Ohio Historical Society: Training Teachers to Teach Social Studies

Following years of state budget cuts, Ohio Historical Society programs and activities that serve educators, students, families and other Ohioans are once again threatened by state cutbacks. The most recent version of the two-year state budget that begins July 1 would reduce the state’s investment in your state historical society to the lowest level since 1994! We want you to be aware of what this could mean to preserving and promoting Ohio’s history. With just 9 days left until the beginning of the next fiscal year, the Ohio Historical Society is highlighting each day one important program, activity or historic site jeopardized by the current state budget crisis.

Day 9: Training Teachers to Teach Social Studies

“This has been the most beneficial professional development that I have attended.”  OHS professional development participant 

The Ohio Historical Society currently serves approximately 500 teachers across 73 counties in Ohio’s urban, suburban and rural communities through 15 teacher-training programs. No other program in the state trains as many teachers in social studies. 

These programs leverage minimal state funding to attract nearly $1.1 million from federal and private sources. Collaborative efforts that use the best of what Ohio has to offer, this training involves school districts, educational resource centers, colleges and universities and local libraries, archives, museums and historical societies.

History Lessons

Each training program emphasizes: (1) history content knowledge; (2) access to, analysis and interpretation of primary and secondary source material; (3) methods for incorporating content and resources into standards-aligned instruction; and (4) communication with local academic, historical and curricular resources. These experiences provide grades K-12 social studies teachers the unique opportunity to work directly with professional and academic historians, archaeologists, curators, and archivists exploring scholarship, primary sources materials, and historic sites. 

Teachers who participate in OHS’s teacher professional development programs continually rave about the impact these programs have had on their classrooms.  One teacher stated that her “students have become more engaged and critical in their understanding of US history.”  The focus on primary sources has also helped students become more critical thinkers, and has helped them succeed on state-mandated tests.  According to one participating teacher, “We do a line item analysis of OGT [Ohio Graduation Test] items. My students didn’t miss a single primary source question.” 

Using a rigorous evaluation component, the Ohio Historical Society has seen dramatic increases in: (1) teachers’ history content knowledge; (2) teachers’ ability to access, analysis and use primary sources in the classroom; and (3) student achievement. Additional evidence suggests the training reignites teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching and interest in history by familiarizing them with local resources and people engaged in social studies education across the K-12, university and public history fields and creating lasting community-based partnerships. 

Invest in Education

Training teachers to teach social studies invests in Ohio students and the future of this state. E-mail your legislators and tell that “History Matters!”

Tomorrow: Where can you learn about Ohio’s History at the click of a mouse?