Goldwater Initiative Boosts U.S. History Instruction with Textbooks, Teacher Training

Two major school districts and thousands of students and their teachers are reaping the benefits of a groundbreaking new Goldwater Institute program to rekindle high-quality U.S. history and civics instruction throughout our nation’s schools.

This month the Queen Creek Unified and Peoria Unified school districts in Arizona—alongside other public charter and private schools—are receiving more than 2,500 new Land of Hope textbooks for each student in U.S. history class as part of Goldwater’s American Civics Initiative grant program. The initiative, announced earlier this year, is a first-of-its kind campaign by Goldwater’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy to equip K-12 schools and their teachers with the tools to spark students’ passion and appreciation for America’s history and constitutional government.

Under the program, the Institute is providing new hardback editions of Land of Hope—authored by acclaimed historian Wilfred McClay—for every student taking U.S. history at the participating school systems, along with other resources including curricular supports, university faculty-led teacher professional development, and $3,000 teacher stipends. Queen Creek Unified and Peoria Unified are the first public school districts in Arizona to adopt Land of Hope for use in their high school U.S. history courses.

“At a time of severe partisanship that has infected many accounts of our nation’s past, this brilliant new history, Land of Hope, written in lucid and often lyrical prose, is much needed,” celebrated historian Gordon Wood has said. “It is accurate, honest, and free of the unhistorical condescension so often paid to the people of America’s past. This generous but not uncritical story of our nation’s history ought to be read by every American. It explains and justifies the right kind of patriotism.”

With nearly 50,000 students enrolled across the participating school systems, the Goldwater Institute grant will provide a generation of students with access to these high-quality resources as each successive grade rises to inherit access to this suite of material. Thanks to the support of Queen Creek and Peoria Unified school board presidents Samantha Davis and Jeff Tobey, their boards, and their staff, these districts are ensuring that students will have access to rigorous yet engaging U.S. history course content for years to come.

“This is a massive opportunity for anybody who doesn’t know,” Queen Creek Unified board member Kelli Anderson said while voting for the initiative. “It’s upwards of a $300,000 donation of a whole history curriculum that we just got into our district. It’s a beautiful story of America, and I can’t wait for you guys to be able to experience it.”

When applying for the grant, Peoria governing board member Heather Rooks said the district was interested in Land of Hope “because of its emphasis on narrative coherence, historical context, and civic themes that align with the goals of a core civics or American history course.”

“I’m really excited for it,” Rooks said upon the book’s adoption. “I think it’s exciting to get that new piece of curriculum in for our students.”

In an age when many kids stare endlessly at screens, these students will instead have the chance to immerse themselves in a physical book as they page through the words, maps, paintings, and primary source excerpts that bring America’s story to life.

In addition to the textbook and other provided learning materials, teachers will also receive intensive content-based professional development from university faculty through a partnership with the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership (SCETL) at Arizona State University—delving into the history and mechanics of America’s constitutional republic.

A second prong of the American Civics Initiative—the Arizona Civics Scholars Program—is awarding college scholarships of $1,500 to each new student studying at partnering civics programs such as ASU’s SCETL and Grand Canyon University’s Canyon Civic Institute.

Together, these Goldwater Institute American Civics Initiative programs will ensure that students, teachers, and schools are empowered to pursue high-quality instruction in U.S. history and civics, ensuring the next generation of Americans are prepared to carry forth the ideals of our nation’s founding. The Institute looks forward to welcoming additional school systems and applicants for this program in the coming year.

Visit here to learn more about the Goldwater Institute’s American Civics Initiative.

Matt Beienburg is the Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute. He also serves as director of the institute’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy.