Mandating new standards for Black history education across the state doesn’t just mean teaching children.
It also means preparing Delaware’s educators.
A team from Christina School District created a package of professional development and resources – open for teachers, administrators, school board members and more – to help bolster goals in House Bill 198. That’s the historic legislation, passed in 2021, that required all Delaware public schools to infuse instruction of Black history and experience into K-12 curricula. Last year marked the implementation deadline by law, but it’s been a slow process.
This summer, Delaware’s Department of Education officially launched statewide adoption of Christina’s course: “The Visual and Performing Arts: HB198 Self-Paced Coursework.”
“All of us can think to a time when we enjoyed arts just for the way it moved us emotionally,” Sheila Hershey, a curriculum specialist for visual and performing arts, told the Christina school board meeting Wednesday. “Embedding history in VPA content gives students context and can often provide us with deeper meaning. We wanted to give our arts teachers multiple avenues to grow their knowledge about Black history and the arts.”
All of this information is available on Schoology for educators across the state, per Christina School District.
More:Are Delaware schools meeting new Black history requirements? Not yet. Here’s why
Ongoing work to support Delaware teachers
It all started with teacher surveys.
Under the direction of Nathalie Princilus, district supervisor of unique programs, the team’s early steps involved surveys to measure teachers’ understanding of Black American art history and artists, the district explained in a press release. Built on such survey data, as well as outside research, this yearlong professional development plan took shape.
The course comes with an introductory module, linked with historical period units that connect times and events with artists’ perspectives and masterworks, according to the district. Extra lesson plan resources and more were also included, with aims to weave “social-emotional development, social justice and awareness through arts education.”
Jennifer Boland, Erika Brown, Mary Caligiure, Jessica Green and Sheila Lynch were credited by the district as lead course writers. Lauren Conrad, head of DDOE’s visual and performing arts education, also helped with the statewide rollout.
“Data shows that teacher interest in the topics we created is very broad,” Hershey continued. “Some teachers are exploring time periods like the African Diaspora, Civil War, Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights … focusing on supportive topics like trauma-responsive VPA curriculum, or visual and performing arts to combat racism, inequity and injustice.”
But all of this is not set in stone.
The work is ongoing, as the information is “open-source and requires maintenance,” organizers said in the release. Creators encourage educators participating to share new resources or call out dated links or content.
“This is really impressive,” said board member Monica Moriak, in the same meeting. “I was very excited to read about this, and excited to see that we’re including this in more than just the history class.”
That’s been the idea.
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Looking back at HB 198…
The 2021 law came with requirements for curricula across K-12:
The history and culture of Black people before the African and Black Diaspora, including contributions to science, art and literature.The significance of enslavement in the development of the American economy.The relationship between white supremacy, racism and American slavery.The central role racism played in the Civil War.How the tragedy of enslavement was perpetuated through segregation and federal, state and local laws.The contributions of Black people to American life, history, literature, economy, politics and culture.The socioeconomic struggle Black people endured and continue to endure in working to achieve fair treatment in the United States; as well as the agency they employ in this work for equal treatment.Black figures in national history and in Delaware history.Background from 2021:Delaware lawmakers pass bill to mandate teaching Black history in schools
Accountability and depth across districts remains a question.
Each district and charter school was required to appoint a lead, who now reports where these requirements are being hit in instruction, by grade level, to the state education department each year. The department then compiles an annual report as required by the law, sending it to the governor, members of the General Assembly and the Division of Research.
This year’s won’t be published until January, but the 2023-24 report is online, over 700 pages strong.
Got a story? Contact Kelly Powers at [email protected] or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.
