State

K-12 Education Offerings

Alaska

Supporting current Web site http://www.library.state.ak.us/goldrush/HOME.HTM, which consists of a teaching curriculum and lesson plan plus primary documents; assistance to other teachers developing similar Web sites.

Colorado

A new book was just published Go To The Source, Discovering 20th Century U.S. History Through Colorado Documents.

Connecticut

No activity in this area at this time.

Florida

The Florida State Archives' Florida Memory Project (http://FloridaMemory.com) provides educational resources for teachers and students online. This site uses archival documents that support curriculum requirements and guidelines outlined in the Sunshine State Standards (standards set by the Florida Department of Education that identify what students should know and be able to do after they complete specific grades). 

Georgia

Currently we have no formal programming for K-12 educators, but we are working on having programs in the future, collaborating with another division (Capitol Education Center) within the Secretary of State’s office.

Kansas

Major IMLS project to digitize territorial materials and place them on Web site.  Also completed new curriculum on forts, and others are planned.

Louisiana

We occasionally provide school groups and teachers with copies of original records. Future plans include expansion of our Web site to include inventory of resources and educational aids.

Maine

We coordinate Maine National History Day, stressing the value of primary sources.  Our History Day Web site includes links to local repositories with  primary sources of potential value to students.  We have begun a special project to demonstrate the value of Maine State Archives' records in documenting Maine towns on our Web site at http://www.state.me.us/sos/arc/edu/turner/intro.htm .

We have participated in workshops for history teachers sponsored by the University of Maine, in which we remind participants of the value of, and opportunity for, using archival material in the classroom.

The Michigan Historical Center/State Archives are working with the Michigan Department of Education on the "Big History project." Several participating teachers spend one week each with their respective classes (third - fifth grades) in the Michigan Historical Center. The classes study history using the exhibits/holdings of the Historical Museum, Archeology, Historical Preservation and the State Archives. Each class visits the State Archives for a one-hour class/tour where they are introduced to primary materials such as documents, photographs, maps, etc. including those that reflect the local history of the school's community.

The State Archives lists on its web page primary resources that may serve as a foundation, or references to augment, a National History Day project.

Missouri

“Teaching with Documents” is a curriculum package available to all educators with particular emphasis on secondary students.  The material is built around forty primary sources held in collections at the Missouri State Archives.  This teaching tool is available on the Web at http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/teaching/modocs.asp

A “Family History Workshops” was held March 17, 2001, at the Archives to familiarize the public with the study of family history in general, and the particular genealogical resources available at the Missouri State Archives.

An on-going school partnership exists with Belair Elementary in Jefferson City: Archives staff visit fourth grade classrooms to introduce students to the concept of an archives, familiarize students with the holdings of the Missouri State Archives, and initiate discussion of family history research at the appropriate student level.  Students later visit the Archives for an in-depth tour of facilities, use of microfilm, lab experiments with conservators, and lessons in how to approach original documents to gain the greatest amount of information.

The Missouri State Archives is the official sponsor of History Day in Missouri, Region IV.  Participating students are encouraged to utilize primary sources in their research, writing, and presentations.  The Friends of the Missouri State Archives present $100 award to the student who best uses the Archives’ collections for this competition. 

During guided tours given throughout the year, hundreds of students (kindergarten through advanced college-level) view the Archives’ facilities to learn about preserving and making available for research Missouri’s documented heritage. 

Discussion is underway between the Missouri State Archives and Jefferson City Public Schools to coordinate an educational component for secondary students concerning the upcoming Missouri State Archives’ exhibit on the 150-year history of the State Mental Hospital in Fulton, Missouri.  Communication with secondary science, social science and fine arts teachers, and curriculum and instruction staff, will take place in the near future to develop opportunities for students to participate creatively with the exhibit’s themes.

Montana

Montana Historical Society Archives Web site currently has one exhibit for using a document, several more are in the works.

Nebraska

Nebraska Teachers Institue--a two-week, graduate-level course offered to teachers to train them in using primary source materials in their classes. 

In conjunction with Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) producing a digitization project on homesteading and early settlement which should be "up" in Spring 2001.

Nevada

The Department of Museums, Library and Arts produced a Nevada History CD-ROM which includes historical photographs, documents, maps, speeches, oral histories, video clips, diary excerpts, etc.  It is interactive and will be available to schools Fall 2001.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Historical Society has just published packages of materials to be given out to teachers on the teaching of New Hampshire history, including much from the State Archives on primary source materials use.

