This Connecticut consortium includes the high-need urban district of New Haven and the surrounding urban fringe. Out of nearly 70,000 students, these districts have 11,780 who are designated as English language learners or special education students; teachers who are certified to teach these students often have deep training in modifying curricula and shallow knowledge in some content areas, including history. Each year, eminent historians will lead rigorous examinations of key ideas, documents, figures and turning points during eight evening seminars, two Saturday trips to local historic sites and a weeklong summer institute at sites of national significance. Instructional support will be provided by educational specialists and bolstered by classroom coaching and modeling. Project leaders will focus on recruiting teachers who work with English language learners and special education students. Although the aim is to retain a core group of 35 teachers over the life of the grant, it is likely that some will drop out and others will replace them. This project will promote educational equity by ensuring that diverse learners have access to the same high-quality content as other students. American history will be covered in chronological order, touching on all the eras. Teaching strategies will include differentiating instruction and integrating American history into other subject areas to support extended learning. Teachers will be able to apply for mini-grants to build collections of classroom resources, a key component for this group of teachers. High-quality, project-created teaching materials and lessons will be posted on the Web, and they should be particularly valuable to those who work with underserved special populations.

These districts serve the Colorado Springs metro area, which has seen recent influxes of new teachers and students; many are new to the United States and lack awareness of the country's history and what it means to be an American. The project will take a four-step approach: (1) grade-based learning teams with mentoring support, (2) summer and school-year professional development tracks, (3) a virtual network, and (4) resources (e.g., books, professional memberships in history organizations). Whichever track participants choose, they can earn academic and/or state continuing education credit. Every cohort will propose a presentation for the National Council for History Education annual conference, and four teachers will attend (one from each district). Five 1-year cohorts, each consisting of 40 history, civics and government teachers, will work in professional learning teams. Each cohort will commit to the school-year program, the summer program, or both; teachers may continue after 1 year, based on availability and need. Stories and Histories will pursue the theme of integrating thinking skills into history teaching. Inquiry questions will guide study of pivotal events, people, documents, legislation and judicial cases, as well as their local, state and national significance. Training will focus on helping teachers use digital storytelling, look at history as a historian does and apply such strategies as Understanding by Design and collaborative coaching. Every teacher will develop and use either a digital storytelling project or a primary source activity for the classroom; along with students' digital products, these materials will be posted on the Web for other teachers to find and use.

This district on the northeast corner of the San Francisco Bay area includes five cities and six unincorporated areas. One-third of the ethnically and linguistically diverse students are limited English proficient, and the area faces many social and economic challenges—lack of funding for history professional development being one. Teachers will attend a 10-day summer institute, four days of follow-up activities and a three-part historian lecture and book study series. Ongoing support will happen in online discussions and monthly meetings where teachers will have opportunities to collaborate on lesson study, share resources and discuss problems and successes. Participants will attend the California Council for the Social Studies conferences, where they will learn and present. Two 3-year cohorts of 34 teachers each, one for Grades 8 and 11 and one for Grade 5, will give priority to teachers from underperforming schools. A master's cohort of 15 teachers will pursue the higher degree, and all history teachers will participate in the lecture and book series. As they study the content for the grades they teach, project teachers will be exploring themes that take them deeper into political, cultural and economic turning points and help them understand local connections to national history. Teachers will learn historical inquiry skills and content-related teaching strategies, such as the use of primary documents, artifacts, firsthand accounts, illustrations and site visits—all intended to translate freshly mastered content into classroom lessons. Project-generated materials will be reviewed, shared through meetings and conferences and posted on three Web sites that reach local, state and national audiences.

