Baltimore County Public Schools has been awarded a $1 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop and implement a program to improve student achievement in American history.

The school system is one of 123 nationally in a field of 470 applying school systems to receive a 2009 Teaching American History Grant. Since 2001, BCPS has won the multi-year grant three times, making the district a continuous participant since the program's inception.

BCPS is partnering with the Center for History Education at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in this initiative, which will begin in October. For the next three years, 60 elementary, middle, and high school teachers will attend workshops and summer institutes to create "History Labs," an innovative approach to teaching and learning about the past. Through History Labs, student historians will use primary sources and critical thinking to construct historical narratives and interpretations.

Additional program partners include educational researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park and the Maryland State Archives. This grant and its partnerships demonstrate the national and regional support for the Blueprint for Progress, the foundational document for Baltimore County Public Schools success, and its mission of enabling "all students to reach their maximum potential as responsible, life-long learners and productive citizens."