Education Service Center receives $1 million dollars to improve the teaching of American history.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 The Education Service Center, Region 2 announced at a press conference on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 they have been awarded a $998,216 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to improve the quality of American history education. The Education Service Center will use the grant to provide professional development to educators aimed at improving the teaching of American history.

The patriotic themed press conference included the national anthem sung by CCISD Superintendent, Scott Elliff, and ESC-2 consultants, David Spencer and Chris Harris. State Representative Juan Garcia spoke about the importance of teaching American history. Master teachers dressed in period attire to demonstrate to the audience one of the many ways they engage students in the classroom using active teaching strategies.

The ESC-2 will partner with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History to provide teachers with hands-on training that will focus on the colonial period, constitutional era and the Civil War. A total of about 60 U.S. history teachers from grades 4 through 11 will receive training through the grant.

The ESC-2 is 1 of 4 organizations in Texas to receive a Teaching American History federal grant. This is the third grant awarded to the ESC-2 by the Texas Department of Education Teaching American History Grant Program. The Teaching American History discretionary grant program supports three-year projects to improve teachers' knowledge and understanding of traditional American history through intensive, on-going professional development.

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