What is the A More Perfect Union Seminar?
We are a professional development program and opportunity
for public and private school teachers of history and social
studies. The Seminar's purpose is to provide school teachers
with an intensive content-based immersion in traditional
American history. The Seminar is funded by the U.
S. Department of Education's Teaching American History (TAH)
Grant program, which defines "traditional American
history content" as the "significant issues, episodes,
and turning points in the history of the United States;
how the words and deeds of individual Americans have determined
the course of our Nation; and how the principles of freedom
and democracy articulated in the founding documents of this
Nation have shaped America's struggles and achievements
and its social, political, and legal institutions and relations."

Here is the Department of Education's description
of the TAH Grant program:The Teaching American History Grant program
is a discretionary grant program funded under Title II-C,
Subpart 4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The
goal of the program is to support programs that raise student
achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding,
and appreciation of American history.The program supports competitive grants to
local educational agencies. The purpose of these grants is
to promote the teaching of traditional American history in
elementary and secondary schools as a separate academic subject.
Grants are used to improve the quality of history instruction
by supporting professional development for teachers of American
history. In order to receive a grant, a local educational
agency must agree to carry out the proposed activities in
partnership with one or more of the following: institutions
of higher education, nonprofit history or humanities organizations,
libraries, or museums.The Teaching American History Grant program
will support programs to raise student achievement by improving
teachers' knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American
history.Grant awards will assist local educational
agencies (LEAs), in partnership with entities that have extensive
content expertise, to design, implement, and demonstrate effective,
research-based professional development programs.By helping teachers to develop a deeper understanding
and appreciation of American history as a separate subject
matter within the core curriculum, funded programs will improve
instruction and raise student achievement.The goal of this program is to demonstrate
how school districts and institutions with expertise in American
history can collaborate over a three-year period to ensure
that teachers develop the knowledge and skills necessary to
teach traditional American history in an exciting and engaging
way.Through these projects, districts will demonstrate
comprehensive professional development approaches for providing
high-quality American history instruction. Students will develop
an appreciation for the great ideas of American history.
Dr. Peter
H. Gibbon
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