Collaborative Local History and Action Civics

Now Accepting Applications for Year Two Cohort - See Below

How can your students connect across the country to share and learn from each other's local histories and civic action? (Leer en español(link is external))

Map of USA with hypothetical classroom locations connected by lines representing collaboration

We're looking for teachers, district administrators, and other educators interested in working with the Collaborative Local History and Action Civics program. This program aims to connect classrooms from different regions through the study and sharing of local history, issues, and events to inform possible local civic engagement.

Guided by student interest, the program is flexibly designed to take many forms: exploring facets of local indigenous history, researching patterns of segregation and discrimination within communities across time, examining the local impact of climate change, or studying significant events that marked shifts in power or ushered in significant change.

Teachers will integrate concepts and pedagogies from critical historical inquiry, Ethnic Studies and the Integrated Action Civics framework into their course curriculum throughout the year. Students will then apply these concepts and analytical strategies in their local historical research and action projects.

Teachers and students will meet and work with another classroom exploring similar themes in a different part of the country. Through Zoom sessions, shared documents, and other digital platforms, groups of students will present, discuss, compare and contrast their local histories. Students will then collaborate in addressing and acting on contemporary issues and events within and across their communities. 

District administrators can support this work by sharing this program with teachers who may be interested, or by incorporating this framework into their curricular offerings and trainings.

Note: This project is a collaboration between the Integrated Action Civics Project and Dr. Brad Fogo from San Francisco State University who initiated and leads its development. We encourage interested educators to apply to participate or contact us for further information.

(NOTE: This web page is in devleopment. Check back for updates and additional scaffolds and examples)

Recruitment Announcement

Join our Year Two Teacher Cohort!!

We are looking for middle and high school History, Social Studies, and Ethnic Studies teachers throughout the country to participate in a collaborative local history project for the 2026-27 school year.

Curriculum, instruction, and professional development will be supported throughout this program with funding from the Library of Congress.

Stipend for completing the program: $2,500  INTERESTED? APPLY HERE by April 17, 2026

TEACHER OPPORTUNITY - LEARN MORE

Program Components - Teachers will:

  • Participate in a 3-Day summer institute June 29-July 1, 2026.
  • Participate in 3 Saturday planning workshops: 2026-2027  school year (dates tbd).
  • Develop and teach an approximately two-week long collaborative local history unit or lesson set.
  • Participate in planning sessions with your partner teacher as needed.
  • Participate in 2 coaching sessions during the 2026-27 school year.
  • Participate in one follow-up session to debrief and reflect upon work and plan for possible future collaboration.
  • Overall estimated time commitment beyond classroom teaching: approximately 35-40 hours.
CLHAC Framework Image - Show US map with stars on US cities that are connected by lines. Text overlay: Investigate Common Themes. Students research and share local histories

Program Goals and Components

Through workshops and structured collaboration time, teachers participate in cross-regional planning to discuss, learn, and develop materials and strategies for classroom collaborations. Students research local histories connected to national historical themes and issues. Through Zoom sessions, shared documents, and other digital platforms, classrooms of students present, discuss, compare and contrast their local histories

PROGRAM GOALS

The primary goals for this project are to:

  • Engage with Local Communities: Students work with and learn from local community leaders, organizations, museums and other institutions throughout the program.

  • Collaborate Across Regions: Facilitate national, cross-regional collaboration among classrooms to elevate overarching themes and share local particularities. Connect students that are too often regionally siloed and disconnected from, or even at odds with, each other. 

  • Develop Critical Historical Literacy: Students identify and question traditional dominant historical narratives and elevate counter-narratives through the voices from marginalized communities.
  • Reframe US and World History: Support teachers and students in reframing their history curriculum to elevate the related contemporary, local, and indigenous histories and issues.

  • Empower Students for Civic Engagement: Develop and share knowledge and skills of civic empowerment. Strategize collaboratively, act locally.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

The program is made up of the following elements:

  • Classroom Collaboration: Teachers pair with teachers from other classrooms in different regions and demographics. We seek to form connections across political and cultural realities.

