Civics Course Implementation Blog

by Sonia Mathew, Civic Learning Manager On August 15th and 16th, nearly 300 teachers came together for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), “Face and Embrace: Waking up to Racial Equity in Education” conference at North Grand High School, sponsored by the CPS Social Science and Civic Engagement Department . Guiding principles for this conference included the opportunity to: Reflect on our own awareness and relationship to race Build knowledge, skills, and conviction Engage in building equity to make strategic and informed decisions Throughout the two-day conference participants, speakers, and presenters worked to answer these guiding questions: Presenters created sessions that connected to the essential questions, which provided a great framing for attendees as well as questions for educators to reflect on their practice as it relates to building racial equity in education. I presented a session on Racial Equity in Democracy Schools , where teachers had the oppor...

by Mary Ellen Daneels, Lead Teacher Mentor In his most recent blog post , Shawn Healy illustrated how APGOV scores in Illinois raise important questions about “deep inequities along racial and ethnic lines.” This data is not an isolated incident. The evidence of inequity and a civic empowerment gap has been well documented by researchers and has been referenced in previous blog posts . While measurements documenting the impact of the new Illinois civics requirement are encouraging, there is work still to be done in the area of equity. Mandating an equal opportunity for students to have civic instruction is a start but it does not guarantee equity. I do not have all of the answers concerning this important issue, but I am willing to engage in the conversation and collaborate with you to affect change. Illustration courtesy of Interaction Institute for Social Change | Artist: Angus Maguire I recently had the opportunity to “start the conversation” at a conference ho...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director The Advanced Placement Test for U.S. Government and Politics (APGOV) is among the most popular in Illinois, ranking behind only English, Calculus, U.S. History, and Psychology among exams taken by Illinois students in 2017. For many students, APGOV is their seminal civics course, taught by the most esteemed member of the social studies department. Based on my analysis of 2017 score distributions , more than half of APGOV test takers in Illinois (54.0%) earned a score of 3 or higher, qualifying many for college credit and/ or preferable registration status. But beneath these impressive numbers are deep inequities along racial and ethnic lines. In Table 1 below, I juxtaposed the racial/ ethnic breakdown of APGOV test takers with the composition of the student body in Illinois schools as a whole . White and Asian students are disproportionately more likely to take the APGOV test than their Black and Hispanic peers. Black students...

by Mary Ellen Daneels, Lead Teacher Mentor This week, the confirmation hearings of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be the 114th justice to serve on the United States Supreme Court will be front and center in many #CivicsIsBack classrooms. Nina Totenberg from National Public Radio states that abortion, gun rights, presidential power and campaign finance reform are likely to be current and controversial issues addressed in the hearings. It is the perfect opportunity to address essential questions such as: How should the government balance individual rights with the common good? Are the branches balanced ? What responsibilities do people in charge have to others? Who has the power and why? What should be the role of the judicial branch? How should the courts interpret the law? Does the structure of the federal court system allow it to administer justice effectively? To what extent has the judiciary protected the rights of privacy, security, and personal freedom? To help #Civi...

by Mary Ellen Daneels, Lead Teacher Mentor Best-selling author Gretchen Rubin has declared that “ September is the new January ,” signaling that for many of us, the new school year marks new beginnings and an opportunity to put those summer resolutions into practice. As Shawn has highlighted in his recent blog posts , the #CivicsIsBack campaign is designed to support teachers, schools, and districts throughout Illinois in implementing the new high school civics course requirement and related, revised K-12 social studies standards . Leading the way in this endeavor are regional mentors seeded throughout the state of Illinois to support teachers in their areas with resources to enhance classroom practice. You can contact your regional mentor through the illinoiscivics.org website or at a regional workshop in your area. As you prepare to return to the classroom, here are some of our favorite resources at #CivicsIsBack to start the school year. Engage student voice in setti...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director This post represents the third and final analysis of year two evaluation data provided by the Center for Information Research on Civic Learning and Engagement ( CIRCLE ) on our #CivicsIsBack Campaign in Illinois to support implementation of the new high school civics course and K-12 social studies standards . The first piece provided a broad overview of the findings, and the second did a deep dive on the results of our Illinois Civics Teacher Mentor program . This concluding post will further analyze the student outcomes data touched upon in the preliminary piece . More than 3,000 Illinois high school students completed surveys during the 2018-2019 school year measuring their exposure to proven civic learning practices and a stand-alone civics course, along with related civic dispositions and behaviors. They attended schools affiliated with teacher mentors and span from the suburbs of Chicago and St. Louis to rural communitie...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Two weeks ago, I summarized a comprehensive evaluation of our #CivicsIsBack course and standards implementation efforts two years into a three year cycle. Today’s post will delve further into our findings from thirty Illinois Civics Teacher Mentors that completed the survey. They serve as our foot soldiers in implementing these policies in every county in the state, providing frontline support to teachers, schools, and districts in their respective regions. Twenty-eight of the thirty mentors that completed the survey are currently in the classroom and they reach a combined 1,759 students annually. Mentors reported hosting workshops and giving presentations to other teachers as well as college students in education programs. They also emailed teachers and administrators with suggested resources to further curricular integration. In line with the encouraging student outcomes illustrated in the previous post, mentors reported st...