go to UNC Homego to Ed.govPresidentaial Academy in American History and Civics Education
the Middle Ground Project

The Navajo Education Technology Consortium (NETC) and the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) have joined as partners to manage a five-year grant program from the US Department of Education, entitled "Presidential Academy in American History and Civics Education."

One of only two such programs funded in its initial year (2005), the NETC/UNC collaboration (called the "Middle Ground Project" [MGP]) seeks to recruit up to 25 teachers of middle- and high-school US history and civics for participation in the first year. The MPG hopes to bring a national focus of changes in the teaching of US history and civics to the Navajo nation through access to prominent scholars of these fields; also to practitioners of law and government on the national, state, and local level; and integration of Dine' traditions of history and government into the curriculum.

As a result of this program, the MPG hopes to assist teachers of history and civics on the Navajo Nation to meet the following additional objectives:

  • Increased standards of reading and writing across the curriculum.
  • Establishment of Advanced Placement courses in US history and American Government in schools serving the Navajo Nation.
  • Development of graduate coursework in history and government for teachers on and near the Navajo Nation.
  • Incorporation of Dine’ language and cultural resources into all schools served by the MGP.

Read About the Presidential Academy: Denver Post: June 22, 2007

or listen to KCFR News Story: New Ways to Teach Navajo and American History (Scroll Down to July 31, 2007)

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