Are you a social studies teacher in Florida? If so, please consider joining us in your state council, and connect with a thousand other social studies across the state. Your state council does a great many things, but it also works to stay connected to the national social studies conversation, and it is active in the National Council for the Social Studies’ House of Delegates. (And you should join NCSS too!).

FCSS House of Delegates Members Steve Masyada, Cherie Arnette, and Jennifer Jolley

During the House of Delegates session, resolutions drafted and sponsored by the Florida Council passed on a straight voice vote. These two resolutions address issues of concern in our field and, we hope, may make some level of difference in the state and national conversation.

Resolution 02-01
Supporting Social and Emotional Learning in School

This resolution addresses the recent research in both civics education and in the broader field on ensuring that students have access to the curriculum, tools, and resources they need to address their social and emotional learning.

Co-Sponsors

Association of Teachers of Social Studies/United Federation of Teachers- New York City 

College and University Faculty Assembly

Early Childhood and Elementary Education Community

Georgia Council for the Social Studies

Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies 

Nebraska State Council for Social Studies

Oregon Council for the Social Studies

Rationale

Research, surveys, and recent developments in Florida and other states suggest that increasingly, students need stronger supports in school in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL). The pressures students face within schools and the broader community are significant, and we must  ensure that they are provided the opportunity to become knowledgeable, responsible, caring members of their communities. Understanding risks, thinking critically, developing empathy, and knowing how to engage in self-care can help students deal with the obstacles to success they face on a day to day basis (1);    

WHEREAS; “Social and emotional learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions,” (2); and 

WHEREAS; Florida has recently joined other states in requiring schools to spend time addressing student mental health; and 

WHEREAS; that required time is often less than a full day of school over the course of the year; and 

WHEREAS; research by Levine and Kawashima-Ginsberg (2017) suggests that social and emotional learning should be a significant component of a strong civics program that produces ‘more ethical and effective citizens’; and

WHEREAS; research within the field of social and emotional learning suggests that supporting students in their social and emotional learning by giving them the tools to address their own mental and emotional health, fostering a school culture and climate that allows students to develop empathetic relationships that help them feel both safe and loved, and  providing them the opportunity to practice necessary decision-making skills all comprise elements of a strong SEL program; and 

WHEREAS; integration of an effective SEL program requires integration into the broader school curriculum and culture rather than a stand alone approach that provides less than a full school day of learning; and 

WHEREAS; the National Council for the Social Studies has itself suggested the importance of social and emotional learning, especially for elementary students within the social studies; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED; that NCSS should advocate for every state to enact and enforce expectations for an integrated approach to social and emotional learning that draws on the most current research in SEL across all grade levels, so that students are given the opportunity to grow as both participants in civic life and as human beings. We also call for NCSS to develop a guide for teachers seeking to integrate elements of SEL into their own social studies curriculum, addressing the question of how we might align social and emotional learning with our content and our pedagogy.  

References

1. Elias, M. J., Zins, J.E., Weissberg, R.P., Frey, K.S., Greenberg, M.T., Haynes, N.M., Kessler, R., Schwab-Stone, M.E., & Shriver, T.P. (1997). Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
2. From Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) (2019). Overview of SEL. Retrieved 14 Aug 19 from https://casel.org/overview-sel/"

Resolution 04-04
Protecting Student Journalism Against Censorship and Retaliation 

This resolution is of a piece with similiar resolutions passed by other educational organizations across the country. It reflects the importance of democratic practices and opportunities for engaged learning on the part of students, while also encouraging the modeling of democratic principles of behavior when it comes to conceptions of press freedom and student rights. It also encourages us to think upon the legal framework surrounding student free press rights.

