Since 1989, ASHP’s history educators have worked with K-12 and college instructors in professional development seminars in New York City and around the country. Our mission is to make the past, and the working people and ordinary Americans who shaped it, vivid and meaningful. All of our work is based on the belief that students are most motivated to learn history when they see people like themselves and their family members in the past, and begin to understand its relevance to the present and to their own lives. We work closely with independent evaluators to assess and continually strengthen our programs and materials.
Over the years, we’ve developed an extensive archive of primary documents, teaching strategies, and other resources that look at how ordinary people both influenced and were influenced by the nation's economic and political transformations. You can see them on HERB: Social History for Every Classroom and through ashp.cuny.edu. HERB’s resources are free, classroom ready, and designed to engage students with deep historical questions and support learning at every level.
Who Built America Badges for History Education is designed to give you opportunities to develop and practice the curriculum design and implementation skills that are the hallmark of great history teachers. It also provides a professional community where you can connect in constructive ways with other history teachers, in an environment separate from your school. The program is rigorous, and that’s because we believe that being designated a Master History Teacher should involve real mastery.
We also believe that professional development should be directly connected to what you do in your classroom. Who Built America gives you concrete models for Common Core aligned units and the opportunity to get feedback from ASHP history educators and other teachers on your experience teaching and modifying them. You can earn badges at your own pace and decide who sees them. By breaking what we ask you to do into “badge-able” tasks we’re trying to be specific about the different skills that go into being a great teacher, and offer a way for you to be independently recognized and rewarded for those skills by peers and supervisors.