In October 2001, the Gotham Center received a prestigious three-year grant from the
U. S. Department of Education. The History, First Hand project, a partnership with Community School District One (CSD One) and City Lore on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is an innovative model of professional development designed to raise student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding, and awareness of American history. The research-based program was developed to make the study of history more engaging for teachers and students in 3rd to 8th grades. The project enables teachers to teach American history as a distinct subject within the core curriculum and aids teachers in their quest to raise basic student literacy skills. In all phases of the project, teachers and students learn to use the Internet as a research tool and develop digital projects.
In addition to courses, the History, First Hand partnership included:
-- A mentorship
program in which select Community School District One teachers mentored
in their classrooms to develop and field test project ideas for dissemination
-- The future publication History, First Hand, a curriculum resource,
issued both in print and online with project ideas, lesson plans, and
teaching methods
-- Citywide events such as the Gotham Center's Teaching History Conference
held on May 9-10, 2003.
