Grantee: Loudon County Schools, Loudon, TN
Project Name: Teaching American History: Tennessee River Valley Consortium (TRVC)
Project Director: Dr. Edward Headlee (865) 458-5411
Funding: $964,297
Number of Teachers Served: No information available
Number of School Districts Served: 10
Number of Students Served: No information available

The TRVC project is a series of eight, one-week summer institutes over a 3-year period. Each summer institute immerses teachers in the content and teaching of American history in correspondence with the 10 historical eras outlined in the 2001 Tennessee curriculum framework, for grades 4, 5, 8, and high school-namely, beginnings to 1619, 1585-1763; 1754-1820, 1801-1861; 1850-1877; 1870-1900; 1890-1930; 1929-1945; 1945-1970s; and contemporary America. In addition, follow-up, six-hour teacher institutes are offered throughout the TRVC region during the academic year. National History Day training workshops for 8th grade and high school teachers focus on themes and topics relevant to the American history taught in the classroom. Special access to ongoing lectures and seminars by historians are sponsored by educational and cultural institutions throughout East Tennessee. Travel incentives are given to encourage attendance and participation in national and statewide conferences sponsored by professional organizations that promote history. Lead teachers guide the grant in mentoring and team building, and a TRVC website and teacher list serve are developed. Project partners include the East Tennessee Historical Society and Museum, the University of Tennessee Department of History, the University of Tennessee Libraries, the Knox County Public Library's Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, and various area historic sites and museums.

Grantee: Wilson County School System, Lebanon, TN
Project Name: Teaching American History: Upper Middle Tennessee History Consortium
Project Director: Carole Bucy (615) 230-3555
Funding: $763,617
Number of Teachers Served: 90
Number of School Districts Served: 12
Number of Students Served: 72,000

As the LEA for 135 rural schools in the consortium, Wilson County Schools will partner with Volunteer State Community College to provide teacher training and a website and with Tennessee State University to provide graduate credit for teachers in grades 4, 5, 8 and high school. Additional collaborators in this professional development effort to improve American history instruction include Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Tennessee State Museum, Close Up Foundation, and Country Music Hall of Fame. Six one-week summer institutes will yearly immerse different groups of participants in the use of primary materials, local history resources and history technology instruction, and participants in years 1-2 will mentor peers. The project includes a seminar held in conjunction with Tennessee Conference of Historians and workshops on integrating National History Day programming into the curriculum. Topics include the American Revolution, Constitution and Early Republic, Market Revolution, Reconstruction, Westward Expansion, Emergence of Modern America, Emergence of America as a World Power, Great Depression, Civil Rights, and World War II.