h"p://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/ system/files/civic_report.pdf - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

h"p://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/ system/files/civic_report.pdf

Abby Kiesa , Director of Impact at CIRCLE

Maryam Judar, ExecuEve Director, the CiEzen Advocacy Center

Marshall Croddy, president of ConsEtuEonal Rights FoundaEon

Jan Brennan a Project Leader at EducaEon Commission of the States’ NaEonal Center for Learning and Civic Engagement

www.civicyouth.org

All Together Now: Collaboration and Innovation for Youth Engagement

Abby Kiesa CIRCLE Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University

What do we mean by civic educa<on?

• Civic knowledge is deep, complex, applied
• Pedagogy should involve framing quesEons,

deliberaEng soluEons, experiencing acEons

• Goal is to prepare for involvement in civic life,

which includes:

Analysis Discussion Strategies & Planning

CollaboraEon

Working

• n Actual

Problems ReflecEon Taking Concrete AcEon Working Across Difference

Building & Maintaining Civic RelaEonship

A bit about the current context

Youth Civic Engagement

Demographics PolarizaEon of parEes, processes & media Inequality Civic Life TransiEons to On & Offline Trends within EducaEon

OpportuniEes & Challenges

Deep polarizaEon and ideological conflict Growing inequality of civic

• pportuniEes

An increasingly diverse youth populaEon A powerful role for social media

www.civicyouth.org

Commission on Youth Voting and Civic Knowledge

• Distinguished, interdisciplinary group
• Funded by S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation,

the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Youth Engagement Fund

www.civicyouth.org

Commission on Youth Voting and Civic Knowledge

• Data on 6,913 people in total
• Including teachers (720), stakeholders, and

young people

• Scan of state policies relevant to voting,

voter registration, social studies, civics, teacher certification and school performance indices

Some of our findings:

« Some of the standard reform proposals are actually misconceived « But educaEng and engaging young people has long term effects « EffecEve pracEces develop skills as well as knowledge « Yet there are major gaps in exposure and quality « Strengthening civic educaEon requires more support

• f teachers

www.civicyouth.org

We know more about what works…

Discussing current issues Service-learning addressing “root causes” Extracurricular participation Being told to and taught to vote by a teacher

www.civicyouth.org

There continue to be unequal

• pportunities & outcomes…

« Civics well-taught in some advantaged communities, but much less so in schools that serve low-income and minority youth « White, wealthy students are 4-6 times more likely to exceed “proficient” in civics « 7% of low-SES students reached “proficient.”

www.civicyouth.org

Support teachers…

24.8% of teachers thought that parents or

• ther adults would object

if politics was discussed in their government course

www.civicyouth.org

Exciting Civic Education Trends

AP Civics as a deeper civics C3 Standards – preparation for informed engagement Gamified & Simulated civic learning experiences Learning by taking civic action; “Action Civics” Extracurricular & Out-

• f-School Time

State policy

• Integration of civic learning

in elementary grade reading

• Project-based assessments
• Application of knowledge to

real-world problem

www.civicyouth.org

Innovation

« Better state standards « Support teachers’ obligation to include discussions of current issues « Lower the voting age to 17 « Badges for excellence in civics

Collabora<on

« Focus on quality implementaEon processes « Statewide coaliEons, as in CA, FL, IL « Align civics and voEng laws « Assign students to discuss news at home « Badges awarded by schools and others

www.civicyouth.org

To break this pattern, we need innovation and collaboration…

Civics is Back in Illinois

Maryam Judar ExecuEve Director/Community Lawyer CiEzen Advocacy Center Elmhurst, Illinois

Poor Civic Health in Illinois

• Decades without civics requirement in public

schools

• Fewer social studies requirements than any other

state in the naEon

• Civic Health Crisis

– Illinois Civic Health Index 2010 – Illinois Civic Blueprint 2nd ediEon Public Policy Chapter – Le"ers to the Editor – early and oaen and seize the moment

Strategy

• Civic Health Crisis

– Two decades providing assistance to individuals seeking to be civically engaged but without the knowledge or skills to do so – BenedicEne University Public Policy students and local government survey – Former Illinois A"orney General and gubernatorial candidate – Collaborated on idea of the Task Force on Civic EducaEon – Sought General Assembly Leadership buy-in

• Draaed Task Force legislaEon to include different stakeholders as

members (17 members culled to 13 in legislaEve process, cugng out student appointments)

• Reviewed case studies from other states (Florida, Tennessee)
• Meanwhile, convened Public Policy Commi"ee meeEngs at Illinois Civic

Mission CoaliEon events

Bringing Back Civics

• Task Force legislaEon passed in 2013
• Task Force meets during 2014 and holds

public hearings

• Final report released December 2014

Task Force RecommendaEons

• 1. Require a civic educaEon course in high school

(completed)

• 2. Revise Illinois Social Studies Standards (completed)
• 3. Require a service learning project in middle and high

schools

• 4. Align licensure and cerEficaEon requirements for pre-

service teachers with best pracEces

• 5. Involve students in the elecEon process
• 6. Extend the Task Force to gather public input through

public hearings (completed)

Bringing Back Civics, cont.

