New TPS Consortium Members Will Strengthen Outreach to Teachers

This is a guest post written by Vivian Awumey of the Library of Congress.

This summer, Educational Outreach staff and panels of colleagues, from in and outside of the Library, reviewed 81 proposals submitted in response to a nationwide search for organizations interested in joining the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium with new and exciting ways to reach teachers across the country.

The Consortium, a body of institutional partners from universities, school districts, educational foundations, non-profits and for-profits, is vital to the development and dissemination of the TPS program. Members offer TPS workshops and courses, develop and test curricula, and conduct research, all founded on the use of Library of Congress primary sources in K-12 classrooms.

The partners selected include both new and continuing members, each chosen because of their individual and collective potential to help the Library’s Educational Outreach Office better serve teachers. They bring to the Consortium teaching with primary sources strategies directed at specific grades, student populations, curricular areas, teaching formats, or geographic locations.

Following is a list of the organizations selected for membership in the TPS Consortium, from October 2016 to October 2019, with brief descriptions of intended projects they have designed to enhance teaching and learning with primary sources.

Barat Education Foundation – a civics curriculum in partnership with the Constitutional Rights Foundation

Bean Creative – a customizable primary source-based app for teachers and students

California History-Social Science Project – professional development workshops on five California university campuses

Collaborative for Educational Services – workshops for teachers of English Language Learners, special education students and other diverse learners

EDC Center for Children and Technology – research to identify professional development practices that are effective in promoting teacher and student learning with the Library’s primary sources

Governors State University – age-appropriate materials related to global climate and the environment

iCivics – an app that helps students understand and discuss important civic topics through historical documents

Mars Hill University – professional development for teachers, particularly media specialists, in geographically isolated, rural and economically-challenged Appalachian schools

Maryland Humanities Center – online inquiry kits that support student research with primary sources, research tools, and interactive lessons

Middle Tennessee State University – statewide workshops on the theme “Expanding Citizenship: From Civil War to Civil Rights”

Minnesota Historical Society – workshops in Minnesota and Wisconsin in partnership with cultural and educational organizations operating in the two states

Mississippi State University – a curriculum aligned to state teaching standards in partnership with a local school district and several state educational agencies

National Association for Music Education – online curricular materials supporting new music education standards

National Council for History Education – colloquia for teachers on thematic topics illustrating the government’s role in shaping technological innovation

Northern Virginia Partnership – subject and grade level-specific courses and workshops for in-service and pre-service teachers

Rockford University – workshops within the school’s teacher education program targeted at student teachers from underserved populations

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville – professional development for teachers, librarians, and media specialists and education students teaching early grades

Stanford University – assessments and lessons that connect content from their popular Thinking Like a Historian and Thinking Beyond the Bubble sites

State Historical Society of Iowa – a curriculum for K-12 teachers to support new Iowa Social Studies standards that will be released in 2017

University of Central Florida – train-the-trainer course to develop coaches who will conduct TPS workshops for teacher colleagues across Florida

University of Michigan – Common Core State Standards and C3 Framework-aligned curriculum resources that provide structure and guidance for teaching writing

University of South Carolina – workshops on teaching with primary sources for students in the school’s teacher education program

The University of the Arts – curricula, teaching materials and graduate courses tied to specific arts disciplines

These organizations will join Consortium members George Mason University, Muzzy Lane Software, and Indiana University, who received grants last year to create mobile apps and online interactives using primary sources from the Library. Waynesburg University, Illinois State University and Metropolitan State University of Denver, coordinators of the Eastern, Midwestern and Western TPS regions are also ongoing members of the Consortium.

Educational Outreach staff look forward to the contributions these organizations will make to our programs for teachers.