College of Charleston Receives Grant for K-12 Education

The College of Charleston was recently awarded a $1.5 million federal grant to launch an innovative, three-year professional development partnership designed to strengthen the teaching of American history, civics, and government in local K-12 schools.

The project, titled The Founding Documents & Their Legacy: The College of Charleston and K-12 Educators in Partnership, is funded through the competitive American History and Civics grant program, jointly administered by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Labor.

The College of Charleston is one of just 25 institutions nationwide selected for this prestigious grant in fiscal year 2026.

The initiative will be co-led by Jason Coy, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Brian Lanahan, teacher education professor in the School of Education. Together, they will spearhead an evidence-based professional development framework linking CofC faculty directly with Charleston-area educators.

“Civics education is the cornerstone of an informed electorate,” says Coy. “Through this partnership, we are ensuring that Charleston-area educators have access to high-impact instructional resources that make the foundational history of our nation accessible, relevant and engaging for students at every grade level.”

The multiyear initiative will equip local elementary, middle, and high school teachers with innovative, evidence-based instructional approaches centered on the nation’s founding documents and their enduring legacy. A core focus of the program will be providing teachers with the strategies necessary to foster civil discourse, critical thinking, and viewpoint diversity within contemporary classrooms.

“This significant federal investment allows us to deepen our commitment to local schools and empower our teachers with the robust tools they need to foster civility,” Lanahan says. “By bringing our academic expertise teaching the founding documents to K-12 classrooms, we can enrich how students engage with the core principles of our democracy.”

Program activities are slated to begin this academic year, establishing a collaborative network of educators equipped to elevate history and civics outcomes across the Lowcountry.