History gets $1 million boost

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, April 4, 2008

It’s been more than 30 years since Tom Uvaas started teaching social studies in Fergus Falls public schools, but his passion for history is as strong as ever.

“I think you need to know your roots,” he said. “You need to know the heritage of your country. I think that’s very important.”

So does Lakes Country Service Cooperative (LCSC), which has been awarded nearly $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education to enhance students’ history achievement by training teachers.

LCSC is the recipient of one of 121 Teaching American History grants distributed nationwide. Over the course of three years, LCSC will receive just under $1 million to build on teachers’ knowledge of traditional American history via content seminars, lectures and meetings with other teachers and administrators.

The project is a collaboration between LCSC, Minnesota State University Moorhead and the Minnesota Historical Society, said Jeremy Kovash, LCSC executive director. LCSC began the application process late last summer after Kovash learned of the history grants through a former teacher.

Working with staff from MSUM and Moorhead Public Schools — where Lynne Kovash is assistant superintendent — LCSC completed the application by late fall and heard of its acceptance last week.

“With that dollar amount, you can imagine it’s very, very competitive,” said Kovash, who estimated the history grants had attracted thousands of applicants.

Now that LCSC is set to receive a grant, the real work begins, Kovash said. Staff must meet to come up with a work plan that will benefit the roughly 50 private schools, public school districts and colleges LCSC serves.

The details of that plan are still being established, Kovash said, but one component will include the use of professional learning communities.

“A professional learning community is a collaboration of sharing and working together for a common goal,” he said. “Part of the plan would be, for example, to get one to three teachers from different districts together.”

MSUM will provide the pedagogy and instructional content for secondary school teachers, Kovash said, while the Minnesota Historical Society will help coordinate resources like training and summer institutes.

“We’re very excited,” Kovash said.

History is one of the subjects included in the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the U.S. Department of Education, a nationwide history assessment in 2006 showed some overall improvement in history performance in the three grade levels tested — four, eight and 12. Yet the exam, called the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also shows less than one-quarter of students are performing at the proficiency level for American history.