Civic Learning Week (CLW) is hosted annually by iCivics and seeks to highlight the importance of civic education in sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States.

By highlighting the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that provide the foundation for an informed and engaged populace, CLW seeks to further energize the movement to prioritize civic education across the nation.

Get the FREE Educator Toolkit to access resources for planning and communicating your participation in Civic Learning Week. The toolkit includes planning resources, sample social media posts, graphic assets, and more.

Here are some events hosted by our civic learning partners for your consideration.

Facing History and Ourselves

• March 10 7-8pm ET – Online Civic Learning Resource Slam with civic education organizations from CivXNow (Facing History & Ourselves, Center for Civic Education, EDC, iCivics, PBS, KQED, and GBH)
• March 11 from 7-9pm ET – Online Workshop with KQED on Bringing Student Civic Learning & Reflection to Life with Infographics

Media Education Lab

• March 12 at 11am CST Free Speech in an Era of Digital Platforms
• March 12th at 2pm CST The Civic Implications of Safety in an Online World

Visit the CLW website for a full calendar of events and opportunities for your community to participate.



The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. Resources are available for classroom teachers to commemorate women's history in March and beyond. Click the links provided below throughout the year.

• Library of Congress: Women's History Month.
• National Archives
• National Park Service
• Smithsonian Education
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Many of our civic learning partners have also curated resources for Women's History Month

• Bill of Rights Institute
• iCivics
• Facing History and Ourselves
• Retro Report



Teachers working with students in grades 3–12 are invited to apply for the Civics for All of US Teacher Institute at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Focusing on the Declaration of Independence, this three-and-one-half-day institute will include hands-on sessions featuring strategies for teaching civics with primary sources, special tours and activities in the National Archives, and site visits to additional landmarks and museums in the nation’s capital. Each participant will receive a stipend of $1,050 to help cover travel, lodging, and other expenses.

The National Archives is offering two separate Institute sessions this summer. The first cohort will meet July 14–July 17, 2025, and the second cohort will meet July 29–August 1, 2025. 

Learn more here and apply by March 31, 2025.

Questions can be directed to civics@nara.gov

The 2025 Civics for All of US Teacher Institute is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation.



Hometown is coming to Chicago this fall! The Supreme Court and My Hometown program is an immersive federal court learning experience from the Supreme Court Historical Society designed to teach high school students about the Judicial Branch through a Supreme Court case that originated in their hometown. This prestigious program allows students to engage with federal judges, attorneys, local professors, historians, and community members as they investigate cases and explore how a case moves through the federal (and state) court system.

More information and applications for each program can be found on the Society’s website.

Learn More

Check out this episode of Project Sphere, In What Areas Does the Executive Have Too Much Power? along with this lesson, Checks and Balances and Separation of Powers.

Executive power has grown significantly since the founding of the United States, often stretching beyond its original constitutional limits. 

• But how much power is too much? 
• What safeguards exist to keep the executive branch in check? 
• And what guidance does the Constitution provide on the proper exercise of presidential authority?



Join Bill of Rights Institute and Mark Rozell on March 4, 2025, as we share additional valuable insights on the topic of executive orders. The FREE scholar session, Executive Orders with Mark Rozell, will reference the constitutional basis of executive orders and their use by various presidents. 

Register Today



The OAV Civics Curriculum for Illinois Middle Schools (Illinois Civics Curriculum) was developed with the assistance of a grant made possible by the Illinois State Senate under the leadership of Senator Don Harmon. It is available free to all middle schools in Illinois.

The Illinois Civics Curriculum employs the ten OAV essential lessons fine-tuned to ensure alignment with Illinois middle school requirements for the content and process of implementation. As with the OAV Civics Curriculum, it includes implementation instructions and summative assessments. In addition, it provides examples of student civic engagement projects and a civic engagement planning template.

LEARN MORE



Immigration was a centerpiece of the 2024 presidential campaign and continues to be a focus at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. Retro Report's Teaching About Immigration and Migration Collection explores immigration and migration issues at particular points in the recent history of the United States, helping students analyze how immigration and migration are themes throughout U.S. history. Here are some highlights of the collection: 

• How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees: What obligation do countries have to refugees fleeing war, destruction and despair across the globe? Today, as Afghan and Ukrainian migrants settle in the United States, this video asks whether refugee resettlement is better now than it was for Vietnamese refugees 50 years ago.
• How Prop. 187 Transformed the Immigration Debate and California Politics: Immigration policy has exposed sharp divisions in the United States, and much of the rhetoric is similar to an anti-immigration movement that swept the country decades ago. It started in California, one of the most liberal and immigrant-friendly states in the U.S.
• Sanctuary Cities: Trump Renews an Uproar that Began Long Ago: As deportations rose during President Trump’s first term, some churches and cities declared themselves sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants. It was the latest chapter of a movement with a long history.

Full Collection



The American Institutes for Research is offering school districts an opportunity to join an exciting new project that will provide high school U.S. history teachers with access to new research-backed Reading Like a Historian (RLH) curriculum curriculum materials and provide them with 20-hours of free professional development from the Digital Inquiry Group (DIG), formerly the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG). 

Participation in this project is offered at no cost, and teachers will be compensated for their time.

Reading Like a Historian (RLH) is an award-winning history curriculum in which students use historical documents to answer questions about the past and develop arguments supported by evidence. The new RLH lessons developed for this project also feature integrated formative assessments and incorporate digital literacy skills from DIG’s Civic Online Reasoning (COR) curriculum that help students evaluate the credibility of information on the internet, a necessary skill for democratic participation in the 21st century. RLH and COR have logged more than 15 million downloads, and both are backed by peer-reviewed research that shows their effectiveness.

Learn more about the opportunity here.

DIG is also offering FREE online professional development in the next month. Click this link to find out more.



Join the AHA and thousands of people united by a shared passion for history at the 139th annual meeting of the AHA in Chicago from Thursday, January 8 to Sunday, January 11, 2026. The largest gathering of historians in the world, the conference brings together historians, including K-12 educators, working in a diverse array of settings to discuss professional issues, the latest research, new publications and resources, and much more. The AHA will partner with the Chicago History Museum to provide Illinois Professional Development credit for eligible attendees.

Registration will open mid-September, 2025. Sign up for news and updates from the AHA or join the AHA as a member to ensure you don’t miss important updates about the meeting.

K–12 teachers can register for the AHA conference at a significantly discounted rate of more than 50% off the regular cost of registration. Registration will open in mid-September 2025.

Each year, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) invites students in grades 3-12 to participate in our Annual Civics Education Essay Contest to encourage youth to engage with the principles of U.S. government.

You make a difference

Since 2014, the contest has experienced remarkable growth—from 65 entries to more than 1,700—thanks to educators, nonprofits, court partners, parents, and civics education advocates who champion the contest and encourage participation in local communities.

NCSC is pleased to offer prize money to the top three winners in each category—elementary, middle, and high school—to honor their achievements.

View past winners and essays.

Essays must be submitted by midnight ET on Friday, March 21, 2025. Winners will be announced and celebrated on May 1, 2025.

Please contact Molly Justice for additional information.

Dr. Yael Sternhell

Thursday, March 6, 2025

7pm CT (Zoom webinar)

Join ALPLM on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 7pm CT, for a lively discussion with Dr. Yael Sternhell on her latest book, War on Record: The Archive and the Afterlife of the Civil War.



The Civil War generated a vast archive of official records—documents that would shape the postwar era and determine what future generations would know about the war. Author Yael Sternhell traces these records from their creation during wartime through their deployment in a host of postwar battles, including those between the federal government and Southerners seeking reparations and between veterans blaming each other for defeat.

Yael A. Sternhell is an associate professor of history and American Studies at Tel Aviv University, specializing in the history of the long Civil War era. Sternhell, who also authored Routes of War: The World of Movement in the Confederate South, is a regular contributor on U.S. politics to Ha’aretz and is a proud board member of the New Israel Fund, the country’s leading human rights and social justice organization.

Register Here

David B. Wiegers

Thursday, April 3, 2025

7pm CT (Zoom webinar)

Join ALPLM Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 7pm CT, for a presentation and discussion with author and photographer David B. Wiegers on Women Sculptors as featured in his article Wildfire, Miss Clampitt, and the Wonder Girl from the West: Early Women Sculptors of Abraham Lincoln, published in the Lincoln Forum Bulletin Spring 2024 edition.

In the middle of the 19th century, women were not generally a force in American sculpture. Art, and especially sculpture, were a male-centric occupation. Three women sculpted images of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s and 1870s. Vinnie Ream (Hoxie) and Sarah Fisher Ames produced images of Lincoln that would be displayed in the United States Capitol building. A third, Edmonia Lewis, broke many barriers of race and gender.

Lincoln buff and talented amateur photographer David B. Wiegers has an abiding interest in Abraham Lincoln. His photographs of Lincoln statues have been seen in Summers with Lincoln and Public Sculptures of Abraham Lincoln by Jim Percoco, American Art Review Magazine, and in Fred Reed’s books Abraham Lincoln – The Image of His Greatness and Abraham Lincoln – Beyond the American Icon. Fifty of Wiegers’s photographs were included in Lincoln Hall at the University of Illinois by John Hoffman. In May 2022, Wiegers and colleague Scott Schroeder published an online Google Map titled The Lincoln Sculpture Project’s Lincoln Sculpture Map on Google. Wiegers and his wife Wendy, live in Gurnee, Illinois.

Register Here

Dr. Frank W. Garmon Jr.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

7pm CT (Zoom webinar)

Join ALPLM Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at 7pm CT, for an enlightening discussion with author Dr. Frank W. Garmon on his latest book A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age.

The book traces the career of Charles Cowlam, a Gilded Age swindler who received presidential pardons from Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. His intrigues reveal how Americans built trust amidst the transience and anonymity of the nineteenth century and exposes the vulnerabilities of a political system built on personal connections. 

Frank W. Garmon Jr. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership and American Studies at Christopher Newport University, specializing in American political economy. Garmon received the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching Student Writing in 2023, and his first book, A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age, will be published by Louisiana State University Press in the fall of 2024.

Register Here

In November 2019, the National Archives Foundation launched a new research fund to honor Cokie Roberts, who shed light on the stories of countless women in U.S. history that were previously unknown to the public. She showed how these lives had an impact on our country’s narrative and added to the rich heritage of our nation. Just as her prose and spirited discussions brought moments in history to new audiences, the Cokie Roberts Fellowship for Women’s History seeks to encourage the next generation of historians, journalists and authors to continue this legacy.

• Application Window: Completed applications are due to the National Archives Foundation any time between December 2, 2024 and April 14, 2025.
• Scope: The Cokie Roberts Research Fund for Women’s History will support one to three annual fellowships for emerging and established historians, journalists, authors, or graduate students who perform and publish new research to elevate women’s history using the records held by the National Archives. This fellowship is intended to support the cost of travel and time to conduct research and publish works related to original research conducted at the National Archives. 
• Eligibility: Applicants must be emerging or established historians, journalists, authors, or graduate students with proven writing skills, a demonstrated passion for women’s history, and the ability to perform in-person research at a National Archives facility. Applicants can be based anywhere in the U.S.
• Award: Up to $12,500
• Deadlines: The 2025 Application is now open. Apply by April 14, 2025.
• Have questions? Check out our FAQs.

Apply Now



Telling Our Stories: Social Studies Education

  Thursday, April 10, 2024, Eastern Illinois University

This conference provides opportunities to engage in professional dialogue through session presentations and networking with colleagues across and beyond Illinois.

In social, technological, and political climates where a spectrum of stories complement, run parallel, or conflict, it is important for students and citizens to systematically explore, learn, and tell their stories. Through history, geography, economics, and civics, we learn to tell our stories by asking essential questions, identifying and exploring a wide array of sources, critically analyzing those sources, and communicating our findings. The focus of the 2025 ICSS Spring Conference is the exploration of how students use inquiry, how they identify and analyze sources of information, and how they communicate their stories.

The ICSS Spring Conference engages practicing PK-12 social studies teachers, preservice teachers, university faculty, social studies researchers, and concerned citizens. Participants will explore a variety of topics and sessions that are pertinent to social studies students and teachers in the field across grade levels and social studies content areas.

Session titles include:

• Disrupting the Traditional Antislavery Narrative and Engaging Students in Visual Analysis
• Finding the Key: Using Inquiry to Explore the Narratives We Tell
• From Nuremberg to Now: Teaching the Story of WWII
• A Pathway to Participation: Enabling Civic Engagement Through Inquiry for All Learners
• Storytelling – An Effective Tool for Teaching Social Studies
• Unpacking Freedom: Primary Source Analysis with Frederick Douglass
• TEAACHing Asian America in K-12 Classrooms
• Our Climate Stories: The Car Line, Jury Nullification. and St. Kitts and Nevi
• Thinking Like a Historian: Getting Hands-on With the Past Through Primary Sources
• Action Civics in a Multilingual Learner Setting
• Framing the Future: Asking Essential Questions About America’s Founding
• And more…



REGISTER HERE TO SAVE YOUR SPOT!

All high school teachers in U.S. history, civics, and government classes are invited to participate in a special PD program offered by the Case Method Institute for Education & Democracy and Harvard Professor David Moss. The next session will be held on Friday, March 28, from 10am–4pm CT.

