From July 22 until August 2, 1985, all members of the EYES ON THE PRIZE team held a special "Civil Rights School."

The following description of the sessions is taken from a draft memo by Senior Producer Judy Vecchione:

 "For two weeks, the entire staff -- executive producer, producers,
associate producers, archivist, researcher, even the
administrative staff -- will spend their days studying with
academics, participants, and other experts who know the events,
the historical context, the people, and the stories of the civil
rights struggle in America.

"One reason to hold "school" is, of course, simply to learn {or
re-learn} the history, to take an intensive plunge with expert
guidance into the events that make up the six episodes of our
series. But "Civil Rights School" will also be a forum in which
we can look across the episodes at the period as a whole,
examining themes and issues which will knit the episodes into a
compelling and instructive series. And it will enable us to
consider our particular task of television history, a relatively
new field with new questions such as: What constitutes historical
evidence for television? How much and what kind of evidence must
actually be shown in the films to support the stories? And how do
style and editing affect accuracy?

"Modelled on "schools" held for other public television history
projects, most notably for VIETNAM: A TELEVISION HISTORY, our
program will include lectures, discussion groups, screenings of
documentary and news programs, even nightly homework. Graduation
is planned for June 21, only a few weeks after other school
closings. . . although our "students" will then move, not into
vacation, but into production of EYES ON THE PRIZE."

The lectures, discussions and presentations  for each day were organized around distinct themes or programs:

Day 1: Project Introduction / Settings, Part 1: Origins of the Movement
Day 2: Events: the Law
Day 3: Settings, Part II: The World, The U.S., The Community
Day 4: Actors: Organizations, Organizers, and Motivating Philosophies
Day 5: Communications: the Media, Communications: the Music
Day 6: Program I :Montgomery Bus Boycott, Program II: Little Rock
Day 7: Program III: Sit-ins, Program IV: Albany
Day 8: Program V: Freedom Summer, Program VI: Selma
Day 9: Film Screenings
Day 10: Project Day: Guiding Principles, Organizational Matters