This project is a collaboration between Region 4 Education Service Center, the University of Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Region 4 Education Service Center
http://www.esc4.net/

Region 4 ESC, the largest of the 20 service centers in Texas, provides school districts with professional development training and technical assistance that support statewide goals for school improvement. Region 4 ESC serves: seven counties, 54 school districts, and 1,163 campuses. Included in its educational community are over 879,853 students (approximately one-fourth of the schoolchildren in the state) and nearly 69,000 professional educators. Region 4 ESC's student enrollment percentages are as follows: African American 21.9%; Hispanic 35.6%; White 36.8%; Economically Disadvantaged 47.3%; LEP 16.2%; Bilingual 8.2%; ESL 6.4%; and At Risk 39.9%. Region 4 ESC's student enrollment also includes 92,176 students with special needs, including 42,778 classified as students with learning disability.

University of Houston
http://www.uh.edu

College of Education
http://www.coe.uh.edu

The University of Houston has a history of providing innovative programs for urban, at-risk populations, grounded in research and effective practice. The University is located in the heart of Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, in the Third Ward, an inner city poverty area of Hispanic and African American cultures, which has been identified as a Federal Empowerment Zone. In this setting, the College of Education works to strengthen the students in area schools as well as those enrolled in college classes. Approximately 450 elementary and secondary teachers graduate each year, with minority students constituting 44% of the College of Education's enrollment in 2001.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
http://www.mfah.org

Since its founding by a visionary group of women 10 decades ago, the MFAH has amassed a collection of more than 40,000 works of art, encompassing examples made throughout the world, from the stone age to the present day. This encyclopedic collection is housed in two exhibition buildings, two house museums, and an outdoor sculpture garden. Educational programs are offered to teachers and students through Evenings for Educators, Teacher Workshops, and special events. The Teacher Resource Center is a lending library of materials about art (videos, slide sets, CD-ROMS, and more!) available for educators to borrow free of charge. The Resource Center has more than 800 titles designed to enhance classroom instruction and educate audiences about a wide variety of artists, styles, and time periods, including the exhibitions and collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Materials are available for audiences ranging from pre-school to adult.

Project Personnel:

Region 4 ESC Social Studies Educational Specialist, Debra Williams, is charged with promoting, developing, and delivering professional development, and providing technical assistance to American history educators. She is the 2000-2001 president of the Houston Council for the Social Studies, serves on the Curriculum Advisory Committee of the Texas Council for the Social Studies, is a 1997 fellow of the Colonial Williamsburg Summer Teacher Institute in Early American History, has served as a Master Teacher and lead teacher in Rice University's teacher education program, was selected 1998 Middle School Star Educator for Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, and has over twenty years experience as an American history teacher.
Email: dwilliams@esc4.net

Region 4 ESC Social Studies Modifications Educational Specialist, Helen Griffin, is charged with promoting, developing, and delivering professional development, and providing technical assistance to American history educators, for both general and special education.
Email: hgriffin@esc4.net

Cameron White is currently Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Houston. He has 13 years of history teaching experience and 10 years of experience in training American History teachers. Dr. White has published extensively in history education, social studies education, and integrating technology in history teaching. He has received many grants for enhancing history education, professional development, and integrating technology in education. He has recently won the University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award. Email: cswhite@uh.edu

Steven Mintz, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History at the University of Houston, is an authority on the history of the family, American reform movements, and the scholarly study and uses of media and new technologies. He has published several books and is a past recipient of the University of Houston's Enron Teaching Excellence Award. He is also the Vice President for Teaching for H-Net: Humanities and Social Studies Online and a member of the board of advisors of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the board of directors of the Council on Contemporary Families. He was the P.I. for an NEH Challenge Grant that established two endowed chairs and graduate fellowships in African and African American Studies at the University of Houston; a director of the Annenberg/CPB Project that produced a CD-ROM on "Migration in Modern World History" and the director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's web site
Email: smintz@uh.edu

Sara McNeil, Associate Professor of Instructional Technology in the University of Houston's College of Education, is a specialist in the visual representation of information and the design and development of multimedia educational materials. She is the recipient of four major teaching awards at the University of Houston including the Enron Teaching Excellence Award and P.I. For a US Department of Education grant to prepare tomorrow's teachers to use technology. Her published scholarship focuses on the design and evaluation of online instructional materials. She is the instructional designer of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's web site
Email: smcneil@uh.edu

Victoria Ramirez is presently Assistant Director of Education at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. She specializes in integrating art in teaching and learning and has received several grants to enhance professional development for teachers.
Email: vramirez@mfah.org

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For additional information: Please contact Debra Williams, Education Specialist in Science/Social Studies Services at Region 4 Education Service Center, 713-744-6846 or dwilliams@esc4.net