Co-Sponsors

Association of Teachers of Social Studies/United Federation of Teachers- New York CIty 

College and University Faculty Assembly

Georgia Council for the Social Studies

Human Rights Education Community

Nebraska State Council for Social Studies

Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies

Oregon Council for the Social Studies

Rationale

Elements of inquiry are increasingly a heavy focus of social studies pedagogy and curricular approaches, and allow for students to engage in the practices of civic life and civic literacy as they gain experience with questioning, disciplinary literacy, research, and informed action, with varying degrees of integration into traditional social studies instruction. Student journalism, which may fall under the auspices of both social studies and language arts, is one area of education that aligns well with these demands of inquiry, and is widely recognized as the gateway to participatory civics. Students working on school-sponsored news media learn irreplaceable civic skills, including evaluating the credibility of information sources, understanding and explaining the workings of government agencies, and gathering facts to support persuasive arguments about issues of social and political concern (1). Indeed, the national C3 Framework, with an inherent expectation of media literacy within the context of inquiry, encourages student voice and choice in the pursuit of civic knowledge and practice. Students are able to do their best journalistic work only in a climate that encourages them to grapple with challenging issues free from fear that they, or their journalism teachers, will face retaliation for unflattering news coverage.   

WHEREAS, consuming and creating news about current events is recognized as a foundational part of an effective civics education; and

WHEREAS, school-sponsored journalistic media provides students with a uniquely effective vehicle to learn and share information about the workings of government; and 

WHEREAS, with the estimated loss of 33,000 jobs at newspapers across America since 2008 (2), student media increasingly serves as the “information lifeline” supplying school news to the entire community (3); and

WHEREAS, students widely report that they are intimidated from using journalistic media to discuss contemporary social and political issues, including one 2016 university-led survey in which 53 percent of female high-school student journalists and 27 percent of male student journalists said they had refrained from writing about a topic important to them, because they feared adverse reaction from school authorities (4); and

WHEREAS, in its 1988 opinion, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (5), the U.S. Supreme Court established a minimal threshold for freedom of the student press, which over time has proven to be an educationally unsound level of institutional control, irreconcilable with the effective teaching of foundational constitutional principles and values, and has consistently faced encroachment by districts, schools, and even the courts themselves (6); and

WHEREAS, fourteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws extending a modest degree of legally protected press freedom to student journalists above-and-beyond that provided by the Hazelwood decision (7), leaving undisturbed a school’s legitimate authority to withhold material that is dangerous, unlawful, or likely to incite a disruption; and

WHEREAS, strong civic education demands students have the opportunity to practice the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the pursuit of inquiry; and

WHEREAS, students learn regard for First Amendment principles not just from textbooks and lectures, but from observing first-hand whether fundamental constitutional liberties are valued, respected and practiced by the governmental authority figures in their everyday lives (8); and

WHEREAS, a broad array of civic and educational organizations that value both civic learning and student rights, have called for strengthening the legal protections for student journalists at this time of critical need for civic literacy, including the American Bar Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Society of News Editors, and many others (9); now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: that NCSS should promote and advocate for laws fortifying the protection of student journalism, so students are guaranteed the freedom to distribute the lawful, non-disruptive editorial content of their choice in school-sponsored journalistic media; students and educators are protected against retaliation for journalistic work that provokes disagreement, challenges majoritarian views, or exposes shortcomings in institutional policies and practices; and administrators, teachers, and students should be educated about the rights and responsibilities of journalists in American society.

Citations

1. Ed Madison, How a journalism class is teaching middle schoolers to fight fake news, THE CONVERSATION (June 5, 2017).
2. Elizabeth Grieco, U.S. newsroom employment has dropped by a quarter since 2008, with greatest decline at newspapers, PEW RESEARCH CENTER (July 9, 2019).
3. Frank LoMonte, A free press shouldn’t stop at the schoolyard, CNN.COM (Nov. 29, 2017).
4. Piotr S. Bobkowski & Genelle I .Belmas, Mixed Message Media: Girls’ Voices and Civic Engagement in Student Journalism, GIRLHOOD STUDIES, Vol. 10 at 89-106 (Mar. 2017).
5. 484 U.S. 260 (1988).
6. Dan Kozlowski, “Unchecked Deference: Hazelwood’s Too Broad and Too Loose Application in the Circuit Courts”, Journal of Media Law & Ethics
7. Jennifer Karchmer, Student press freedom laws gain momentum, QUILL (Apr. 16, 2018).
8. University of Kansas researchers have documented a positive correlation between practicing high school journalism in a school where First Amendment values are respected and students’ sense of “civic efficacy,” defined as their belief that they can use their voices to have an impact on social and political issues. The findings are summarized at http://civicsandjournalists.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Results-hando…

Copies of the endorsement resolutions of the ABA, NCTE and ASNE are available on the website of the Student Press Law Center at https://splc.org/new-voices/&quot

These resolutions, and others adopted on voice vote by the NCSS House of Delegates must still get final approval from the NCSS Board of Directors in the spring.

