In this educational partnership to increase the skills and knowledge of eastern Washington teachers, two LEAs are teamed with Eastern Washington University's Living History Institute for Teaching American History, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the National Archives and Records Administration-Pacific Alaska Region, and the Washington State Digital Archives. Major partners have cooperated in two previous TAH projects, and this effort extends the program to a new group of rural teachers. The project involves 60 teachers in yearlong graduate seminars, 100-200 in in-service workshops, and 300 pre-service teachers in summer courses and workshops. Hands-on lessons take place at archives and on field trips. Year 1, focusing on Turning Points, includes teachers in Grades 5 and 7. Year 2, focusing on People and Places (particularly in the Pacific Northwest), includes teachers in Grades 1 through 4. Year 3, focusing on Ideas and Documents, includes teachers in Grades 8 through 12.

Organized around Constitutional history and core concepts, this program aims to promote a thematically linked approach to traditional American history instruction in Grades 5,8, and 11, to build capacity for continued professional development and emphasis on history teaching, and to create opportunities for project replication and expansion in six southwestern Washington counties. Partners include Portland State University's Center for Student Success, the Organization of American Historians, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the Center for the Constitution, Western Washington University, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. During institutes and bimonthly academies during the school year, participants focus on the 19th and 20th Centuries and design classroom-based assessments for testing student learning. Monthly learning team meetings and workshops provide participants with continuous support. Through the lens of the Constitution, spring and summer institutes cover founding documents and principles of American democracy, as well as issues, episodes, and turning points in the 19th Century. Additionally, struggles and achievements during times of crisis in the 20th Century will be covered.

Teachers from rural school districts in elementary, middle, and high schools will receive monthly training led by the LEA in partnership with Central Washington University. Historians leading the project will be based from eight universities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Other partners in this effort to increase teacher content knowledge, boost student achievement in U.S. history, and create sustainable history teaching models are seven museums and four libraries. Participants will receive a personal professional development budget for use on additional American history content training, such as lectures, museums or historic site visits, and workshops. Year 1 topics in history content include Lewis and Clark, Native Americans, the Conservation Movement, 20th century women, migration, foreign policy, and Civil Rights. The project builds on a successful 2003 TAH program.