Investigating History
EdQuity is a MA DESE certified provider of Investigating History
About EdQuity
About EdQuity’s Investigating History PD Instructional Leads
Kelly Cooney of EdQuity, LLC and Siobhan Ryan of Ryan Educational Consultants, LLC, both former educators in urban districts in Massachusetts, are partnering with the primary goal of providing support and guidance to educators who are adopting the Investigating History curriculum. They envision an educational landscape that empowers students to be critical thinkers and skilled participants supporting life-long learning and participatory citizenship. EdQuity brings expertise in implementing curriculum with the needs and assets of multilingual learners at its core.
Dr. Siobhan Ryan has over 30 years of experience as a Massachusetts social studies educator and district leader supporting instructional improvement. This past year, she worked with teachers and administrators in Fall River to implement the Investigating History curriculum for grades 5-7. Dr. Ryan has served on state level curriculum development committees and panels; for example, as a member of the review panel for the 2018 Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework, she helped author the new 8th grade civics course. From 2005 to 2009, she was one of WestEd’s two lead developers for the planned History and Social Science MCAS and has served as a standards and assessment consultant for other states.
Starting in Spring 2024
We are excited to support your implementation of Investigating History. EdQuity provides IH training in a variety of formats: in person, virtual, hybrid and through open enrollment opportunities any Massachusetts educator is welcome to join.
We also specialize in helping educators use Investigating History with multilingual learners. Special topic workshops include:
- Strategies for making the language of social studies visible
- Using Investigating with newcomers
- WIDA 2020 in social studies
- UDL in lesson planning
Contact us to discuss your Investigating History needs and how we can help.
Investigating History Key Design Specifications
Historical Inquiry and Investigation
Investigating History centers inquiry-based learning and questioning with authentic source materials.
Current Events and Civics
The curriculum fosters civic engagement, developing students’ civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions by connecting to contemporary issues.
Development of Historical Empathy
The curriculum fosters collaborative opportunities to explore human connections while considering others’ perspectives.
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
The curriculum is rooted in culturally responsive pedagogies, leading to
three outcomes that support student learning.
• Academic achievement: Students develop grade level content, language skills and dispositions
• Cultural competence: Students deepen understanding of their own background, identities, and linguistic assets while expanding their ability to understand and honor others’ cultures, histories and languages.
• Sociopolitical awareness: Students identify, analyze, and work to address inequities in their community and the world.
Shifts in Social Studies Instruction
| Before |  | Now |
| Rote memorization of facts & terminology | | Facts and vocabulary learned as needed to support inquiry and develop explanations and arguments with evidence-based reasoning |
| Teacher provides information | | Students conduct inquiries with teacher facilitation |
| One size fits all | | Meets the needs and assets of all students through culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy |
| Simplified tasks for multilingual learners and students on IEPS | | Supports to amplify and scaffold up |
| Worksheets and research papers | | Students will engage with multimodal presentations, experiences with experts in the field, and primary sources to take part in the disciplinary literacies of history |
| Assign, Assess | | Explicit teaching of content and language |
| Before | Now |
Rote memorization of facts & terminology.
| Facts and vocabulary learned as needed to support inquiry and develop explanations and arguments with evidence-based reasoning |
Teacher provides information
| Students conduct inquiries with teacher facilitation |
One size fits all
| Meets the needs and assets of all students through culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy |
Simplified tasks for multilingual learners and students on IEPS
| Supports to amplify and scaffold up |
Worksheets and research papers
| Students will engage with multimodal presentations, experiences with experts in the field, and primary sources to take part in the disciplinary literacies of history |
Assign, Assess
| Explicit teaching of content and language |
