The Confluences project relies heavily on recommendations from the American Historical Association's "Benchmarks for Professional Development in Teaching of History as a Discipline." It seeks to produce permanent, objectively measured improvements in teacher knowledge/practice and student achievement by providing effective professional development in American history; improving the quality of history instruction; and improving student learning of U.S. history. The project serves teachers in seven high schools, six junior high/middle schools, and 14 elementary schools. Tribal leaders from the Nez Pierce Indian Reservation and teachers from the Holy Family Catholic School and Monday School also participate in seminars. Within broad themes, content examines: the Nez Pierce and Lewis and Clark; tolerance and intolerance at Plymouth; Mexicans and Americans: assimilation or accommodation, opportunity/wealth or law and order, prejudice or constitutional rights; confederation or national union; isolationism vs. internationalism; the Sagebrush rebellion; terrorist threats; a rural vs. urban nation; the transcontinental railroad; the Depression generation vs. the baby boom; Civil Rights; and working man vs. corporate America.

"Roll on Columbia" activities will be offered on two tiers: (1) intense study for 20 teachers annually, enrolled in a year-long, ten-credit graduate seminar studying a specific era of Northwest history and its relationship to national events; (2) U.S. history in-service courses and guest lectures serving an estimated 250-300 teachers per event. Sustainability will be provided through distribution of materials to 300 teachers after the project and university pre-service courses that are expected to enroll 100 students per year. Throughout the project, national events, people, and issues will be taught along with important regional events, such as establishment of fur trading posts and missions, Indian wars, mining, labor strife, integration with the Pacific Rim, and environmental initiatives. Guest lecturers will address: founders and slavery, Confederate emancipation plans, the Patawatomis, Mexican women in 20th century America, national forest management. Heavy emphasis will be placed on use of primary documents for teaching.

The project addresses the need to upgrade American history teaching throughout 28 districts that are heavily impacted by poverty by developing a cadre of trained "Fellows" who have the content knowledge and instructional skills necessary for enlivening the U.S. history curricula and raising student achievement. Through content-rich colloquia, work with primary sources, historic site visits, and interactions with historians, the project seeks to create a permanent professional learning community that offers students a multidimensional view of American history. Fellows will study traditions used by James Madison and others, anti-federalist thought, contrasts between the agrarian South and industrial North, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln, William Seward, Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stevens, an 19th century mining town, the impact of railroads, American society versus totalitarian regimes in the 20th century, and Cold War personalities such as George Kennan, Harry Truman, Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.

The Northwest History Consortium will recruit 36 teachers in Washington and Montana to become American history teacher-leaders in their schools, districts, and states. Through three online ten-week courses covering ten eras, workshop presentations, and mentoring, the teacher-leaders will learn the in-depth content and curriculum developing skills designed to enable them to become committed master teachers. During the grant period, 72 additional teachers will participate in summer conferences addressing content and methodology. The topics listed cover Eras 1-3. Content addressing Eras 4-10, as designated by the National Council for History Education, will be presented in courses that pose questions to guide discussions, reading, and research. Study of Era 7, may begin, for example, with the question, "Explain how principles of scientific management and technological innovations, including assembly lines, rapid transit, household appliances, and radio continue to transform production, work, and daily life." Teachers may be challenged to place themselves in eras, such as the period between World War I and the Great Depression, to analyze conditions and provide solutions to emerging problems.

Seattle Public Schools serves an extremely diverse population-59 percent of the students are ethnic minorities, 17 percent are foreign-born, 20 percent have a language other than English spoken at home, and 150 American Indian Tribes are represented. This professional development project, Seattle's first TAH grant, seeks to explore America's story incorporating contributions of diverse groups in order to help disenfranchised students feel valued, empowered, and optimistic. All content will be viewed through three lenses: the researcher, curator, and reader. "Institutions" topic include the Constitution, First Amendment, checks and balances, how a bill becomes law, the president as world leader, election process, trial by jury, petition process, state and federal partnerships, foreign treaties, free press, lobbyists, Civil Rights, the New Deal, and welfare. "Immigration/Migration" covers laws, settlement patterns, Oath of Allegiance, ships' manifests, Chinese labor, Mexican border, ethnic neighborhoods, and current issues. "Inventions" content looks at contributions of minorities, economic forces, the assembly line, stock market, The Jungle, the Keating-Owens Child Labor Act, unions, banking, patents, international trade, monopolies, and the information age.

This project aims to raise teacher and student appreciation for traditional American history through a professional development program that emphasizes early American history, innovative instructional practices, and student motivation. A "community of historians" will be developed, comprised of both students and teachers engaged in historical inquiry. Content will be studied through the perspectives of people, documents, pivotal events of local, state, and national significance, cultural influences, and challenges to democracy. Subject matter includes: French/ British/Spanish colonies, colonial governments, Mayflower Compact, Plymouth, Jamestown, colonial slavery, Revolution, Declaration of Independence, Paine, Hobbes, and Locke, Treaty of Paris, first inaugural speech, profiles of Washington, John and Abigail Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Sacagawea, Lewis and Clark, federalism vs. state rights, and immigrants of early America.