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Findings
 Project LOCAL was funded by The Department of
Education. It received a grant for its proposal
to enhance the Teaching of American History.
Other grant recipients emphasized content
knowledge or had short intense institutes
focused on content or a specific approach. By
contrast, Project LOCAL attempted to enhance the
teaching of American History in 3 fundamental
ways.
- Leverage local
historical societies and community resources
- Teach using
primary sources, preferably local artifacts
- Engage students in
"Doing History", an approach to learning
that requires higher order thinking skills
(beyond memorization of dates or names).
For 3 years, teachers
from the participating communities of Medford,
Revere, Somerville and Winthrop have enhanced
the teaching of American History in
collaboration with the historical societies,
museums and citizens in their communities.
Students have benefited from the use of primary
sources and learned how the history of their
communities fits into the story of America.
District by district classroom numbers were
difficult to document. Participation numbers,
therefore, are estimates. Teacher participation
numbers are actuals and class size estimates
were provided by a district liaison for the
grant.
| |
Number of
teachers presenting "Doing History"
lessons |
Estimated # of
students |
| 3 Year TOTALS |
58*
|
4,450 |
| Year 4 |
14 |
350 |
| 4 Year TOTALS |
72 |
4,800 |
| * This may be a low
estimate as the teacher trainers in Year 2&3 did
use the "Doing History" approach in their
classrooms, but this number is a total for new
teacher participants and does not count the
teacher trainers in those years. |
Project LOCAL met its student target of 4,800
students. The student participation rates varied
by district due to district commitment and size
of faculty. Additional numbers of students have
been or will be touched by the 107 teachers
receiving in-service training from Project LOCAL
teacher trainers in Year 4. |
