Innovations Conference Focuses on Real World Classroom Teaching

Gwen Moore

K-12 teachers, university scholars, and public historians from across the country will gather in Al exandria, Virginia, 26-28 June 2003, to address the practical issue of improving the teaching of the past. "Innovations in Collaboration: A School-University Model to Enhance History Education, K-16" is a joint venture sponsored by the nation's leading purveyors of history education: the Organization of American Historians (OAH), the American Historical Association (AHA), and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). Together, they have assembled a representative body of experienced history professionals, from all levels and varieties of venues, to present a sampling of model programs that enhance the knowledge and skills of classroom instructors and heighten student achievement.

The overall goal of the conference is to draw attention to exemplary collaborations with a focus on what is useful and what works in the classroom. Conference sessions will emphasize winning strategies that foster fruitful connections between teachers at the collegiate and the precollegiate levels. The sessions will also highlight links between schools and universities and the resources of museums and park sites. These shared efforts have resulted in demonstrable gains, namely, more creative and effective teaching and the promotion of a more seamless K-16 learning experience.

Eric Foner, Columbia University historian and one of the foremost proponents of school/university/public history partnerships, will deliver the keynote address Thursday evening on the timely and pressing topic of teaching history after September 11. Thirty-four concurrent sessions follow on Friday and Saturday reflecting the expansive range of fresh and inventive thought and practice characteristic, of the exceptional projects that participants represent. Session titles, such as "Enlivening American History," "Exciting Students about History," "Integrating Technology in the History Classroom," "Exemplary Professional Development Models," and "Building Successful Strategies to Improve History Learning," typify the kinds of relevant and current concerns participants propose to examine. John Patrick and Sarah Drake will also present the results of the ambitious Fifty-State Survey, a comprehensive compilation and analysis of the history standards of the fifty individual states, undertaken at the behest of the conference sponsors.

"Innovations in Collaboration" anticipates a collegial gathering of peers and aims to transcend boundaries and grapple with the real world of the history classroom and the real interests and needs of students and teachers. To register or view the program online, visit the OAH website at <http://www.oah.org/meetings/>.