The Bill of Rights Institute offers schools and school districts a one-of-a-kind professional development experience to build a custom program with state standard alignment and more BRI resources.
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Strengthen your school’s or district’s social studies expertise using BRI's catalog of K-12 U.S. History, Government, and Civics materials and expertise in pedagogy. Our teacher professional development programs combine BRI resources with state standards, primary sources, critical thinking strategies, classroom engagement activities strategies, and more!
Our team is able to customize professional development program for your specific needs including aligning our training so that it meets state standards as required. Our resources have been reviewed and aligned to the state standards listed below in collaboration with educators from that state but we are capable of working with educators in any state.
Director, Teacher Programs
Shawn McCusker has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader in public, private, and alternative schools. He is the author of Becoming Active Citizens, winner of the 2022 Foreword INDIES Gold Award for Education. His column “The Tech Savvy Classroom” appeared in Digital Learning magazine. As a teacher and expert in technology integration, his lessons and student produc...
Regional Manager, Programs
Lori spent 33 years as a classroom teacher in Nebraska and Missouri. While she spent the first 12 years of her teaching career working with both middle and high school students. Lori spent much of her career teaching U.S. History and duel credit U.S. History for college and high school credit. She also taught World Civilizations, Civics, Geography, Psychology, and Sociology. Lori earned her B.A...
Manager, Program Partnerships
Don Jenkins joined the Bill of Rights Institute in 2025 as Manager of Program Partnerships after teaching a wide variety of social studies classes in grades 6-12 for thirty years in Illinois and Washington State. Throughout his career, he has been fortunate to work with organizations such as the Korean War Legacy Foundation, iCivics, Center for Civic Education, and Th...
Manager, Program Partnerships
Shaelynn Farnsworth is the Manager, Program Partnerships at the Bill of Rights Institute, collaborating with school districts, state agencies, and education organizations to expand access to high-quality civics and history education. She works closely with partners to ensure programs are implemented with fidelity, aligned to standards, and responsive to educator and student needs.
Shaely...
BRI has a number of classroom-tested curriculum titles that are certain to improve your students’ comprehension, literacy, and level of engagement. All of our titles are reviewed by scholars, master teachers, and subject matter experts, ensuring the highest quality learning products.
Throughout the year, our team hosts dozens of free, online trainings that focus on specific pedagogies and/or specific aspects of our curricular resources. In addition, our team travels around the country hosting open-registration professional development events. Explore our upcoming options below.
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