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Goal

The goal of this project is to provide students with consistent access to high quality, scholarly, and credible academic resources through the JSTOR database, strengthening research, critical thinking, information literacy, evidence-based writing, and college-readiness skills across multiple advanced academic courses. The project will serve students in AP Seminar, AP Research, AP U.S. History, AP World History, AP Government, and science courses, creating a shared research resource that can be used across disciplines.

JSTOR provides access to 2,700+ leading academic journals, more than 2 million primary sources across four collections, 93,000+ academic eBooks from 115+ publishers, and more than 2 million high-quality images through Artstor on JSTOR. These resources give high school students access to the types of scholarly materials they will encounter in college and allow them to practice authentic academic research before they enter higher education.

Student achievement will be impacted by moving students beyond reliance on general Internet searches toward the purposeful use of scholarly journals, primary sources, academic books, and credible visual resources. Students will learn to locate appropriate sources, evaluate credibility and relevance, analyze arguments and evidence, synthesize information from multiple sources, and properly incorporate research into their own writing and presentations.

The project directly supports our school's academic goals related to academic rigor, literacy across the curriculum, college and career readiness, critical thinking, and evidence-based learning. For the 2026–2027 school year, our goal is for 100% of students in both 9th- and 10th-grade ELA to demonstrate proficiency on the Florida statewide ELA BEST PM 3 assessment. When students are exposed to high-quality academic scholarly sources, their reading comprehension, critical thinking, and analysis skills improve tenfold. It will also support the development of transferable research skills that students can apply regardless of their intended college major or career pathway. 

 

Category

Books - BEST Books, Approved Books 

 

What will be done with my students

By the end of the 2026–27 school year, students will:

1. Increase their ability to locate and select credible academic sources for research-based assignments.
2. Demonstrate increased proficiency in evaluating sources for credibility, relevance, bias, purpose, and evidence.
3. Strengthen evidence-based writing by integrating scholarly sources into arguments rather than simply summarizing information.
4. Improve research and synthesis skills by connecting ideas across multiple academic sources.
5. Develop greater independence as researchers by learning to conduct research using a professional academic database.
6. Increase college readiness by gaining experience with the types of scholarly resources and research processes expected in higher education.
7. Transfer research skills across disciplines, using JSTOR in English, history, government, and science courses.

Student growth will be measured through research assignments, source evaluations, annotated bibliographies, evidence-based writing, AP-style research tasks, presentations, and pre/post assessments of research and information literacy skills.

The requested funding will be used to provide students and teachers with schoolwide access to the JSTOR academic database during the 2026–27 school year.

Rather than using the database for a single assignment, teachers will intentionally integrate JSTOR into existing curriculum throughout the year. Students will learn how to search for scholarly information, distinguish academic sources from general Internet sources, evaluate evidence, and use research to develop and support their own ideas.

AP Seminar students will use JSTOR to:
Investigate complex issues from multiple perspectives.
Locate peer-reviewed scholarship and primary sources.
Develop research questions based on gaps, tensions, and perspectives within existing research.
Evaluate the credibility and relevance of sources.
Synthesize multiple sources into evidence-based arguments.
Support individual and team research projects.
Strengthen the research skills necessary for the Individual Research Report, Individual Written Argument, Team Multimedia Presentation, and Individual Multimedia Presentation.

JSTOR will provide students with an opportunity to experience authentic academic research rather than relying primarily on general websites and search engine results.

For AP Research students, JSTOR will become an important component of the independent research process. Students will use the database to:
Conduct literature reviews.
Identify existing scholarship related to their research questions.
Locate and evaluate peer-reviewed research.
Establish context for their investigations.
Identify patterns, gaps, and disagreements within existing scholarship.
Synthesize sources to establish the significance of their research.
Support the development of their academic papers.

The database will be particularly valuable because AP Research requires students to function as independent researchers, making the ability to locate and evaluate scholarly literature an essential skill.

AP U.S. History, AP World History, and AP Government

History and government students will use JSTOR to investigate historical and contemporary issues through both secondary scholarship and primary sources. Students will:
Analyze scholarly interpretations of historical events.
Compare historians' arguments and perspectives.
Examine primary documents and other historical evidence.
Research political, social, economic, and cultural developments.
Develop evidence-based historical arguments.
Complete research projects and document-based assignments.
Connect historical scholarship to contemporary issues.

Access to JSTOR will allow students to move beyond textbook accounts and examine how scholars interpret historical events and political issues.

