Assessment in Archaeology Education: Project Archaeology Research

Project Archaeology is well known around the country for its inquiry-based archaeology curricula. We reach an estimated 300,000 students annually with our curricular materials. While these numbers are great, it is also important to know if students are understanding the materials and learning the lessons we teach. If students have been taught the curriculum, but do not understand the importance of stewardship or how to interpret evidence to build content, our materials will be useless; if the materials do not meet the needs of educators, they will soon be outdated. Including descendant communities in curriculum development, assessing the needs of teachers, and monitoring results of consultation to maintain long-term relationships are also important areas of research for archaeology educators. To this end, Project Archaeology national staff, state program coordinators, and master teachers, have participated in several research projects to assess student learning and the efficacy of professional development for educators.