Some good news about the position of geography in the current mark up of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), previously known as NCLB, and now to be called Every Child Achieves:
Initially, geography was mentioned once in the document, but in the portion describing funding, only history and civics were listed.
John Wertman, the AAG’s Director of Public Policy, organized a panel session on the Friday of AAG with Sarah Bednarz; the Secretary of Education of Illinois, Dr. Beth Purvis; and a staffer from Senator Dick Durbin’s office. During that discussion, Sarah had the opportunity to speak to Beth and the staffer about geography’s omission.
Yesterday geography was inserted into the reauthorization, asserting our rightful position in the “social studies.”
If you wish to read the bill, here is a link: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114s1177pcs/pdf/BILLS-114s1177pcs.pdf. The relevant section begins on page 320:
”SEC. 2304. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.
“(a) Purpose.-The purpose of this section is to promote innovative strategies to promote innovative history, civic, and geography instruction, learning strategies, and professional development activities and programs for teachers, principals, and other school leaders, particularly for low-income students in underserved areas.
“(b) In General.-From the funds reserved by the Secretary under section 2301(b)(3), the Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for the purposes of-
“(1) developing, implementing, evaluating and disseminating for voluntary use, innovative, evidenced-based approaches to civic learning, geography, and American history, which may include hands-on civic engagement activities for teachers and low-income students, that demonstrate innovation, scalability, accountability, and a focus on underserved populations; or
“(2) other innovative evidence-based approaches to improving the quality of student achievement and teaching of American history, civics, geography, and government in elementary schools and secondary schools.
“(c) Program Periods and Diversity of Projects.-
“(1) In general.-A grant awarded by the Secretary to an eligible entity under this section shall be for a period of not more than 3 years.
“(2) Renewal.-The Secretary may renew a grant awarded under this section for 1 additional 2-year period.
“(3) Diversity of projects.-In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, grants are distributed among eligible entities that will serve geographically diverse areas, including urban, suburban, and rural areas.
“(d) Applications.-In order to receive a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, and in such manner, and containing such information that the Secretary may reasonably require.
“(e) Eligible Entity.-In this section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an institution of higher education or other nonprofit or for-profit organization with demonstrated expertise in the development of evidence-based approaches for improving the quality of American history, geography, and civics learning and teaching.
