Minutes of the Committee on Teaching
27 April 2001, Los Angeles, California

Present:  Valinda Littlefield, Kevin Byrne, Patricia Limerick, Michael Regoli, Lee Formwalt.

Others Attending: Uma Venkateswaran, Michael Johanek.

Focus on Teaching Sessions:

The new format inaugurated at the St. Louis meeting seems to be working well: using 2-hour sessions scheduled across the annual meeting, with the Saturday program remaining accessible to a pre-collegiate audience.  The Program Committee allotted 15 slots for Focus on Teaching sessions this year, allowing us to program more sessions covering several audiences of teaching historians.  The committee voted to continue the format and the request for 15 120-minute slots for Focus on Teaching sessions.

Department of Education Grant:

Patty Limerick brought to the committee's attention the $50 million Teaching American History grants program to be supervised by the Department of Education.  She asked for ideas as to how OAH members might help local educational agencies apply for these grants.  Committee members suggested that OAH might utilize the newsletter and/or email pre-collegiate teachers who are OAH members to inform them of the program and offer help from historians in the locality.

Michael Regoli reported that the editorial board of the Magazine continues to explore new avenues for increasing circulation.  OAH will collaborate with AHA and the National Council of History Educators in this regard.  He also mentioned that the readers' survey proved helpful in suggesting new topics for future issues, including imperialism in the Pacific, popular culture (music and film), the New South, and the use of documents in the classroom.

Lee Formwalt reported receiving a letter from James Loewen, author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me," offering to be part of a session on teaching.  It was suggested that he might be a suitable speaker for next year's Focus on Teaching luncheon.

Uma Venkateswaran and Mike Johanek, representing Educational Testing Service, informed the committee about several ETS initiatives involving the teaching of American History--workshops and a web site, among others.  In particular, they addressed the need for college-level graders for the Advanced Placement exam in American History.  This involves a one-week commitment in early June and is a compensated activity.  Committee members suggested that ETS consider inviting history graduate students to participate and that an article in the OAH Newsletter on ETS activities pertinent to American history might help increase the visibility of their efforts.