Teaching American History - Building Informed Citizens

The U.S. Education Department's Teaching American History grants program aims to help elementary and secondary schools implement research-based methods for improving the quality of instruction, professional development, and teacher education in American History. The program is designed to improve teacher's content knowledge and to improve students' academic performance in American History, including the significant issues, episodes, and turning points in the history of the United States. Shihmei Barger serves as the evaluation researcher for this 3-year project. As part of the quality assurance plan, she will consult the history experts that will comprise the Advisory Board. Her evaluation will produce both quantitative and qualitative comparative evidence. Barger will produce a report based on the pre-intervention teacher survey, annual reports on the knowledge test results and annual evaluation reports. The reports will include findings on changes in student knowledge, teacher knowledge, student work, teacher work products, and teacher self-reports.