AHA Survey Finds RRCHNM’s Teachinghistory.org and History Matters to be Top Resources for K-12 Teachers

A recent survey of K-12 social studies teachers by the American Historical Association finds that Teachinghistory.org remains a frequently used resource with 56 percent reporting that they used the site. Funded by the Department of Education from 2008 to 2012 and directed by former Director of Educational projects Kelly Schrum, Teachinghistory.org (initially known as the National History Education Clearinghouse) is a central online location for accessing high-quality resources in K-12 U.S. history education.

In addition to featuring historical content for all grade levels on a wide variety of topics, Teachinghistory.org emphasizes the skills that historians use to analyze primary source evidence. A variety of materials on the site have historians modeling how they approach sources such as maps, editorial cartoons, speeches, photographs, memorials, among many others. Other resources feature expert K-12 teachers demonstrating strategies for using these sources and analysis techniques in a classroom setting. 

Remarkably, the survey also showed that History Matters – a foundational project for RRCHNM that began in 1998 directed by Roy Rosenzweig in collaboration with Joshua Brown and Stephen Brier of American Social History Project – is still used by 19 percent of the teachers surveyed. The longevity of these RRCHNM projects is a testament to both the quality of the materials and the commitment by RRCHNM to sustain these important resources to ensure that they are available for K-12 teachers who need them.