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About The DBQ Project

The DBQ Project was founded in 2000 to support teachers and students in learning to read smart, think straight, and write more clearly. As teachers, we believe all students can develop high-level critical thinking skills if they have consistent instruction and a chance to practice. We also believe that when we provide teachers with materials that blend educational best practices  and content-specific questions, we promote and support transformational change in our schools.

Why DBQ?

Our professional development workshops and materials have transformed the way school districts across the U.S. comply with state and national standards in language arts and social studies classrooms. Hear supervisors, teachers and students talk about the results they have seen by using our DBQs and LBQs.

Supervisors

Supervisors like The DBQ Project because our lessons increase student engagement and address both content and literacy standards. The DBQ Project supports teachers.

Teachers

Teachers like The DBQ Project because our lessons help differentiate instruction and have support materials for both teachers and students. We help teachers support their students.

Students

Students Like The DBQ Project because our questions are interesting and challenging. When they complete a DBQ, they have a sense of accomplishment that comes from doing authentic and demanding work.

“What I like about the DBQ project is that it takes this process of historical inquiry and analysis and breaks it down into six manageable steps that you can walk your students through. I have seen teachers become more confident in teaching the writing process because of these steps. Teachers at North East ISD spend time explicitly using scaffolds during document analysis. They think out loud, and model marking the text before students are asked to analyze on their own. As a district, we meet several times a year and use protocols to analyze student writing samples. We monitor to make sure that our students are learning the process from sixth grade through 11th grade.”

– Millicent Reynolds, Director of Social Studies Education, North East ISD (San Antonio)

1234 Sherman Avenue
Evanston, IL 60202

1-847-475-4007