• Legislators sponsored legislaEon mandaEng

civics course in public high schools in 2015

• Bill passed with separate bill amending

implementaEon date for school year 2016-2017 for the incoming class

• Signed by Governor Rauner August 2015
• Requires simulaEon of government processes,

discussion of current and controversial issues, and service learning

Public-Private Partnership

• Robert R. McCormick FoundaEon organized

foundaEons to allocate money to the effort to train social studies teachers over a 3-year period

– Recruited and retained public affairs firm with extensive relaEonships in Illinois capitol

• Shawn Healy, civic learning scholar, chaired Social

Studies Standards Revision Task Force during 2016, worked in collaboraEon with Illinois State Board of EducaEon

– Comprised primarily of classroom pracEEoners representaEve of the various social studies disciplines, grade bands, and geographic regions

Illinois Learning Standards

• Previous standards knowledge heavy
• Current standards focused on knowledge, agtudes

(disposiEons), and pracEce (skills)

• Civic mindedness, historical thinking, economic decision-

making, geographic reasoning, and psychological and sociological intellect across all disciplines and grade levels

• Two complementary categories: inquiry skills and

disciplinary concepts

– Inquiry skills involve quesEoning, invesEgaEng, reasoning, and responsible acEon – Disciplinary concepts make use of social science ideas, principles, and content to pursue answers to the quesEons generated by student inquiries

Active Civics

Presented by Marshall Croddy President of Constitutional Rights Foundation

Trends

§ Low rates of knowledge about government. § Low rates of trust in government:

• national ranging 20%
• state, 37%.

§ Low rates of trust in media.

The Challenges for Civic Education

q High levels of partisanship/lack of opportunity and capacity to constructively discuss issues. q Disinformation, Fake News q Student inability to evaluate

• r analyze electronic

media sources

Election 2016 Implications

Library of Congress. Chicago : Illinois WPA Art Project, [between 1936 and 1940]

q High Quality Civic/Social Studies Frameworks and Standards at the State Level

• Civic learning across the grade spans
• More coverage of state and local government
• Opportunities for Participation

q Adequate teacher professional development and curriculum to support best practices and methods

Addressing the Challenges

New Framework and Standards Models

The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for the Social Studies

• Inquiry-based
• Integration of the four core social studies disciplines—

civics, economics, geography and history.

• A strong focus on concepts and skill development
• Strongly linked to evaluating sources and utilizing

evidence in drawing conclusions and taking action

Research-based Proven Practices…

Promising Developments

Active learning classroom strategies that can be utilized at all grade levels that emphasize knowledge development, critical thinking and presentation skills, and real world issues. Motivation. Relevance. Practice and development of skills and behaviors needed for effective and engaged adult citizen participation. Active Civics (Not just civic content, but how it is taught)

q Academic discussions promoting deep reading of sources, multiple perspectives on issues, critical thinking, and inquiry. q Engaging all students. q Models include:

• Structured Academic Controversy (SAC)
• Civil Conversation.

Structured Classroom Discussion of Controversial and Public Policy Issues

Examples include moot courts, mock trials, legislative hearings, executive decision making. Put students in the roles of participants and decision- makers; must apply knowledge, critical thinking to decision-making and advocacy.

Simulations of Democratic Processes and Procedures

Students learn civics by doing civics.

q Analyze problems and issues and public policy relating to them. q Design projects or actions to address the problems; work together; interact with policy makers and processes. q Evaluate and document results. Project-based Civic Learning (Action Civics, Civics- based Service Learning) Constitutional Rights Foundation www.crf-usa.org

The essential, indispensable member of any team addressing education policy.

Education Commission of the States

We believe in the power of learning from experience and we know informed policymakers create better education policy.

REPORT RESEARCH COUNSEL CONVENE

How we do it

Key Civic Education Policy Elements

Policy 1: PreparaEon for civic life is the co-equal purpose of educaEon at the state, district and insEtuEonal level. Policy 2: Civic learning standards and curricula at each grade level, preschool through postsecondary. Policy 3: Civic learning standards include inquiry- based instrucEon that results in informed acEon and demonstraEon of learning.

Key Civic Education Policy Elements

Policy 4: IntegraEon of civic learning across all academic disciplines. Policy 5: Pre-service licensure/accreditaEon supports teachers as civic educators. Policy 6: Professional development supports teachers as civic educators.

Key Civic Education Policy Elements

Policy 7: Assessments of student progress toward civic learning outcomes is used to measure student performance and inform instrucEonal efforts. Policy 8: Accountability indicators of teacher, district and school/insEtuEon performance supports civic learning. Policy 9: Measures of civic learning community impact.

Education Commission of the States www.ecs.org | @Edcommission National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement Jbrennan@ecs.org | @NCLCEatECS

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