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For Immediate Release
November 26, 2002
TEACHERS TO BRING AMERICAN HISTORY INTO
CLASSROOM
LINCOLN, Neb. – Lincoln Public Schools (LPS)
has teamed with Nebraska Wesleyan University and the Nebraska State
Historical Society for a grant from the U.S. Office of Education
that will give 50 teachers courses and activities in history fundamentals.
The grant for $970,270 is called “Bringing
American History Scholarship into the Classroom.”
“Declining achievement scores and marked
apathy among young adults toward civic responsibility indicate a
pressing critical need for well-trained, knowledgeable, skilled
teachers passionate about teaching American history,” said
Karen Stanley, social studies curriculum specialist for LPS.
The overall goal of the new LPS project is to “improve
teacher knowledge, understanding and appreciation for American history,
thereby resulting in increased student achievement,”
Stanley said.
There are four major objectives:
1. Teacher participants will improve their knowledge
and understanding of
American history
2. Teacher participants will improve their
instructional strategies for effective
teaching of American history
3. Students will improve their knowledge and understanding of American
history
4. LPS will expand K-12 course content and graduation requirements
in
American history
Further, teachers in the project can earn up to
12 hours of graduate credit from Wesleyan for participating in certain
related educational activities.
Nebraska Wesleyan will provide course offerings
and activities to about 50 LPS teachers in history fundamentals,
a two-week summer institute on American history, a “History
Alive” workshop and a National History Day workshop..
“Nebraska Wesleyan University is proud to
be part of this partnership with Lincoln Public Schools and the
Nebraska State Historical Society, in an effort to extend beyond
Nebraska history to the improvement of education in American history,”
said Jeanie Watson, president of Nebraska Wesleyan University.
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