What is Emerging America?

Based at the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) in Northampton, Emerging America is designed to support Massachusetts K-12 history educators and students in developing their skills at exploring and interpreting the past.

Through grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Teaching with American History program and the Teaching with Primary Sources program of the Library of Congress, we offer a stimulating range of professional development, model projects, technical assistance, and online resources.

All of our offerings connect directly to content standards (the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework) and support work toward the Common Core State Standards.

We emphasize the use of local and primary sources as a way of encountering 500 years of history, from Native American settlements and early exploration by European powers to the Obama Administration.

In partnership with local and national history institutions and top scholars, we help teachers build engaging curriculum and hands-on projects while encouraging rigorous critical thinking about evidence and interpretation.

Our name reflects our overall approach to the study of history: like the nation itself, historical inquiry is always in process, coming to terms with change, growth, and diverse perspectives and experiences. We’re here to help teachers and students bring this approach into their classrooms and communities.