FCSS sees these resolutions as an opportunity to speak with the voice of our teachers, and to encourage the direction of the national conversation within social studies.

If you have an idea for a resolution you would like to see drafted and submitted, please feel free to contact FCSS Legislative Chair,Dr. Steve Masyada, to see about making it happen!

Civic literacy has long been a concern nationally, and here in Florida, we have worked hard to give our middle school students a strong foundation in civic education. Indeed, 71% of all middle school students scored a 3 or better on the state civic assessment last year. 

That being said, we know that we can always do more. Recently, Florida Governor DeSantis stated that the state would begin assessing the civic literacy of high school students to determine where we stand with that cohort of future citizens. Are there areas of weakness that need to be addressed? This is what the governor’s effort is intended to address.

At this point, implementation of the governor’s desire is being worked out by the experts in Tallahassee. It is likely that students that pass this now-required measure in high school will meet the state’s recently-established college civic literacy assessment, however.

Please be aware that as of now, passage of this yet-to-be-implemented exam will NOT be required for high school graduation or used in teacher evaluations or school grades. It is simply to see where we stand. 

Be sure to watch this space for more information on this new expectation. The Lou Frey Institute will be providing news, information, and resources concerning this new assessment as it is rolled out across the state. We look forward to supporting the governor, and FLDOE, in its efforts and working with teachers across the state in ensuring that Florida continues to lead the nation in civic education and learning!

You can read more about the governor’s civics effort in the Tampa Bay Times and in the Orlando Sentinel.

Dr. Doug Dobson receives a plaque recognizing the student civic engagement award in his honor from incoming FCSS president Peggy Renihan

It is with great excitement and appreciation that UCF’s Lou Frey Institute and its Florida Joint Center for Citizenship subsidiary shares some wonderful news from the Florida Council for the Social Studies (FCSS) recent annual conference, held the weekend of October 18, 2019 in Orlando. FJCC’s director of professional development, Ms. Peggy Renihan, was installed as the president of FCSS, the state’s leading association of professional social studies educators.

At the same time, LFI’s interim executive director, Dr. Steve Masyada, was the recipient of the Dr. B.J. Allen Outstanding Leadership Award. This award honors an outstanding FCSS educator who has served the professional organization in a comprehensive way. It emphasizes service to FCSS and to social studies during the year or years immediately past.

Both Renihan and Masyada, as well as other LFI staff, have played a significant role in both FCSS and social studies and civics education in the state of Florida and nationally, and we at LFI are so pleased to see them recognized.

More excitingly, recently retired Lou Frey Institute Executive Director and now LFI Senior Fellow Dr. Doug Dobson was surprised and honored by FCSS creating a permanent student award in his honor. The Dr. L. Douglas Dobson Student Civic Engagement Award is the Florida Council for the Social Studies’ first student-centered award, and is intended to recognize a K-12 student or students who demonstrated outstanding civic engagement and leadership. Dr. Dobson has long been one of the driving forces behind civic education in Florida, culminating in the passage of the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Civic Education Act. This act is the reason that Florida is now recognized as a national leader in civics education, and Dr. Dobson’s work, vision, and leadership have helped make the Lou Frey Institute one of the state’s (and the nation’s!) leading civic education organizations. Congratulations to Dr. Dobson for a well-deserved recognition and a legacy that shall live forever through the Florida Council for the Social Studies.

For more information on UCF’s Lou Frey Institute, please be sure to visit their homepage at http://loufreyinstitute.org/.

On October 29, the Lou Frey Institute was thrilled to host a discussion of affordable housing in central Florida, with a particular attention to college students. We were joined at this discussion by Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (District 49),

Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla (District 5),

Rep Anna Eskamani (District 47),

AJ Range (UCF Assistant VP, Neighborhood Relations & Safety Education),

and Oren Henry (City of Orlando Director of Housing & Community Development).