The Institute has partnered with more than 4,000 teachers to bring the case method, a pedagogy used to strengthen critical thinking at leading professional schools nationwide, to over 250,000 high school students across the United States. Each case presents students with a historically rich narrative, leading to a key decision point and posing the perennial question: "What would you do?"

Led by a teacher's use of carefully designed questions, students engage in rigorous, evidence-based discussion and debate to draw out key concepts from the case. Teachers have described the case method as a "game-changer," a "transformational experience," and a "laboratory for citizenship." Extensive data shows significant benefits for students, including improved critical thinking skills and confidence with historical material, as well as increased civic interest and engagement. The Institute invites high school teachers to learn more in this flyer and to apply (to confirm eligibility) at this link.  

For more information on the opportunity:

Video: About the Case Method Institute

Video: Professor Moss, on bringing the case method to high schools

Website: The "History of American Democracy" cases



Agents of Influence, a spy media literacy game, is looking for middle and high scool teachers to give feedback and participate in research studies. The game teaches critical thinking, content analysis, research, and communication—essential skills that form the foundation of 21st-century education. The game can be used across subjects including ELA, Social Studies, CTE, Library, and more.

$50-$250 per teacher, Dec. 2024–Jan. 2026 (different studies at different times)

Learn more and sign up here.

The Medal of Honor Foundation invites you to a FREE Professional Development workshop on March 18, 2025 being held at the Education Center at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL. This workshop is appropriate for all 6th–12th grade administrators, teachers, counselors, and coaches. The PD will focus on the Medal of Honor Character Development Program (CDP). The purpose of the CDP is to instill in students the confidence to overcome obstacles and make a difference in their community. 

The workshop is free to attend, includes a complimentary lunch, and we cover the cost of substitute teachers. 

Additionally, graduate level extension credit will be available through the University of San Diego. Additional information about the credit will be provided at the workshop.

This video tells you a little bit about the CDP and its impact on students.

Register Here!

Feel free to contact training@cmohs.org if you have any questions.

Join the Illinois Civics Hub in 2025 for professional development to enhance your classroom practice. Presented in partnership with the North Cook Intermediate Center, each offering is aligned with the Illinois course mandates and standards. These workshops will be in person at the North Cook ISC in Des Plaines, IL.



• Thursday, April 10, 2025, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM CST: Engaging Student Voice for Inquiry (6-12) - Is responsiveness to student voice related to academic success? Research from the University of Chicago declares YES! In this interactive session, experience strategies to engage student voice to support inquiry as the primary mode of learning. Get connected to FREE resources to harness student voice in formative and summative assessment to enhance your practice.



• Monday, May 5, 2025, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM CST: Let's Talk! Creating Conditions for Civil Dialogue in Our Schools (6-12)- Join colleagues from across all academic disciplines in an engaging and outcomes-based professional learning experience. Learn and practice strategies to foster productive civil dialogue in our classrooms and school communities, both face-to-face and online. This learning model will allow you to share and teach these strategies to your colleagues.

The Illinois Civics Hub is also offering a virtual Administrator Academy on Teaching Inclusive American History - Implementing the New Illinois History Course Mandates (AA3931). Participants can take the academy for academy credit or PD hours. Three hours will be done asynchronously in advance, and three hours will occur in person on Thursday, April 17, 2025 from 8:30am - 3:30pm.

How can you build engagement around civics and foster a proper understanding of American citizenship? Introduce your students to the MyImpact Challenge!

MyImpact Challenge is a civic engagement contest and curriculum provided by the Bill of Rights Institute (BRI) to create a robust understanding of citizenship and incentivize students to become active in their communities now! To participate, students must have an active civic engagement or service-based project. Students will learn how their projects align with constitutional principles through the contest. To submit a project, students must:

• Write an essay detailing how their project furthers a BRI Civic Virtue or Founding Principle
• Complete a report describing how their project works
• Provide photographic or visual documentation of their project

Each MyImpact Challenge submission has the potential to win up to $500 in teacher prizes. Students can win up to $10,000 in student prizes.

The deadline to enter MyImpact Challenge is May 18, 2025, 11:59 PM. 

Share MyImpact Challenge



The first draft of the 2025 Summer Social Studies Professional Development opportunities spreadsheet is now available. As you take a peek, anything that is NOT highlighted is currently open.

There are SO many great opportunities for next summer!

Many thanks to Stefanie Wager at the Iowa Department of Education for creating this calendar and updating the spreadsheet as more opportunities open.