Science students will use JSTOR to strengthen research literacy within STEM disciplines. Students will:
Locate academic research related to scientific topics.
Examine scholarly discussions of scientific issues.
Evaluate evidence and research methodologies.
Compare findings across multiple sources.
Investigate emerging fields such as sustainability, public health, and international security.
Use scholarly sources to support scientific arguments and research projects.
Develop the ability to read and interpret academic texts outside of a traditional English or social studies classroom.

This cross-disciplinary implementation reinforces the idea that research literacy is not an English skill; it is a college and career skill.

How JSTOR Will Be Used

Not only does JSTOR offer academic journals and primary resources, but they also offer several other resources that will be particularly valuable to students:

Students will be encouraged to use JSTOR's free, self-directed Research Basics course to strengthen fundamental research skills, including finding, evaluating, and using scholarly information. Students can use Workspace to organize articles and book chapters, take notes, and manage citations. This will help students develop organizational habits that will be valuable when completing longer research projects.

Teachers can incorporate JSTOR Daily articles into classroom discussions and research activities, allowing students to connect current events and contemporary questions to scholarly research.

Project Timeline: 2026–27 School Year

November-December 2026: Introduction and Research Foundations

Teachers introduce students to JSTOR and its resources.
Students will:
Learn how to access and navigate the database.
Complete introductory research activities.
Learn the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources.
Practice keyword and advanced searches.
Evaluate source credibility, relevance, and purpose.
Complete a baseline research/information literacy assessment.

Teachers will establish common expectations for scholarly research across participating courses.

December-January 2026: Applying Research Skills
Students will use JSTOR for classroom research assignments
Source evaluation.
Annotated bibliographies.
Primary source analysis.
Scholarly article analysis.
Research questions.
Evidence collection.
Historical research.
Scientific research.
AP Seminar research tasks.

Teachers will collect student work to establish evidence of early progress.

January–February 2027: Advanced Research and Synthesis
Students will move from locating sources to analyzing and synthesizing scholarship.
Compare scholarly arguments.
Identify patterns and contradictions.
Synthesize information from multiple sources.
Integrate evidence into their own arguments.
Develop research-based presentations and written products.
Apply research skills to AP coursework and major projects.

AP Research students will use JSTOR extensively as they develop and refine their independent research projects.

February–April 2027: Demonstrating College-Ready Research Skills
Students will complete culminating research assignments and projects.
Evidence of learning may include:
AP Research papers.
AP Seminar research products.
AP History research assignments.
Government research projects.
Science research assignments.
Evidence-based essays.
Presentations.
Primary source analyses.
Annotated bibliographies.

May–June 2027: Evaluation and Reflection

Teachers will administer a post assessment measuring research and information literacy skills and comparing with baseline work to determine growth in skills.

Teachers will also collect student feedback regarding JSTOR's usefulness and students' confidence in conducting college level research.
 

 

Benefits to my Students

Today's students have unprecedented access to information, but access to information does not automatically translate into information literacy. Students can locate thousands of search results within seconds, yet many struggle to determine which sources are credible, scholarly, relevant, or appropriate for academic research.

This challenge becomes particularly significant as students enter AP courses and prepare for college. Advanced coursework requires students to move beyond simply finding information and instead evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and apply evidence.

Students need opportunities to practice these skills using authentic academic resources before they leave high school.

JSTOR provides a solution by giving students access to trusted academic scholarship in a single research platform. Rather than asking students to navigate an overwhelming collection of unrestricted Internet sources, teachers can teach students how to work with the kinds of resources they will encounter in college.

This project is especially important for students who may not otherwise have access to extensive academic research resources outside of school. Providing database access at school helps create a more equitable research environment in which students can develop the same foundational research skills regardless of their individual access to outside resources.

Because JSTOR will be used in AP Seminar, AP Research, history, government, and science courses, students will encounter consistent research expectations across disciplines.

Students will learn that credible research, evidence evaluation, synthesis, and academic citation are transferable skills rather than skills belonging to a single subject area.

The project will be evaluated through multiple forms of quantitative and qualitative data. Students will complete a research literacy assessment at the beginning and end of the school year. Growth from the preassessment to the post assessment will provide measurable evidence of learning gains.

Teachers will collect beginning, middle, and end of year student work. Student work will be evaluated using common or course-specific rubrics emphasizing source quality, evidence, analysis, synthesis, and research practices.

The long-term goal is not simply for students to know how to use JSTOR. The goal is for students to become discerning researchers who know how to ask questions, locate trustworthy information, evaluate evidence, recognize multiple perspectives, and construct informed arguments. 

 

Budget Narrative

JSTOR, Artstor, and the composition notebooks will allow students to access resources beyond the normal scope build literacy skills through evaluation, synthesis, and analysis. The composition notebooks will allow students to track their research and investigation and keep annotated bibliographies throughout the process of research. 

 

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