Miami awarded nearly $2 million in grants with local schools

Miami University and local school districts including Lakota, Hamilton and Mason, have been awarded nearly $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Teaching American History (TAH) grant program to improve the quality of teaching American history in the region.

Oxford-based members of the history department worked with Hamilton City Schools to secure funding for the “Voices of America” grant. While Hamilton is the fiscal agent, monies from this grant will be split with the Lakota and Mason school districts and the Ohio Historical Society. The $1 million grant will focus on a different theme each year.

Hamilton-based members of the history department worked with the Educational Service Centers in both Butler and Preble Counties to secure the “Hometown American History: As Ohio Goes, so Goes the Nation” grant. This is Miami Hamilton’s fifth TAH grant.

“Faculty and staff from all Miami campuses will be involved in this venture, so this is truly a great development for education in our region and for Miami,” said G. Michael Pratt, associate provost and dean of the regional campuses.

Both grants are for three years with the possibility of two more years to be funded at the same rate—for a total of $1.6 million each—contingent of funding availability and demonstrated progress toward state goals during the first three years.

“The Teaching American History program aims to increase student knowledge of American history by providing teachers with greater in-depth knowledge of important themes and eras from the American past,” says Mary Cayton, professor and chair of the department of history at Miami. “We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with our district partners to improve the teaching of history in our region.”

The federal TAH program supports local projects that raise student achievement by improving teachers’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of American history. Miami is the recipient of two of the five TAH grants awarded in Ohio this year. It’s the first time a university in the state of Ohio has been involved in two separate TAH grants in the same year.