It was wonderfully moderated by LFI’s own Dr. Terri Susan Fine.

The talk addressed questions of rental and housing stock, transportation, homelessness, and of course affordable housing and housing/rental development. We are grateful for all that chose to attend, and for everyone involved in the planning and implementation, especially LFI’s Shena Parks, who was a driving force in putting this wonderful event together. Thank you to to the panelists, who were honest, open, and frank in the discussion on this issue. You can view the entire discussion in the videos below!

One of the most pressing issues here in the Orlando area is affordable housing, and everything that goes with it. In addition to our general work in civic education, the Lou Frey Institute is dedicated to facilitating conversations around issues of civic concern. Please consider joining us on Tuesday evening, October 29th, for a discussion about affordable housing. More information is below!

It is with tremendous sadness that we share with you the news that Congressman Lou Frey, Jr., whose name graces the Institute that houses the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, has passed away.

Lou had a long legacy of service to this nation, from service in the Navy (retiring from the Naval Reserve as a Captain in 1978) and in local government here in Orange County to his five terms as a Congressman representing this region and the state of Florida. Lou was a strong advocate for civic education, and with Senator Bob Graham was a driving force in the passage of the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Civic Education Act.

He was a man who could cross party lines and who appealed to so many in this state for his honor, his attention to constituents, and his love of Florida and his country. Congressman Frey, you will be missed.

We encourage you to learn more about Lou Frey, Jr. here, as there is so much more to him than what we have posted here.

You can also visit his dedicated page on C-Span, where a number of videos illustrate his knowledge of our political system, Congress, and his wonderful character and sense of humor.

And check out this interview the Congressman did with a young student about civic education and public service. A really powerful short piece that says so much about his work and leadership.

Good afternoon friends! Don’t forget that the 2019 Florida Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference is coming and the end of this week, and there is still time to register! There will be so much good stuff. A fun themed reception will happen Friday night, so come dressed as your favorite villain or hero (historical or otherwise!) and enjoy some refreshments and networking with colleagues, friends, and peers. Explore the exhibit hall, where we have a number of excellent vendors available to support your work. Check out the keynote session on Saturday morning, and the excellent sessions all through the conference. And of course don’t forget the Professional Awards Dinner Saturday evening, where we will recognize our state social studies teachers of the year!

So come join us and grow, make new friends, find new colleagues, and have some fun! Register today! 

Without a doubt, one of the relevant social studies discussion topics in the news today is the topic of impeachment. This is not a subject that is approached without trepidation in the current climate, but can we really teach government, civics, or history without addressing such significant current events? So how we can do this in such a way that our students learn and grow and we don’t end up in the news? In this post, we’ll share some good resources that can help you teach about impeachment! One of the things you will note here is that we DO NOT suggest asking students to take a position on the impeachment of President Trump. That is simply not a feasible or appropriate question for many of our classrooms. Instead, let’s consider other ways to address the difficult but important current event.

Pedagogical Suggestions 

Dr. Emma Humphries of iCivics offers a really good suggestion for approaching instruction around impeachment: 

Teaching the history can be another safe approach. And if you’re teaching older grades with higher reading levels, you can dive right into the Federalist Papers. What did Alexander Hamilton say in Federalist 65 about the impeachment process? Let’s start there. Let’s walk through what happened with President Johnson, with President Nixon, with President Clinton. What similarities do you see? How are these circumstances different? And ask a lot of questions. When students provide answers, really push them to provide evidence in those answers rather than just say what they’re feeling.

Be sure to check out the rest of her interview linked above! She discusses how to approach it with parents, how to address issues in the classroom, and more.

Teaching Impeaching: When Lessons Change
Jennifer Hitchcock

This blog post, by Jennifer Hitchcock from the iCivics Educator Network, presents her own experience in teaching about the impeachment inquiry and provides a good outline of the questions that she asked with her students. Please give it a read, as it really can help you decide how you want to approach this.

