The National History Education Clearinghouse (NHEC) is a project designed to create a “central online location for accessing high-quality resources in K-12 U.S. history education.” This endeavor is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, led by George Mason’s Center for History and New Media (CHNM) and the Stanford University History Education Group, and partnered with the American Historical Association and National History Center. At the 2009 Annual Meeting the AHA Teaching Division is holding sessions and a workshop for teachers in conjunction with the NHEC.

The web site part of this project launched early last month, and has been reported on by Dan Cohen, the National Coalition for History, and the National History Center.

Despite its recent launch, the site already contains a large volume of excellent resources. Below we list the main sections of the National History Education Clearinghouse site and point to some of the content they contain.

• News – timely info and links to new content online, like journals, podcasts, and awards.
• History Content – featuring search engines to find web sites and primary sources, history lectures, and sites for fieldtrips. Also offers web site reviews, information on national resource centers, and the fun and informative “Ask a Historian” section.
• Best Practices – find information on using primary sources, examples of historical thinking, and teaching advice.
• Teaching Materials – search for lesson plans and read lesson plan reviews, find state assessment standards, or ask a question of a master teacher.
• Issues & Research – online roundtables and research briefs.
• TAH Grants – search the TAH project database, discover lessons learned, join the TAH listserv, and check out spotlighted projects.
• Professional Development – includes a directory of membership organizations; links to online courses; a list of grants & fellowships; upcoming workshops, lectures, and conferences; and a calendar of events.

Check back as the site continues to grow, or sign up to subscribe to updates by RSS or e-mail.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.