TAH Grants: A Way to Foster Lifelong Learning We give lots of
thought to crafting student education goals, but what about the
education goals of teachers? We want students to be “lifelong
learners,” but what about teachers? How can we ensure teachers
are “lifelong learners” as well? I have had the opportunity to
serve as a Teaching American History (TAH) grant participant and
as a project director on several different projects. I think
this has given me a unique lens through which I look at
professional development. TAH grants, created in 2002 and
administered by the U.S. Department of Education, offer an
opportunity for teachers to extend beyond the discussion of
student achievement gaps and into rigorous academic content.
While each grant is unique, all grapple with meeting the
theoretical framework laid out in the grant proposal and the
reality of the teachers before them. This conflict between the
theoretical and the concrete is best exemplified by the tension
between the grants’ intention to teach conten