MCHE is pleased to announce that William Pretzer will be our Keynote speaker for the 17th Annual MCHE conference.

Bill Pretzer is Senior Curator for History at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is overseeing the development of the museum’s inaugural history collections and exhibitions. From 2006 to 2009, he served as Director of the Museum of Cultural & Natural History as well as Director of the Museum Studies Program and Associate Professor of History at Central Michigan University. Prior to that, he spent 21 years as a curator and educator at The Henry Ford in Dearborn. Bill also was instrumental in the creation of the Henry Ford Academy, a public charter high school at the museum.
In addition to museum-sponsored publications on Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and industrial history, he is the author of articles and book chapters on museum practice, technology education, design history, and the history of labor and technology in the printing trade.
Bill has served on the boards of the Allen Park Public Schools, Michigan Museums Association, Michigan Council for History Education and National Commission for Technology Education. He currently serves as a
member of the selection committee for the Lawrence W. Levine Award for the Best Book in Cultural History for the Organization of American Historians. Bill received his BA from Stanford University in 1972 and his
Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University in 1986.

Please join us on Thursday, November 4, 2010 at the Ramada Inn in Lansing, Michigan.

This year’s conference theme is:  “Bringing History Home: Local Stories, Global Context”
This year’s MCHE conference theme explores the teaching and learning of history in different sites including classrooms (elementary, middle, high school), museums, and other public history sites. The theme also explores how connections are made in these sites between local, state, national, and global histories, as well as the connections between literacy and teaching history. MCHE welcomes proposals that address this broad theme as well as submissions addressing other aspects of history education.

To download a CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM ONLY, click here.

The Michigan Council for History Education is thrilled to announce the selection of James K. Cameron, Saline High School social studies instructor, and the Michigan recipient of the prestigious  2010 Preserve America HISTORY TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the Michigan Council for History Education.

With nearly 40 years classroom experience, Cameron is also an active leader in community and state history organizations.  He is an active member of the Saline Area Historical Society, the Michigan Oral History Association, the Historical Society of Michigan, where he chairs the Education Committee, and the Michigan Council for History Education.  He has been MCHE Executive Director since 2000. During that time, he has established the Annette & Jim McConnell Award for Excellence in the Teaching of History, has overseen publication of a quarterly newsletter and a monthly e-newsletter, had coordinated various student contests and projects, and has spearheaded the organization of an annual statewide conference for history educators.

He is chair of the Saline High School Social Studies Department and has served on various Michigan Department of Education Task Forces and committees. His work with MDE includes writing objectives, test items for assessment and curriculum development.

Cameron has also taught as adjunct Professor at Eastern Michigan University, the University of Michigan, and Madonna University.  He frequently is a consultant for Teaching American History grants in school districts across the United States.

His publications include: “Immigration to Saline and Michigan”; “Forging the Peninsulas” (advisor to author);  “ Tests for Forging the Peninsulas,” author; “Michigan Teacher,” newsletter of the Center for Teaching Michigan History, editor; “Ends and Beginnings,” newsletter of the Michigan Council for History  Education, editor; and  Voices Over The Valley, An Oral History of the Saline Valley Farms, Author. 2004.  He is currently doing research on the history of Blaney Park in the Upper Peninsula.

His undergraduate degree is from Kalamazoo College and he holds two Master’s Degrees from Eastern Michigan University.

The History Teacher of the Year Award, under the rubric of Preserve America, recognizes outstanding American history teachers from elementary school through high school, and the crucial importance of American history education. Finalists are selected from each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools, and U.S. Territories. These winners, in turn, become finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year designation.

Two Michigan schools received federally funded Teaching American History Awards for 2010, Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District and Montcalm Area Intermediate School District.

Teaching American History Awards are designed to raise student achievement by improving teachers’ knowledge and understanding of and appreciation for traditional U.S. history. Grant awards will assist local educational agencies, in partnership with entities that have content expertise, to develop, document, evaluate, and disseminate innovative and cohesive models of professional development. By helping teachers to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of U.S. history as a separate subject matter within the core curriculum, these programs will improve instruction and raise student achievement.

