EVERFI and Regions Bank Partner to Bring African-American History Into the Classroom

EverFi, Inc., the education technology company that teaches, assesses, and certifies students in critical skills, has announced the deployment of its new African-American history learning experience. The 306 – African American History™ course, which will be launched in K-12 schools during African-American History Month and implemented beyond throughout the year, is designed to expose students to the empowering stories of African-American history and to help them draw inspiration from the grit, intellect, and determination of the many remarkable women and men who shaped America.

The course was developed in collaboration with Dr. Clayborne Carson, Professor of History and Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Through the use of EverFi’s technology and instructional design expertise, historical events come to life using engaging digital media, personalized learning simulations, and robust assessment.

To lead the rollout of 306, EverFi has partnered with Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama. Regions Bank is one of EverFi’s longest tenured partners and currently sponsors financial literacy education at over 100 K-12 schools, colleges, and universities across eight states. Regions is sponsoring the 306 learning experience in fifty schools in Atlanta, Birmingham, Jackson (MS), Little Rock, Memphis, and St. Louis.

“There are incredibly rich lessons to be learned from African-American history and we believe it’s important to empower today’s students with powerful lessons that they can apply to their own lives,” said Michele Elrod, Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing at Regions Bank. “We champion inclusion and diversity in our workplace, and our sponsorship of this course will help extend this mission into classrooms across the country.”

The 306 course content is organized into short interactive vignettes focused on specific events, individuals, or concepts that played a major role in African-American history. The vignettes are presented chronologically, but teachers may also choose to customize this order based on the needs of their curriculum. The course’s capstone activity is a short analytical reflection essay that invites students to examine selected topics from the course.

“As a company, we felt that African-American history needed a much bigger seat at the table in American schools” said EverFi CEO Tom Davidson. “A partner like Regions Bank allows schools to have the most innovative technology and curricula at no cost.”

306 is designed to address the skills and proficiencies outlined in the Common Core State Standards for writing and literacy in History and Social Studies, as well as individual states’ standards for US History. Schools interested in adopting the 306 course may contact [email protected].