What should college faculty know about the students starting post-secondary studies – and our introductory history courses? Teams of AHA members in the “History Gateways” project have asked K-12 teachers this question over the past three years at annual meetings of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the largest gatherings of social studies educators in the nation with 4,000-5,000 people in attendance. We organize an open session at the conferences, focused exclusively on the advice teachers offer to us about the interests, strengths, and concerns their students bring to college classrooms. We then report back to the AHA, sharing what K-12 educators tell us about the learners who will soon begin academic studies on our campuses and classrooms.

Why is the guidance from K-12 teachers important? We know of a disturbing problem in our 100- / 1000-level classes: introductory history courses – designed as “gateways” into our discipline and higher education – too frequently act as “roadblocks” to the pursuit of a degree, especially for first-year, first-generation, low-income, and racially and ethnically underrepresented students. As we reexamine and reframe intro courses, it may not be enough to draw from our own individual interests, departmental priorities, institutional requirements, and disciplinary expectations. What of the circumstances, needs, and “outcomes” of the students in the classroom? Who better to help us understand that question than the educators who have guided students through to graduation and college entry?

At the December 2024 meeting of the NCSS in Boston, K-12 teachers drew on their experience with students transitioning to post-secondary education to help guide our efforts at restructuring introductory history courses in support of success, retention, and completion. Teachers responded to five questions we posed about their students and our own course revisions. Our panel will report on what teachers told us.

Daniel McInerney (Utah State University / AHA History Gateways) will explain the presentations we made to the NCSS -- and review what teachers want us to recognize about our entering students.

Amy Powers (Waubonsee Community College) will discuss what teachers said about the learning and skills that new students bring to our courses.

Kelly Hopkins (University of Houston) will share what we learned about the expectations our entering students bring to their college work.

Theresa Jach (Houston Community College) will highlight how teachers view the best ways to engage new students in college-level studies.

Together, the panelists will review teachers’ comments on the strengths and weaknesses of our own introductory course revisions.