Professional Development

Jane Hill, Sybil Jordan Hampton, Terrence Roberts and Elizabeth Eckford (L to R) discuss the moments around Little Rock Central High's desegregation and its aftermath, 1957-1960.

NPS Photo

 

Professional Development

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site is committed to meeting the demands for National Park Service-sponsored professional development (PD). Traditionally, we offer workshops or other ways to earn PD credits/hours. Programs in the past included a screening of the film 'Harriet' plus talkback with Tina Martin Wyatt, great-great-great-grandniece of Harriet Tubman, and the annual Civil Rights Educator Institute.

Workshops will be posted here as well as on the park calendar - for more information, please contact Brian Schwieger at 501-374-1957. Workshops will correlate to Arkansas's Social Studies Frameworks and/or the National Educational Technology Standards and have been approved by the Arkansas Department of Education.

2024 Civil Rights Educator Institute

Monday, June 24 - Friday, June 28, 2024

A civil rights conference to commemorate and examine the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS decision

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will host a Civil Rights Educator Institute (CREI) from Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28, 2024. Partners for this professional development include:

• Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home
• Eisenhower Foundation
• Eisenhower Memorial Commission
• Humanities Kansas
• Jefferson National Parks Association
• U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
• William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum

The 2024 CREI is being held in conjunction with a civil rights conference commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision; the conference will include presentations by historians and civil rights leaders as well as personal stories from those who lived it.


This free professional development course is open to educators; requests to participate in this program will be accepted until all openings are filled. Educators who attend the full conference will receive professional development credit.

Registration link

Educators can participate by one of three methods:

• attend all sessions virtually;

• attend in-person in Little Rock at the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site;

• or attend in-person at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum or Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, both in Kansas

This is a hybrid event with in-person and virtual components at multiple sites throughout the week.


In addition to attending onsite sessions and viewing live streamed content, workshop participants will explore strategies for effectively teaching the history of Brown v. Board of Education and the struggle for desegregation.


Lunch will be provided on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. A limited number of hotel rooms will be provided for workshop participants residing more than 50 miles from the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum/Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

Join us as we examine the Brown v. Board of Education decision and discuss the full scope of civil rights.

Schedule Overview

Session details including livestream options will be posted in the near future.

• Monday, June 24: Setting the Stage

  • sessions begin mid-afternoon

• Tuesday, June 25: Legal Argument

  • all-day sessions

• Wednesday, June 26: Brown v. Board Decision In Depth

  • all-day sessions

• Thursday, June 27: Desegregation Struggles Beyond Little Rock

  • all-day sessions

• Friday, June 28: Beyond Brown

  • sessions end mid-morning