Project Collaborators:
Stakeholders in Arizona began building a coalition capable of bringing TPS strategies and resources to teachers across the state. Those stakeholders include the following organizations whose members often had crossover contacts:
- Arizona Department of Education
- Arizona Council for the Social Studies
- Arizona Geographic Alliance
- Arizona Historical Society
- Schools/universities with Teaching American History grants
- Individual teachers with contacts at various schools and with various organizations
Project Overview:
Since 2005, state standards have mandated the use of primary sources in K-12 classrooms. However, the TPS-Mountain/Plains efforts in Arizona are not a top-down affair. The coalition of groups instead came together to strategize ways to best use TPS-Mountain/Plains grant.
The group developed a three-part program:
- Reach pre-service teachers through inclusion of primary source learning and strategies in both content and methods courses
- Train groups of trainers (district-level curriculum coordinators and technology center staff) through a two-day Department of Education seminar (January 2009) or more local in-service workshops
- Provide professional development to in-service teachers throughout the state via one-day trainings held in major areas
"We're reaching our pre-service teachers to at least introduce them to TPS in some format before they come out. We're reaching our districts—especially the larger ones—so that curriculum leaders can go back and do district-level or school-level trainings. We're reaching our smaller and rural districts through our County Technology Integration Specialists. Then, we'll do trainings for teachers who are particularly interested in TPS and for whatever reason didn't fit into those other groups," says Carol Warren, social studies program specialist for the Arizona Department of Education.
Which group will take on the third piece of the program has yet to be determined, but the goal is to offer two or three free teacher-level programs across the state.
"I think we have a strong level of communication and cooperation among the social studies organizations," says Warren. "The organizations support the Department of Education in what we do, and we try to support them in providing standards-based training."
Grant Awarded: Awareness Grant of $5000
