In 2001, the federal government launched the Teaching American History Grant (TAH) program with the goal of supporting funding of programs that raised student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American history. The program was largely the inspiration of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who expressed concern about the state of American history teaching in the nation’s K-12 schools and urged his Senate colleagues to take action.
That first year, the U.S. Department of Education awarded 60 grants worth approximately $60 million to school districts and their project partners across the nation. Since then, the TAH program has increased the level of funding and the number of proposals accepted, with 114 projects funded in 2002, another 114 in 2003, 122 in 2004, and 129 in 2005. The purpose of these grants is to promote the teaching of traditional American history in elementary and secondary schools as a separate academic subject. Grantees typically receive up to $1 million over a three-year period. The program demonstrates 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.
To date, 20 TAH grants have been awarded to Ohio school districts or educational service centers and their partners, which include universities and colleges, museums, historic sites, and libraries.
Submissions from 2005
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Introduction, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 1: Social Studies Skills and Methods, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 2: Geography, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 3: Native Americans, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 4: Exploration, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 5: Colonization, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 6: American Revolution, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 7: Government and Citizenship, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 8: 1850-1930 Issues, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 5th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 9: Modern Issues, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Introduction, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 1: The First Global Age, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 2: American Revolution, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 3: The U. S. Constitution, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 4: A New Nation, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 5: Growth and Expansion, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 6: Manifest Destiny, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 7: Road to Civil War, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 8: Civil War, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 8th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 9: Reconstruction, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Introduction, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 10: American History 1970-1980, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 11: American History 1980-Today, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 1: American History 1877-1900, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 2: American History 1900-1910 Industrialization and Labor, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 3: American History 1900-1910 Immigration and Urbanization, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 4: American History 1900-1920, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 5: American History 1920-1930, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 6: American History 1930-1940, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 7: American History 1940-1950, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 8: American History 1950-1960, Dayton Public Schools
Dayton Public Schools 9th Grade Social Studies Instructional Guide. Dayton Teaching American History. Unit 9: American History 1960-1970, Dayton Public Schools
Federalism and the Constitution: Grade 8 Lesson Plan, Flo Tigner
Submissions from 2003
American Labor Movement: Lesson Plan for Grade 10
Four Wheels to Survival: Civil Defense During the Cold War. Lesson plan for grades 9 and 10
Genealogy Project: Lesson Plan for Grade 10
Mapping Ethnic Neighborhoods: Lesson Plan for Grade 10
Oral History Project: Lesson Plan for Grade 10
Americans On the Move: Grade 5 American History Lesson Plan, Timothy Binkley
Moving Along: Learning American History at Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretative Center/Wright Memorial: Grade 5 Field Trip Model, Timothy Binkley
So Many Inventions, So Little Time: Learning American History at Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center/Hoover Block: Grade 5 Field Trip Model, Timothy Binkley
The Making of a Poet and a People. Learning American History at Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial: Grade 9 (10) Field Trip Model, Timothy Binkley
They Changed the World: Learning American History at Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center / Hoover Block: Grade 9 (10) Field Trip Model, Timothy Binkley
Comparing the Founding Documents: Grade 7 Lesson Plan, Joy Bishop
Science and Urban Life: Enter the Automobile. Lesson Plan for Grades 9 and 10, John Bowers
We're Finally on our Own: May 4, 1970. Lesson Plan for Grades 9 and 10, John Bowers
Kent State and the Vietnam War Protest Movement: Lesson Plan for Grade 10, Matt Doran
Remembering Vietnam Veterans: Lesson Plan for Grade 10, Matt Doran
Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence: The Man and the Document. 8th Grade Lesson Plan, Lillian D. Drakeford
Changing American Values: Victorian vs. Modern America in Catalogs: Lesson Plan for Grade 10, Carl Hopple
Charles Young Photographs: Grades 9 and 10 Lesson Plan, Jenny Plemel
Twentieth Century Civil Rights/Freedom Summer: Lesson Plan for Grade 10, Jenny Plemel
African Americans in the Civil War: Grade 8 Lesson Plan, Bill Sigg
Freedom and Prosperity: Lesson Plan for Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, Kay Slone
Amistad Incident: Grade 8 American History Lesson Plan, Flo Tigner
Underground Railroad (Freedom Train): 8th Grade Lesson Plan, Flo Tigner