  • Community Collaboration: Teachers will seek partners in their communities that can support students in learning and action.

  • Curriculum Development: Teachers augment existing curriculum with materials from the Library of Congress and local archives using strategies from the Integrated Action Civics Project and others.

  • Teacher Professional Development Workshops: Zoom work-shops provide support and resources to support teacher collaboration and planning. 

  • Coaching/Observations: Participating teachers and classrooms will work with a coach throughout the program for support.

  • Evaluation of Materials: Feedback from teachers and students will help to continually develop and improve the program. 

Map of USA with hypothetical classroom locations connected by lines representing collaboration

PLACEHOLDER

Themes for Interregional Collaboration

How do we connect our classrooms? 

Teachers can connect their classrooms through common national or global themes. Students in turn investigate local manifestations of those themes. Any overarching historical theme can serve to ground the collaboration. 

POSSIBLE THEMES FOR COLLABORATION

  • Patterns of Migration and Immigration: First and Second Great Migration; local patterns of immigration across time

  • Popular Music Trends: Jazz, blues, and hip-hop scenes across the 20th century.

  • Impact of the Vietnam War at Home: Local participation in, support, and protest of the war.

  • Civil Rights and Social Movements: School desegregation; movements for housing rights; urban uprisings; community self-reliance.

  • Climate Change: Local environmental impact of industrialization and globalization across time

Image shows the planning hub to facilitate teacher collaboration

Scaffolding Teacher Collaboration

How can I get support to design a classroom collaboration?  

We provide various scaffolds to facilitate the work to design collaborative units. Ideally you would join a structured cohort of educators from around the country to receive optimal support from the CLHAC leadership team. 

If you know colleagues from other regions and would like to work independently, our scaffolds are available for your use as you see fit.

RESOURCES FOR TEACHER COLLABORATION

The following resources support teachers in designing a collaborative unit with their students.

  • Collaboration Hub - Template
    • The multi-section organizer systematically guides you through many of the key planning considerations.
    • Sample: Desegregation - Boston & San Francisco
  • Document Hub - Template
    • This document organizer allows collaborators to share and view the resources that they might draw on for common lessons along with related documents that dive into the respective local histories
    • Sample: Desegregation - Boston & San Francisco
  • Local History Research Guidelines
    • Developed by public historian Monica Peyalo-Lock, this  provides a clear guide to leading students through detailed local history research. 
  • Local Archive Research Organizer
    • The Archive Organizer spreadsheet encourages collection of necessary document notes and details for accurate attribution.
    • Sample: Desegregation - Boston & San Francisco
An example of a Cause and Consequence tree about School Desegregation- Chains of causes form the roots and the consequence of an event form the branches. The tree is divided into 3 parts: The left is San Francisco local h, national in center, Boston right

Scaffolding Student Collaboration

How can students learn through interaction with others?

There are many ways in which your existing learning scaffolds can be modified to facilitate cross-regional analysis. The goal is for students to deepen their understanding of the overarching national or global issue through comparing and contrasting the respective local particularities. We offer several examples of adaptations of existing strategies to support cross-regional student work.

(Section to be developed. Please check back)

RESOURCES FOR STUDENT COLLABORATION

The following resources can help scaffold student collaborative learning across regions.

  • Source Analysis Scaffolds
    • These scaffoldssupportstudents in making meaning from often challenging primary and secondary sources.

    • EAR Chart  //  (LOC Tool)  //  Headings and Highlights  //  

  • Collaboration Scaffolds help students compare and contrast local histories

    • Document Comparison Chart - Explore the relevance of various documents that address the overarching theme in contrast to documents specific to each locality.

    • Cause & Consequence Tree Venn Organizer (Sample) - Analyze common causes and consequences as distinct from factors and events unique to each region.

    • Stakeholder Venn Organizer - Analyze the roles of key players in the different localities

    • Comparative QFT 

    • Task Cards