New Mexico

No activity in this area at this time.

New York

New York has garnered significant private support for work in this area. Have an Education Endowment in the Foundation.

Have Web-based training for teachers and resources for classrooms.
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/nysaservices/ns_educational.shtml

In 2002 will co-sponsor the National Council for History Education.

In addition to providing resources to teachers and students visiting the Search Room, State Archives staff work with the office of the Director, Division of Archives and History, in promoting and carrying out "History Day." The division offers training seminars annually to high school history teachers (usually 2 per year).

North Dakota

The State Historical Society has an education department within the Museum and Education division. The most popular items are the Suitcase Exhibits for North Dakota (SEND) trunks, which are subject-based and contain both documents (especially photographs) and artifacts. They have teacher guides included.

Oklahoma

The State Archives Division is working closely with the department’s Web development office to make additional materials and information available over the Web.  Indicative of this commitment to public outreach is the State Archives presence on the National History Day Web site.  As of today, Oklahoma is one of seven states that have contributed to “Sites Specifically Created For National History Day Researchers.” 

Pennsylvania

The State Archives has hosted local high school classes for tours and presentations on the use archives and primary sources.  Our staff has also made presentations at the annual meetings of the state’s Social Studies Council regarding our holdings.

The State Archives plans to make primary sources available on the Web to be utilized by teachers in presenting Pennsylvania history at the various grade levels.

South Carolina

South Dakota

Publicize resource available through brochure, list sources on Web site for History Day competition, provide workshops to students/teachers on conducting genealogy search in archives.

Tennessee

No activity in this area at present.

Texas

No activity in this area at present.

Utah

No activity in this area at present.

Vermont

In terms of K-12 education and the use of primary materials the Archives has several efforts underway  The addition of primary source documents will expand the possibilities of these sites as tools for educators and students.

As part of its on going effort to demonstrate to legislators that archival records are a resource for their deliberations the Archives has posted both general historical government information:
http://vermont-archives.org/
and then specific archives based information on issues being debated by the general assembly and public:
http://vermont-archives.org/governance/govern.htm
and we make our presentations on various topics available:
http://vermont-archives.org/talks/contents.htm

As time allows more primary records will be incorporated into these sites.  Since our experience suggests that the target audience (legislators and other government officials) are not likely to review individual documents, the initial presentations focus on archives based contextual summaries.

We have attempted to incorporate archival documents into the new social studies standards adopted for the State.  We have participated in a couple of workshops demonstrating how such documents can be used to provide contending viewpoints on continuing issues in order to encourage not only the interpretation of records, but also the ability to conduct record based dialogues where the students have to resolve questions based on these continuing issues.  The workshops focused on young adults and voting with the debate  question built around a 1919 proposal amendment to the Vermont Constitution compulsory (the questions was changed to, should voting be mandatory for 18-25 year olds in order to develop voter participation habits?).  Documents, including the 1919 proposal were included from debates over the right to vote (women, for example) as well as studies from the 1930s to 1990s on the low turnout among young voters. 

A proposal for funding the further development of such archives-issues-dialogue packets was not funded, but will be resubmitted.

Virginia

The Library's Educational Programs Coordinator, in cooperation with other staff, has produced an elementary-level educator's guide, Virginia: The History and Culture of a Commonwealth.  This guide, based on original documents from Virginia's history, enables teachers to help students interpret and analyze the people, places, and events of the state's past.  Lesson plans based on the Library's quarterly history magazine, Virginia Cavalcade, and a variety of other educational resources are available on the Library's Web site http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/k12/index.htm.  Members of the Archives Research Services staff are currently formulating guidelines for teachers bringing classes to the Library, and work with groups to provide the best possible research experience.

Washington

Participate in National History Day.  A Web site is in development to show key documents.

Wisconsin

No activity in this area at present in the State Archives itself.

State Historical Society of Wisconsin has resources available in the School Services section of its Web site at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/oss/

Wyoming

When requested, information and duplicate records are provided to both in-state and out-of-state school children and educators.  Our Web site http://wyoarchives.state.wy.us/ lists information about some of the resources that are available and how they can be obtained.  Tours and in-house class projects are conducted for schools, when they are requested and can be accommodated.