Results from the FDR Committee’s Professional Development Workshop for K-12 Teachers
In July 2023, the FDR Committee, in partnership with the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) delivered two - one-week in-person professional development workshops in Washington, DC, to 58 educators from across the country. The workshop, titled “A Disability Legacy: The FDR Memorial Presidency and Memorial,” included site visits and lectures from leading scholars, advocates, and professionals. The week-long program focused on the campaign for disability representation at the FDR Memorial in the 1990s, disability rights history, FDR’s disability experience and its impact on his leadership, and how the disability lens opens new opportunities for teaching and understanding.
The program received high marks from the teachers, most of whom were high school and middle school educators. Most participants reported “high” and “very high” increases in knowledge gained, suggesting this program was an effective tool to promote:
- Teacher knowledge on disability rights and the disability movement.
- Teacher knowledge about Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
- Teacher confidence about meeting the learning needs of their diverse students.
Below is a graphic representing the results of the workshop. You can also find more detailed evaluation data at this link.
We sincerely thank our major funder of this project the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other contributors who made the workshop a success - Gordon & Llura Gund Foundation, Verizon, Lakeshore Foundation, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, and Bender Leadership Academy.
For the full-screen PDF, please use this link.
A Disability Legacy: The FDR Presidency and Memorial
Disability Legacy: The FDR Presidency and Memorial is a NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop for K-12 educators that will be hosted in Washington, DC July 9-15, 2023, and July 23-29, 2023 and presented by the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee and the University of the District of Columbia. Applications are now closed.
This workshop will help educators explore the disability history of the FDR Memorial in Washington DC and incorporate that history into instruction. The week-long program focuses on the campaign for disability representation at the FDR Memorial in the 1990s, disability rights overall, and the connection to the civil rights movement. The workshop will explore FDR’s disability experience, its impact on his leadership, and how the disability lens opens new opportunities for teaching about and understanding FDR.
Additional topics related to the FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt era that allows for intersectional teaching opportunities will also be explored such as the experience of African Americans and Japanese Americans during their era.