For more information on Teaching American History Awards, please see http://www2.ed.gov/programs/teachinghistory/index.html

It is the middle of August and many of our teachers are revising and creating lesson plans. A wonderful resource for teachers in Michigan is the lesson plans creating by teachers at Wayne County RESA and Genesee ISD through a grant given to MCHE by the Library of Congress. These lesson plans are designed for teachers in grades K-12 and provide dynamic teaching that meets the state curriculum requirements.

To access the lesson plans created at the Wayne RESA/Genesee ISD MCHE workshop, please visit:

http://educationextras.com/LibraryofCongressLessons.html

With the release of the names of successful Teaching American History grant applications in the current round of competition (including two successful applications from Michigan) also comes unsettling news that the Obama administration plans to consolidate this vital and popular program into a large competitive class of grants involving language arts, literacy, history, geography — call it the “anything but math and science” category, labeled “Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education.” TAH would disappear into this larger program.

The National Coalition for History is spearheading an effort to preserve the TAH program, and it is supported by all the major historical professional organizations, who signed a consensus recommendation released by ASCD in support of maintaining distinct funding streams for distinct disciplines. Our parent organization, the National Council for History Education, is lobbying to preserve TAH intact.  TAH has been a major source of innovation and professional development for Michigan history teachers at all levels.  We urge professionals and interested citizens to take an interest in the fate of this program and inform their representatives accordingly.

Michigan Council for History Education has joined the Michigan Museum Association. The MMA provides services that promote the growth and professionalism of the Michigan museum community and advocates on its behalf. The MMA’s vision is to be practically and powerfully relevant to every museum in Michigan as well as its staff and volunteers by:

* offering a full range of superlative services on a year-round, statewide basis maintaining the core values and thereby engaging the larger membership;
* expanding staff, diversifying the board, and achieving sufficient financial resources;
* developing the economic and political clout needed to establish MMA as an effective and valued partner in Michigan’s cultural, educational and tourism agendas.

According to the Michigan Department of Education, the latest Michigan Merit Exams shows that Social Studies saw a decline in test scores, with 79% scoring proficient or advanced compared to 81% the previous year and 83% in 2007.

According to the MDE, “The rigorous state high school graduation requirements signed into state law four years ago are paying off with higher test scores.” Michigan high school students are continuing to improve their performance on the Michigan Merit Examination (MME), which includes the ACT college entrance test.  The percentage of students scoring in the proficient or advanced categories was at its highest level ever in four subject areas: math, science, reading, and writing.

Likewise, the more than 110,000 students taking the MME this spring scored an average 19.3 on the ACT portion of the test, marking the third consecutive year with an increase (up from 19.0 in 2009 and 18.8 in 2008).

“Four years ago we created a college prep curriculum for high school students with the goal of doubling the number of college graduates in Michigan,” said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.  ”We must have a well-educated workforce if Michigan is to compete globally and attract jobs and investment here.  These test scores show student performance is improving which is the best proof that the more rigorous curriculum is working.”

Recommended to the Legislature by the State Board of Education, the state high school graduation requirements include four credits each of math and English language arts; three credits each of science and social studies; two credits of world language; one credit each of health/physical education and visual/performing arts; and one online course.

The high school juniors who took the Michigan Merit Exam this past spring are the first students required by law to complete the new high school requirements in order to graduate. The two-credit world language requirement first takes effect for the graduating class of 2016.

While acknowledging that scoring at a “proficient” level equates to having only a basic understanding of the subject content, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan is encouraged by the early results of the new high school graduation requirements.

“We were confident that when all students were taught the rigorous subject content, like Algebra II and chemistry, they would be able to learn the basic concepts, if not more,” said Flanagan, the original architect of the state’s rigorous graduation requirements. “This is a very positive trend and shows hope for the future.”

Flanagan added that younger students will benefit even more as Michigan continues to ratchet-up its college- and career-ready standards.

For more on the MME results, click here.

On June 25, 2010, the Michigan Department of Education has released a “Top to Bottom” ranking of public schools in Michigan, based on student achievement data from 2007-09.

Math and English Language Arts test scores showing student achievement and academic growth from the 2007-09 school years are the basis for the rankings. This is not the list that will be used to identify the “lowest five percent,” as prescribed in the state’s new school reform laws. That list will come out later this summer.

“We wanted to show communities how their schools measure up with other schools across the state,” said state Superintendent Mike Flanagan. “We don’t want the focus of education to be just on the lowest performing schools, but also on those schools that are excelling.”

Flanagan encouraged communities to find their schools on the list and have open discussions with their school districts on where they go from here to ensure the highest quality education for their children.

Access the Michigan Schools Top to Bottom Ranking at:

www.michigan.gov/mde-schoolranking

REGIONAL PLANNING MEETING
REPS FROM STATES AND PROVIDENCE GATHER TO PLAN WAR OF 1812 COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS

July 1, 2010

Lansing, Mich. — On Friday, June 18 at the Dossin Museum on Detroit’s Belle Isle, representatives of states, provinces, and national organizations gathered for the first regional planning conference focusing on the bicentennial commemorative events surrounding the War of 1812. The meeting was hosted by the Michigan Commission for the Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Representatives from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and the Province of Ontario attended with the goal of coordinating efforts in order to appropriately honor those who sacrificed their present for our collective future during the War of 1812.

The American Sail Training Association Executive Director, Bert Rogers, attended from Newport, Rhode Island, speaking to the role of Tall Ships on the Great Lakes from 2012 through 2014. Ron Dale of Parks Canada and Kym Shouldice, Manager of Celebration and Commemoration Directorate Canadian Heritage, attended to represent the Canadian government’s War of 1812 Bicentennial plans. Representatives from Put-in-Bay and other historic sites were also present.

Those in attendance were encouraged by a high level of enthusiasm and another meeting was scheduled for October 1, 2010, at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Monument on Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie.

“My appreciation for the efforts of fellow Commissioners James McConnell and Dennis Moore, both of whom worked to assure a great agenda and superb attendance,” said Phil Porter, commission chairman and director of Mackinac State Historic Parks.
The following day, attendees took tours of historic sites in the area which may play a role in commemorating upcoming events, including Fort Detroit, the battlefields of Brownstown, Monguagon, River Raisin and Fort Meigs.

The conference unfolded on the 198th Anniversary of the Declaration of War by the United States upon England, for reasons stemming from the impressments of American sailors, trade grievances, and American War Hawks with designs upon that part of England then known as “Upper Canada,” now Ontario. Those residing in what is now Michigan found themselves on the front lines, testing the loyalties and determining the futures of those with French, English, Native and American bloodlines and cultural ties.

For a copy of the meeting summary, visit www.michigan.gov/war1812.

According to the National Trust for History Preservation, the Saugatuck Dunes, in the Village of Saugatuck on the West Michigan shoreline is one of eleven spots in the United States considered to be the most endangered. The National Trust for Historic Preservation said that the Saugatuck Dunes are:

“It is an area of striking beauty. Along the shores of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, the 2,500 acres that comprise the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Area boast a sparsely-developed landscape of spectacular beach, rare freshwater dunes, water, woods and wetlands; habitat to several endangered species; and home to a large number of significant historic and archeological sites. Nestled into the rolling dunes are the 100-year old Ox-Bow School of Art (part of the Chicago Art Institute), several 19th century summer camps and cottage communities, America’s oldest operational hand-cranked chain ferry, and one of only a handful of remaining dune rides. In addition to Native American grounds and trails, an old lighthouse cottage and century-old pilings from an early fishing village, the area contains “Michigan’s Pompeii,” the buried remains of Singapore, an early 19th century mill town and port.”

For more information on the status of the Saugatuck Dunes and the other ten most-endangered sites, please see the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s page.