CSU–Pueblo part of grants to improve history teachers, programs

Pueblo- Colorado State University – Pueblo will be the lead higher education partner in two new Teaching American History grants announced in June. The two grants, each providing almost $1 million dollars in funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the No Child Left Behind Act over a three-year period, will improve K-12 school history programs through professional development for American history teachers in southeastern Colorado.

The first grant program, called “Experiencing American History Initiative: Defining Moments and Events, 1620-1920” (EAHI) is a three-year program in which participating teachers will be provided with the skills to make American history an engaging subject by strengthening teachers’ depth and breadth of knowledge of American history while developing high quality curricula. Pueblo District 70 is the Lead Educational Agency for the grant, with CSU-Pueblo professors and personnel providing the history content and program coordination for teachers in the Southern Colorado Teacher Education Alliance, a consortium of 16 K-12 districts in southeastern Colorado, including Pueblo District 70, Pueblo District 60, Aguilar, Branson, Cotopaxi, Crowley County, East Otero, Fowler, Fremont, Huerfano, Lamar, LaVeta, Manzanola, Primero, Rocky Ford, Trinidad, and Walsh.

The annual program will allow 40 teachers annually to experience American history by attending a spring colloquium focusing on specific eras of American history. In 2007, year one of the grant, teachers will focus on Colonial America and Early Encounters between Native and European Americans by visiting the Boston, Salem, Plymouth area. In 2008, the focus will be on “The Making of a Nation” by exploring the Philadelphia area. In 2009, the project will focus on “American Industrialization and the Westward Movement” by focusing on Chicago, which was the fastest growing city of the late 19th Century. K-12 teachers participating in the program will have the chance to work with historical organizations such as the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Historical Society of Philadelphia, and the Chicago Historical Society. Based on their summer experiences, teachers will create and disseminate curricula during the subsequent fall and spring semesters.

The second grant program is called RIGHTS, and is a partnership among CSU-Pueblo, the South Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), the Southeastern Colorado Heritage Center, and the Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center. BOCES provides resources to underserved rural educators who have limited experience and assets outside of their immediate area. RIGHTS will provide professional development services to nine school districts, including Pueblo District 70, and 52 teachers who are responsible for educating 6,314 students in BOCES’ 10,000-square-mile geographical area.

The program will include intensive summer academies, professional learning communities, and history trunks for classrooms in order to raise student achievement by improving teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of traditional American history as a separate academic subject.

The RIGHTS program seeks to improve the professional quality of history education for the serviced districts by utilizing primary, local historical sources to engage both teachers and students in understanding central themes of American history narrative. The examination of artifacts and primary documents provides hands-on experiences for both students and teachers and will highlight the themes and ideas of the narrative while providing a tangible connection to American history which facilitates better retention and extends the learning process. The project will employ the following strategies to increase student achievement in American history:

     1. Five-day intensive summer academies led by professional historians, a faculty of mentor       teachers and visiting scholars.
     2. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) developed for collegial support, collaboration of teaching methods, and the integration of the arts of teaching American history.
     3. History trunks displayed in the classroom for students’ use of primary sources and re-enactment of historical eras.
     4. “Live history performers” portrayed to the students as a documentary with a question and answer period.

Through collaboration and cooperation, CSU-Pueblo, BOCES, and the RIGHTS history project will be able to provide K-12 teachers with extensive primary source documentation that is not generally available to them in their rural environment.



Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.