Illinois and the Social Sciences: What Are Our Middle School Students Learning?

by Scott McGallagher, Research Intern

When outstanding advancements in education occur, it is a shame to be stingy and not spread the news far and wide. As previous blogs have mentioned, #CivicsintheMiddle is now officially Public Act 101-0254, signed into law by Governor Pritzker in early August.

Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, all public middle school students will be required to complete a semester of civics in either 6^th, 7^th, or 8^th grade. New civics instruction will also reflect the proven practices of civic education, engaging students in direct instruction, simulations, discussions of current and controversial issues, and service-learning experiences. This summer, after many moving conversations with educators across the state, I was able to establish a baseline on the course sequence for Social Studies in middle-grade schools. In conjunction, several educators shared with me unique units and extracurricular projects which engage students in deeper learning beyond the standard curriculum.

The goal of the research design was to reach a representative sample of the 1,344 public middle and junior high schools across the state, and I was able to get feedback from 8 percent, or 102 individual schools. As a fellow civic learning advocate, I hope that Social Studies educators across the state may find this research insightful as we all collaborate to inculcate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions for our young people to be civically engaged in our communities.

The above table shows the general units covered and/or offered in the 6^th grade. The vast majority (85%) of schools are covering ancient world history and its governance structure as well as Medieval Europe. Many schools establish a foundation of civic knowledge beginning with their 6^th grade students by introducing the U.S. government, the U.S. Constitution and Illinois Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. One school in the central region of Illinois takes this approach a step further by also discussing macroeconomics, microeconomics, and how federal and state taxes work.

Below are exemplars of civic learning practices that some schools are already engaging their students in:

• A Chicagoland school draws current and controversial issue discussion topics through curriculum guides from Facing History and Ourselves and Junior Scholastic.
• Social Studies teachers at another Chicagoland school take a hyperlocal approach to current events with their middle school students. This past school year, teachers structured discussions and debates around the Chicago Mayoral Election, how the Chicago municipal government functions, and voting rights across the world.
• 6^th and 8^th graders at this Chicagoland school complete a “Democracy Project”, where students couple informed action research with solving school and community-at-large issues.

Of the 86 schools where I gathered feedback from 7^th grade Social Studies teachers, a small majority (62%) are covering U.S. history from colonization up until the Civil War. As well, nearly one-third (31%) of teachers specifically outline in their curriculum or syllabus that students will complete a U.S. and/or Illinois Constitution assessment created by the said teacher.

Many schools are setting strong examples for how teachers can engage their 7^th and 8^th graders civically:

• Two Chicagoland school incorporate economics into their civics unit which engages 7^th and 8^th graders in a deeper understanding of the movement of goods, people, and services as well as trade amongst nations.
• Another pair of Chicagoland schools simulate democratic processes and role-playing activities with their 7^th- and 8^th-grade students. Students simulate mock Supreme Court cases, mock sessions of Congress, and debates where students consider multiple points of view.
• One school in Central Illinois and another in Chicagoland stress the importance of media literacy in a digitally connected age with their students. How to find credible information, how to research scholarly databases, the importance of press freedom, and the threat of disinformation campaigns are all imperative topics discussed in this unit of study.

A large majority (79%) of 8^th grade students are covering U.S. History from the late 19^th and early 20^th century to modern times in their Social Studies classes. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of 8^th grade Social Studies teachers structure a self-made assessment of the U.S. and/or Illinois Constitution in their curriculum.

Many middle and junior high schools across our great state have taken steps to engage with our young people in what it means to have healthy civic dispositions. Since the rollout of the High School Civics Law in 2015, McCormick Foundation civic education partners have committed their resources and time to high school civics and may now turn their supports to our middle-grade students.

Potential supports identified through this research project include promoting more simulations of democratic processes and role-playing, informed action/service-learning projects, and discussions of current and controversial issues through class and/or small group discussions. It is a very exciting moment in time for civic educators and advocates across the state, and the Democracy Program staff of the McCormick Foundation are resilient in our pursuit of high-quality civic learning experiences for all of Illinois’s young people.