This California county is halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento, and its population reflects the state's economic and ethnic diversity. Lack of teacher preparation to teach history is reflected in disappointing student performance. Activities will include four scholar seminars each year; these will provide insight into the history and examine primary source documents. After each seminar, teachers will participate in a history lab to consider how to apply the content in ways that engage students. The Year 1 cadre will include 30 elementary teachers; although they will be encouraged to stay for the full grant period, it is likely that many spaces will open up for middle and high school teachers in Years 2 through 5. Project content will focus on intensive reading of recent scholarship, considering its emphasis on how the United States has always depended on transactions with other nations for ideas, commodities and populations. As teachers learn to use lesson study in Year 1, they will produce one lesson each; thereafter, teachers will work in teams to develop curriculum kits that include a background essay, a multiday historical investigation that requires analysis of primary sources, a student assessment and related rubric, samples of student work, reflection on teaching the lesson and an annotated bibliography. The 10 best lessons each year will be published online and presented at the annual showcase, the 20 best lessons of the project will be presented at its summative conference, and the 30 best presenters among the teachers will go on a study and exchange trip to Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

The three rural California counties involved in this project often combine resources to provide teacher professional development, and this project will build teachers' content knowledge and help them learn to think like historians. Annual activities will include two symposia, during which historians and teachers will explore content, primary sources and lesson study practices. Four live, online seminars will bring scholars and teachers together to discuss historical questions. With support from content experts, teams of like-grade teachers will use lesson study to develop lessons based on the content. The year will end with a summer field study that augments the scholarly studies, and the next year will begin with a late-summer institute focused on scholarship and pedagogy. Each year, 35 teachers will participate, and increasing stipends will encourage multiple years of training. Years 1 to 3 will address eras taught by secondary teachers, and Years 4 and 5 will present content tied to elementary standards, but teachers will be welcome to join as openings are available. Working with teachers of different levels will encourage thinking about cross-grade connections. Teachers will explore California's gateways to the national narrative during field visits to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Historians and scholars will introduce historical thinking skills, such as deconstructing primary sources, and will help teachers see unifying themes in the state's history standards. The project model of blended in-person and online activities is designed to ensure advance preparation and active participation, while directing the focus to improved teaching practice; ongoing formative assessment will help project leaders adjust activities if necessary.

Given a high number of English Language Learners and California's emphasis on English language arts, this project chose an overall focus on integrating history into language arts. For five days in the summer, historians will present history content. For four days during the school year, a history educator and a technology specialist will present teaching strategies and Web 2.0 technologies. Teachers will also work with a university professor to research commercial teaching materials, using CICERO, History Alive! and other materials in their classrooms. They will analyze and review the software, print and online products, including games and simulations, to benefit other history teachers. A core group of 38 teachers&#8212two from each elementary school—will stay through the full five years, spending at least 13 hours a year mentoring a teacher outside the project. In keeping with elementary history standards, the project will address the foundations and founding documents of the United States. Content literacy will be developed by helping teachers build prior knowledge, apply structured note-taking, analyze images and evaluate historical materials. Specific pedagogical approaches will include Binary Paideia and historical thinking skills, and strategies will include bracketing history, E.S.P. (considering the economic, social and political aspects of events), analyzing primary sources and others. This project aims to be on the cutting edge of the "Facebook approach" to teaching American history; that is, it will use Facebook, Twitter, blogs and discussion threads as important communication and dissemination tools. A project Web site will host all lesson plans, reviews of history teaching materials and other products as freely available resources.

Located in southeastern California, these districts serve a population that is more than half Hispanic. Nearly one-fourth of students are English language learners, 60 percent qualify for reduced-price meals and nine percent receive special education services. Each year, teachers will participate in nine full-day workshops, six evening book discussions, lesson study training sessions and field study at a local historic site. They will have two summer institute opportunities: (1) 20 teachers will attend a 5-day trip to historic sites; and (2) all teachers can apply to attend a workshop sponsored by an external provider, such as Gilder Lehrman or the National Endowment for the Humanities, and have their costs covered. In addition, networking and discussions will be supported by an online professional learning community. Two separate cohorts of 75 teachers (25 from each grade) will participate in an intensive 2-year program. From each cohort, 30 will be selected to receive another year of history coaching training; these 60 content leaders will provide on-site support to colleagues to sustain the project's impact. Training from historians and education specialists will deepen content knowledge and content-related teaching skills (e.g., using primary sources, thinking maps, source analysis, historiography). In addition, teachers will learn to develop digital documentaries and use student assessment data to guide instruction. This combination of skills and knowledge will enhance capacity to think like historians and to teach American history in engaging, interactive ways. Best practices, lessons and materials will be shared through conference presentations and on three Web sites to reach local, state and national teacher audiences.