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History
department receives grant Public Forum Editor
During
a budget crunch, a $772,053 grant is appreciated all the more. Necessity
is the mother of invention, said Dr. Larry Cebula, associate
professor of history. The
recent budget cuts led the social science department to seek funding
from outside sources. The
U.S. Department of Education recently awarded a Teaching American
History grant, Ozarks and the Nation, to Missouri Southern and Carl
Junction R-1 School District and the Southwest Center for Educational
Excellence, a partnership of area schools. Area
high school teachers will come to seminars and summer institutes taught
by college faculty. The teachers will learn about specific fields of
American history and develop teaching materials that are appropriate for
high school students. Congress
decided American high school kids didn t know as much about American
history as they should, sadly, Cebula said, and Congress decided
that the reason for that was most American high school teachers didn't
know as much about American history as they should, because most of
their preparation is in education not in their content area. In
a Sept. 17 speech, President George W. Bush stressed the importance of
teaching American history. Today,
our children have large and disturbing gaps in their knowledge of
history, Bush said. Recent studies tell us that nearly one in five
high school seniors think that Germany was an ally of the United States
in World War II. Twenty-eight percent of eighth graders do not know the
reason why the Civil War was fought. One-third of fourth graders do know
know what it means to pledge allegiance to the flag. Graduating
seniors at some of our leading colleges and universities cannot
correctly identify words from the Gettysburg Address, or do not know
that James Madison is the father of the Constitution. Of
the 469 applications for the grant, 114 of those projects were funded in
39 states and the District of Columbia. Grants range in size from
$19,000 to $1 million for three-year projects. The
program is designed to raise student achievement by strengthening
teachers knowledge, understanding and appreciation of American
history, Cebula said. A
leadership team composed of all partner representatives will guide the
planning of the local project. Team members from the Southwest Center
for Educational Excellence will include Marilyn Rowe, project director;
Bob Collier, director of the Center; and Julie Riley, professional
development coordinator for the project. Cebula
and Dr. Paul Teverow, professor of history, will represent Southern.
Cebula will serve as the coordinator for organizing and delivering
historical content information and training for the teachers. The
goal of the grant is to get more content knowledge and more historical
knowledge for the teachers, Cebula said. Thirty
teachers of American history from 42 districts (members of the Southwest
Center for Educational Excellence) will be selected to participate in
the project during each of the first two years and 15 the last year. The
competitive application process for teachers will include a letter of
recommendation from their building principal and a cover letter
detailing interest, commitment and qualification for participation in
the project. Not
only will area schools benefit from this grant, but the College will
gain much needed materials. This
gives us the opportunity to get new teaching technology that will
certainly be necessary for this project but will also be used in our
classes so students will benefit, Teverow said. At
a time when we have received diminishing state appropriations, the books
and other educational resources we will receive will help to replace
those resources that we wouldn't otherwise be getting. |