Teaching the Illinois TEAACH Act with Brown Voices

Since the 2022–23 school year, Illinois has required every public elementary and high school to include a unit of instruction on Asian American history, under the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act.

What the law requires

The unit must cover the history of Asian Americans in Illinois and the Midwest, and their contributions to civil rights from the 19th century onward. Each school board decides how much instructional time counts as a unit.

Source: 105 ILCS 5/27-540, as amended by P.A. 104-391, effective August 15, 2025 (ilga.gov).

Where Brown Voices fits

Brown Voices isn’t a history textbook, and it doesn’t cover everything the law lists. These parts fit a TEAACH unit:

Chapter 2 and the PD Toolkit’s Thind lesson, on the 1923 Supreme Court case and what it meant for South Asian immigrants
Chapter 4, on hate violence against Sikh, Muslim and South Asian Americans after September 11, 2001
Chapter 7, on the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and early-1900s working-class South Asian immigrants
Chapter 11, which describes Julie Thomas Achettu’s Asian American literature course for Chicago Public Schools

Pair it with the Illinois State Board of Education’s TEAACH resources at isbe.net and your district’s adopted materials.

For those following the TEAACH Act, this is a must-read!Dr. Julie Thomas Achettu, educator and co-founder of House of Jaya

For your school or district

The PD Toolkit has ready-to-run professional development sessions, staff handouts and two high school lessons, including the Thind lesson. The District License covers every school in one district, priced by district size.

PD Toolkit, $39 per school District License, $249 to $999

The free Reader’s Guide

Discussion questions for every chapter, plus reading schedules for book clubs and staff reading groups, and pages for families and college courses. Free to print and share.

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