This professional development project will illuminate the history of the U.S., the experimental nature of its founding, and its unique evolution through the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries. While formally engaging 65 teachers per year, it will support 160 through coaching and instructional support, for a total of 675 educators. With this TAH program-an extension of previous successful efforts-the district will provide a series of activities that recognize the impact of democratic thought and institutions on U.S. history and culture, and highlight the arts, sciences, and technology. The content of symposia also explores: the founding generation and Revolutionary period including leading figures and philosophical advances, Constitutional Amendments granting full citizenship to African Americans, women's suffrage, late 19th century industrial advances, World Wars I and II, American hegemony, post-war America, the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, and development of 20th century technologies.

In Richmond County, 69% of students are economically disadvantaged, and nearly one-third of schools in the district did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). In partnering Jefferson County, 80% of students are economically disadvantaged, and no schools achieved AYP. Both counties have high rates of dropouts and low American history test scores. This project provides authentic professional learning that is deeply embedded in real-world settings and based upon an existing successful program. The 62 participants (one from each elementary, middle, and high school) will earn a special endorsement in the teaching of American history as a single subject at the end of this three-year program. They will also earn all professional learning units required for teaching certificate renewal.

With over half of its schools designated as Title I, schools in the Savannah-Chatham school system consistently rank below the state average in social studies on state criterion-referenced tests and below the national average on norm-referenced tests. Only four of 30 elementary schools and one of six high schools ranked in the top quartile of schools on the 2005 Georgia Criterion Reference Test. The project will ensure that teachers will have the knowledge to improve the current state of student achievement in history. Reading scholarly historical texts of major events, periods, and ideas in American history, engaging in evocative interactions with professional historians, traveling to historic sites, and learning from a history content coach will provide participating teachers with a strong foundation of knowledge of the nation's history. This newly acquired knowledge will enable district teachers to deliver better instruction in American history content to learners at pivotal moments in their educational careers.

Clayton County is working in partnership with the University of Georgia, Morehouse College, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the National Archives-Southeast Region, and the Atlanta History Museum to create a unique look at significant issues and episodes of traditional American history since 1945. Participants include teachers in Grades 5 (35), 8 (26), and 11 (16) who will be trained in content knowledge and learning strategies through lectures, summer seminars, field experiences, research, and access to the Digital Library at NARA and the American Memory project of the Library of Congress. Events, civil rights implications, and connections to founding documents will be studied in the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, and Clinton Administrations. Throughout the three years, teachers will link the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to issues during 1945 to 2000. At the end of three years, participants will be considered master teachers of that period, with a concentration on civil rights.

Wiregrass History Consortium is a collaborative effort between the Coastal Plains RESA, Valdosta State University, and National Council for History Education, and National Constitution Center to improve American History teaching in 46 South Georgia schools. The program serves teachers in fourth, fifth, eighth and eleventh grades through six graduate-level symposia, teacher workshops, membership in the National Council for History Education for the duration of the program, creation of a regional history teachers' consortium, development of curricula addressing state requirements, and visits to historic sites. Content is divided into topics addressing the three cohorts of teachers-elementary, middle, and high school. Grade 5 teachers study the Civil War, Reconstruction, and changes at the turn of the century. Eighth grade teachers address Native American cultures, the impact of European exploration, colonial Georgia, and Georgia's role in the American Revolution. High school teachers focus on European settlement during the 17th Century, British North America, and the primary causes of the American Revolution.

Restoring America's Memory is a professional development program that extends two previous TAH models of teaching to American history teachers in Grades 4, 5, and 8. The program includes annual keynote addresses by noted historians, and the study of biographies of historically significant Americans. Other topics include developing lesson plans with age-appropriate biographies, summer travel institutes to historic sites, traveling panel exhibitions, and content coaches for teacher support and evaluation. Online technology will be used to enhance events and content, while literacy-based immersion sessions and visits to theme-appropriate sites will round out the grant activities. Year 1 history content focuses on the Colonial-Revolutionary Generations, Year 2 on the Founding Generation and Constitutional Government, and Year 3 on the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Three metropolitan Atlanta school systems are partnering with the Georgia Humanities Council, the Georgia Archives, the National Archives-Southeast Region, the Atlanta History Center, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Massie Heritage Interpretation Center of Savannah to increase historical knowledge, and improve pedagogy, collegiality, content reading, and student achievement in U.S. history. Professional development program participants include teachers in Grades 4, 8, and 11, based on the need for more effective instruction at these levels. A survey identified the 1607-1763 period as a particular area of need. As a result, the program is focusing on the following areas: Three Worlds and Their Meeting in America, Colonization and Settlement, and the Communities. Participants will attend 8-day summer institutes, evening lectures during the school year, and historic site trips, subsequently producing a learning package of lesson plans, artifacts, and primary documents.

The Troup County School System will partner with the Library of America, LaGrange College, and Troup County Historical Society to launch the Teacher As Historian project. The program will train 45 master teachers and 75 classroom teachers from 19 elementary, middle, and high schools serving predominantly low-income students from rural and urban communities. To date, more than 20% of the secondary schools here have scored below the state passing rate on American history/social studies standardized measurements, and more than 80% of all county elementary school teachers have had insufficient content preparation in traditional American history. Through three consecutive summer institutes, Library of America historians and LaGrange College professors will help county teachers gain content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Teachers will learn innovative instructional practices and develop new ways to incorporate content into existing curricula; they also will establish an ongoing infrastructure for high-quality professional development that can be used as a catalyst for research. Year 1 content focuses on Georgia's involvement in the Civil War. Possible topics for the second and third years may include American Revolution, Native Americans, Westward Expansion, Reconstruction, World War II, and Civil Rights.

Aimed at enhancing teaching and learning American history in the primary grades, this professional development program for K-3 teachers in all 30 district schools builds on a previous TAHG grant, "History Is Monumental" by creating "Venues of Freedom" combining summer travel institutes to historic sites, annual keynote addresses from a nationally recognized historian, symposia and age-appropriate lesson plans focusing on biographies, a traveling panel exhibition, mentoring, online technology for access to history content, literacy-based history forums, and local site visits. Examples of lessons include: Era of George Washington, North American Slavery in Comparative Perspective, American Civil War Issues, Strategies, Leadership, and America Between the Wars. Collaborating partners are the Gilder Lehrman Institute and Georgia Historical Society.

Partnering with Clayton College and State University, the Georgia Archives, the National Archives-SE Region, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the Georgia Humanities Council, and the Georgia Department of Education, this project addresses weaknesses in students' knowledge of American history during the era of 1945 to the present. In 8-day summer institutes, teachers of grades 4, 5, 8, and 11 study issues in: the foundations of democracy; the Cold War at home and abroad, economic transformation-the consumer society; civil rights; Vietnam; the Middle East; and politics and government. In year 2, teachers visit historic sites in Georgia.