The Big City Social Studies Group (BCSS) was dreamed up in late-2020 during a conversation between Charles Tocci, a teacher educator at Loyola University Chicago, and Joseph Schmidt, a senior instructional specialist in the New York City Public Schools, about the obstacles facing collaboration between school districts and local universities as well as between large urban districts around the country.
To develop the idea, they each brought in a partner for a brainstorming session, which conceptualized a professional learning community (PLC) that convene district-level social studies administrators and local social studies education university faculty from big cities around the country to share learning, explore problems of practice, and work on shared challenges.
Since March 2021, the BCSS has recruited members from over 15 big cities across the United States. They meet bi-weekly during the school year and hold an annual retreat in various member cities. With grant funding from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, BCSS is organizing to raise up the unique wisdom and needs or big city students, teachers, and schools in the social studies field.
The Big City Social Studies Group 