Our project targets preservice secondary education students at Troy University in Troy, Alabama, specifically those enrolled in Methods courses for History or Social Science Education majors and students in Secondary Education Curriculum and Instruction courses, which include a range of content areas such as Math, Science, English, and the arts. These students, all in their final year before student teaching, will become certified to teach grades 6–12 upon completing the Teacher Education Program. Currently, primary source instruction is limited to a one-week unit in the Methods course, and the Curriculum course lacks such content entirely. This project proposes to redesign the Methods courses to center on primary source use and to introduce a dedicated unit on primary sources in the Curriculum course. Research shows that teaching with primary sources—such as documents, photographs, and music—deepens student understanding and moves instruction beyond textbooks. As the only teacher preparation program in Southeast Alabama, Troy University prepares future educators for rural districts in the region. By enhancing their ability to incorporate primary sources into instruction, we aim to strengthen classroom engagement and instructional effectiveness across content areas.

Kids in Birmingham 1963 Making it easy for teachers of all subjects to apply primary sources in teaching civil rights history To facilitate teachers’ integration of primary sources into the teaching of civil rights history, the team of Kids in Birmingham 1963, Bending the Arc Project, and Sandpiper Advisory Group focuses on identifying Library of Congress materials related to Alabama's civil rights history. Additionally, we enhance our collection of oral histories from key witnesses to this history. We support the Alabama State Department of Education in aligning these primary sources with specific standards in the new Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies, which is set to take effect in fall 2026. Making visits to schools in the Birmingham area, we gather insights into the priorities of school principals, curriculum specialists, and teachers, enabling us to tailor our classroom-ready products to address educators' felt needs. Based on these insights, we develop the project's offerings, including short video clips and compilation reels from our oral history recordings and professional development workshops. These workshops aim to enhance teachers' skills in using primary sources for inquiry-based learning, addressing gaps in the teachers’ own education and providing historical context to civil rights injustices and their enduring impacts. The project's findings and products are widely disseminated through our organizations' websites and mailing lists, conference presentations, and social media platforms.

To celebrate, in part, the 250th Anniversary of the United States, we will have high school educators join our Experiencing America partnership for a full day of learning, discussion, debate, and collaboration. This event provides an opportunity for teachers across Alabama as well as surrounding states to appreciate and understand some of our country’s most important founding documents, enabling them to bring this information back to their students to help them recognize the ongoing relevance of our founding principles and ideals to our current society. Sphere Education Initiatives will join us and have teachers analyze and discuss artwork as well as primary documents from the early development of our country. Teachers will learn how to use these sources and processes with students to support civic development with their current students and students in the future.