however, we believe that by extending the grant we will be even more successful as a result of lessons learned and better participation of teacher partners.
The reason for this grant is two fold: first, to help teachers become more informed about teaching American history from original documents and using various teaching techniques; and secondly, the most important thing, helping our students become more aware and have a better understanding of American history.
Some quotes about the project from the TAH Participants are as follows:
“This was a terrific opportunity to bring history to life”
“Great knowledge based field trip”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and will especially be able to use the DVD to show my students important parts of our nation’s capital.”
“Dr. Smith’s cultural experiences were shared with my geography students.”
“A person can be anything despite their background with education and support (The Glass Castle by Walls)”
“I have used many different chapters in teaching my 8th graders about the civil war, I use it as a reference resource (101 Things You Did Not Know About The Civil War by Turner)”
“I used the stories from his book to expand on students discussion when on the chapter about pioneer life and the dangers and hardships the faced in southern West Virginia (The Pioneers, by Payne)”
“Visiting, Philadelphia and New York were wonderful learning experiences to be shared with my students”
RESA 2 will apply in November 2008, for a new Teaching American History Grant through the United States Department of Education.
Links to Historical Sites
The Gilder Lehrman Institude of American History
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
The National Archives