We are excited to launch the iCivics Educating for American Democracy (EAD) District Fellowship which will support six middle school U.S. history teachers in three districts to build and implement an 8th grade curriculum that is inquiry-driven and project-embedded, and meets the districts’ state standards, student interests, and local needs.
What the curriculum looks like will be different in each district, but all will be inspired by the EAD framework and designed with the district’s six teacher fellows. After a nationwide application process, three school districts—Jefferson County Public Schools (CO), Santa Fe Public Schools (NM), and Oklahoma City Public Schools (OK)—were selected to participate in the fellowship. Each district’s social studies department will lead all work, in partnership with iCivics.
“OKCPS is excited about the opportunity to partner with iCivics to deepen our commitment and support for teaching history and civics with an inquiry approach and to provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to be engaged citizens in our community.”- Peter Brown, Pk-12 Social Studies Coordinator, Oklahoma City Public Schools
“Building an 8th grade American History curriculum in partnership with iCivics will allow us to provide a comprehensive resource that not only streamlines the work for our teachers but also allows us to highlight the importance for students to understand, explore, and participate in American history and civics. The lesson materials are grounded in social studies but practices aimed at moving social studies education beyond the memorization of facts and into the dynamic operations of civic society.” – Sarah Hurd, K-12 Social Studies Coordinator, Jefferson County Public Schools
“Santa Fe Public Schools is excited to partner with iCivics in the EAD Teacher Fellowship. This year-long project seeks to elevate student learning by providing SFPS teachers with the opportunity to work with a fellowship of educators to develop and deliver inquiry-driven, place-based US History units that are centered around project-based learning and that align with our new state standards.” – Erica Wheeler, Social Studies & Special Projects Coordinator, Sante Fe Public Schools
iCivics is a founding member of the EAD initiative, which resulted in the innovative EAD Roadmap that states, local school districts, and educators can use to transform the teaching of history and civics to meet the needs of a diverse 21st-century K–12 student body.
More information on how teachers can apply for the fellowship within each district can be found below:
- Jefferson County, Colorado: Please contact Sarah Hurd (Sarah.Hurd@jeffco.k12.co.us) for more information.
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Please reach out to Peter Brown (pdbrown@okcps.org) for more information.
- Santa Fe, New Mexico: Please reach out to Erica Wheeler (ewheeler@sfps.k12.nm.us) for more information.