An Important Note

Well, we all want resources, don’t we? We’ve taken a look at some of the resources floating around out there (as always, be real careful about what you are pulling off of Teachers Pay Teachers or similiar sites), and identified a few that you might be able to use. As always, make sure that you are aligning your resources and instruction with the relevant standards and benchmarks. Some example middle school civics benchmarks are below.

Relevant Florida Middle School Civics Benchmarks

What benchmarks you choose will depend on the approach you take towards teaching about impeachment, so plan accordingly!

Resources for Instruction

High Crimes and Misdemeanors 
Constitutional Rights Foundation

This resource provides a strong foundation in understanding the constitutional language around impeachment. It has students completing an extended reading and associated comprehension questions about what ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ means, and then gets into a scenario-based activity around the concept.

The Impeachment Process and President Trump
The Choices Program

While the title of this resource may raise in the teacher the fear of parent (and school) pushback, it does not ask students to decide whether President Trump is worthy of impeachment. Rather, it is mainly focused on understanding media and sources, and developing media literacy skills, using the impeachment inquiry as a relevant and important foundation. Note, for example, that it provides sources from both sides of the question around the appropriateness of the inquiry. I would happily use this resource no matter what.

How Does Impeachment Work-A Quick TED Explainer
Ideas.ted.com

The video and its associated page (available at the link above) does a simply fantastic job laying out the process of impeachment and how it works. Indeed, the video is a really useful resource for helping kids how the process as a whole is supposed to be done. It’s worth your time!

Impeachment Proceedings
The Bill of Rights Institute

This lesson, like others we have shared here, focuses on the process and the approach to impeachment, exploring the constitutional questions around impeachment.

A Final Note

The resources provided here take a couple of different approaches to teaching about impeachment, but they all have one thing in common: they DO NOT ask students to ‘decide whether President Trump deserves to be impeached’. While you are free to take that approach, you MUST recognize that you are likely opening a can of worms that could lead to challenges you may not want to or be able to deal with, especially as this is an ongoing event AND a heated emotional and political issue. The best approach is one that focuses on process and the Constitution and media literacy (which is why the Choices lesson is so good!).

Do you have resources about impeachment that you think are worth sharing? Shoot them our way! 

Some happy news, friends! The Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government (LFI) was recently recognized for their work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida’s After School Zone by the Florida After School Alliance (FASA).  LFI was honored with the inaugural Special Recognition Award for their contribution to the civic well-being of Florida’s youth.

Since 2017, LFI and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida have partnered to provide a hands-on, civic learning experience for students in their after school program.  The Civic Action Project (CAP), was designed in collaboration with the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF), and is a free resource available to schools and community groups from CRF. CAP provides young people with opportunities to deliberate, collaborate, and form civic relationships with their peers as they investigate issues that matter to them. The premise of the project is to get young people to be thinking about their community, the impact public policy has on their community, and the ways they can interact with the decision makers to positively affect the issues they identify happening in their community.

In their nomination of the Lou Frey Institute to the FASA Awards Committee, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida said,

“The UCF Lou Frey Institute collaborative supports our Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida After School Zone mission of inspiring and enabling all young people including those from disadvantaged circumstances to reach their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. The Civic Action Project equips our middle school students with the tools for positive participation in local politics, social advocacy, and community engagement. Through the community involvement of the Lou Frey Institute, our young people are empowered to work as a team with their peers and adult leaders to promote historic initiatives that have the potential for lifelong benefits within the Central Florida region and beyond.”

Young people participating in the After School Zone have addressed projects that include, but are not limited to:

• Cyber bullying prevention
• Advocacy for adapting school and community playgrounds for children with disabilities
• Elevating education for middle school students
• Mental health support services for students
• School gun violence prevention
• Food waste prevention among school cafeterias in Orange County, Florida

Kelvin Curry, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida’s Director of Middle School programs said,

“The Civic Action Project truly inspires and enables our young people to have a real voice and leave their positive mark on society as those who can stand on the right-side of history.”

The Lou Frey Institute was honored at the Florida After School Alliance’s annual awards banquet held at the end of September.

If you are interested in learning more about the Civic Action Project for your school or community group, please contact the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship’s Action Civics Coordinator, Chris Spinale. You may also reach out to LFI Interim Director Steve Masyada for more information.