In cooperation with historians from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, American History Master Teachers, the Martha Ross Center for Oral History, the Maryland State Archives, and the Maryland Historical Society, BCPS will train 30 U.S. history teachers in under-performing schools in Grades 4, 5, and 11 (ten from each grade) to become Master Teachers. Participants will attend graduate-level summer institutes, eight Saturday workshops during the school year, and national history education conferences, and will publish lesson plans while being trained to mentor and support other teachers. Year 1 focuses on Great Books and research, and Year 2 on research and primary source investigations in the classroom, covering such topics as Colonial America, Slavery and Freedom in the 19th Century, and the 1900-1945 period. Year 3, which deals with the American Revolution, Civil War and Reconstruction, and the U.S. after 1945, will focus on historical writing.