Library of Congress (LOC) Teaching with Primary Sources Regional Program (TPS)

Overview

The Library of Congress awards grants under the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Regional program to school districts, universities, cultural institutions, library systems and other educational organizations who wish to incorporate TPS materials and methods into their existing education and professional development programs for pre and in-service teachers, librarians, media specialists and other K-12 educators.

The Program provides assistance and grants of up to $20,000 through its regional coordinators in the East, Midwest and West. The program promotes the widespread, sustained and effective use of primary sources from the Library of Congress within the educational community by increasing access to the TPS program for teachers who are not served by members of the TPS Educational Consortium.

Grant recipients may use TPS funding to meet a variety of programmatic needs, including:

• Delivering online or face-to-face TPS workshops
• Embedding TPS materials and content into broader professional development programs
• Revising undergraduate or graduate course syllabi or curricula to include a TPS focus

TPS Consortium members and regional grantees create professional development, curriculum and apps/online interactives designed to support educators’ ability to achieve some or all of the following goals.

Goal 1 - Justify conclusions about whether a source is primary or secondary depending upon the time or topic under study
Goal 2 - Describe examples of the benefits of teaching with primary sources
Goal 3- Analyze a primary source using Library of Congress tools
Goal 4 - Access teaching tools and primary sources from loc.gov/teachers
Goal 5 - Identify key considerations for selecting primary sources for instructional use (for example, student needs and interests, teaching goals, etc.)
Goal 6 - Access primary sources and teaching resources from loc.gov for instructional use
Goal 7 - Analyze primary sources in different formats
Goal 8 - Analyze a set of related primary sources in order to identify multiple perspectives
Goal 9 - Facilitate a primary source analysis using Library of Congress tools
Goal 10 - Demonstrate how primary sources can support at least one teaching strategy (for example, literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical thinking, etc.)
Goal 11 - Create a primary source-based activity that helps students engage in learning, develop critical thinking skills and construct knowledge

The Library will accept only one proposal from the same organizational department, which in this case means only one proposal from Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

Applicants learn of granting decisions within six weeks of submitting proposals.

 Before applying for a grant, please review the website for your region and submit a Notice of Intent.