In last week’s post, we re-introduced ourselves and discussed the sorts of resources that we have developed and offer (for free) for civic education here in Florida and beyond. Today, let’s take a look beyond the ‘knowledge’ component of the ‘Civics Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions‘ triad and discuss the ways in which we here at the Lou Frey Institute/Florida Joint Center for Citizenship are working to bring the skills and dispositions of component of effective civic education to classrooms.

Citizen Apprentices in Middle School

Chris Spinale, our Action Civics Coordinator, has referred to the work that we do with civic engagement as helping students in their roles as ‘citizen apprentices’ (and we will discuss more about the ‘citizen apprentice’ idea in a later post!). In doing so, we have begun a great deal of work and support around the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s Civic Action Project.

The Civic Action Project is an excellent tool to begin the work of citizen apprenticeships. Students have the opportunity to explore policy and develop solutions at all levels of community. It engages students in the deep and important task of thinking about civics from an engagement lens. How do I improve my community? How do I take what I have learned in civics and make a difference. It’s important to note, as well, that this is not inherently a conservative or liberal approach. Rather, it reflects what students themselves have identified as pressing issues in their community (and community may be a classroom, school, neighborhood, town, or more!). As an example, a couple of years ago, Citrus Ridge Civics Academy in Polk County did a CAP project to pursue policy change around domestic violence shelters. According to student research (a big part of CAP!), there was only one domestic violence shelter within the a certain radius of their community, and the students developed a presentation to try and convince policymakers to change that. Another simply powerful public service announcement dealt with an epidemic of suicide in the community (provided below; please be warned that it could be painful to watch for some folks).

Last spring, the Lou Frey Institute, in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida, hosted the Civic Action Project Showcase. It gave groups of middle school students the opportunity to share their policy research, proposals, and recommendations to district superintendents, local leaders, and decision makers in their communities. You can read all about it here! 

We are currently working, in some form or other, with schools in Brevard County, Polk County, Orange County, and even a school in Texas to implement some version of CAP in middle school.

Citizen Apprentices in High School

While we have launched the Middle School CAP effort already, we are currently working on and piloting something called Politics in Action (or PIA). This is based on the ‘Knowledge in Action’ work of Walter Parker and Jane Lo (and was developed for Florida in collaboration with Dr. Lo). This is essentially a simulation of American government that gives students the opportunity to really gain a deep (and necessary!) understanding of how American government is supposed to work. Take a look at the infographic below to see the 4 modules for this approach.

In the video below, Dr. Parker discusses this approach (though again, please note that we have adapted it for Florida!)

So that is just a couple of areas where we are moving beyond the ‘traditional curriculum’ of civic education and trying to bring civics in Florida to that next level of practicing skills and developing dispositions. If you are interested in either the Civics Action Project or Politics in Action, you can contact Dr. Steve Masyada or Chris Spinale of LFI/FJCC!

Friends, the great folks over at the Civics101 podcast need your input! Contact information is in their communication below!

Civics 101 is looking for additional high school educators (i.e. History, Civics, Social Studies, or Journalism) in grades 8-12 who would like to participate in a 75-minute online focus group that will inform the development of a publicly available podcast about Civics.
Participants will join a 75 minute video call with 5-6 colleagues and an education researcher from EDC and:

– Share their goals, challenges and successes in teaching with podcasts

– React and respond to proposed civics podcast content and format

– Receive a $100 gift card as a thank you

The focus groups will take place on Tuesday April 2, at 3:30, Thursday April 4, at 3:30 and Friday April 5 at 3:30. If you are interested, please respond with the time slot that works best for you.

Thanks!
Laura Bartel
Education Development Center, Inc
lbartel@edc.org

Good afternoon, dear friends in civics. Today’s post is response to this positive and supportive piece published in recently in Florida Politics. As you are most likely aware, the Lou Frey Institute/FJCC has faced a continual budget issue for the past few years.  The linked Florida Politics post argues for ensuring that the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is fully funded:

According to the Lou Frey Institute, when teachers use their resources, students score 20-25 percent higher on Florida’s end-of-course civics assessment.

Civics education is at the core of everything we are as a society. It’s about the law and the Constitution. It’s about voting and free speech. It’s about free expression of religion and speaking up freely to the government itself. In other words, it’s about America.

The Legislature requires civics education for millions of Florida children. In light of that, cutting funding for a resource that’s shown long-term significant ability to improve civics education seems to be an unwise and uncivil course of action….

Legislators should not be punishing an outstanding institution that is working hard to right the ship. FJCC conducts civics education under the names of two of Florida’s most civic-minded leaders of the past 40 years. Bob Graham and Lou Frey, a Democrat and a Republican, understood how government can be an instrument for good when used properly and in a limited way to find creative, workable solutions to problems.

They certainly understood the importance of the saying long popular around the Capitol: ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.’ The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship did nothing wrong — but rather does so much right.

It would be a shame to see it, and the children who benefit from its programs, penalized for mistakes and misdeeds unrelated to its fine work and mission.

We greatly appreciate this support. But it’s time, perhaps, for a refresher on the work we do here at LFI/FJCC, a proud partner of the Civics Renewal Network (and be sure to check out their materials!) So, just what do we do? What does this funding  support?

K-12 Civic Education Resources

You may be most familiar with us from our resources, provided to teachers of all grade levels. Every resources or tool we develop is created in response to a request to meet a need and in collaboration with teachers, teacher educators, and social studies/civics professionals. These curricular resources, available on our main website, are 100% free (though registration is required) and include, but are not limited to:

• Civics in a Snap (CIAS): 15 to 20 minutes ‘mini-lessons’ that address the civic benchmarks and are aligned with Florida’s ELA Standards (and easily adaptable to Common Core and the social studies standards of other states)
• Students Investigating Primary Sources (SIPS): This series of lessons, which range from 2nd through 12th grade, introduce students to primary sources around a variety of topics. They are intended to be somewhat short and simple to use while still providing some level of rigor. They are aligned with Florida’s ELA and social studies benchmarks (for civics, government, and/or US history)
• Civics Correlation Guide to Current K-5  Reading Series: This resource is connected to all current K-5 reading series being used in Florida, and illustrates will you will find some level of alignment with civics benchmarks.
• K-5 Civics Modules: These extended lessons are aligned with civics and ELA benchmarks.
• 7th Grade Applied Civics Resources: Here, you will find 35 lessons that have been developed to teach, with fidelity, the assessed civics benchmarks. On the page link provided, you will find lesson plans, power points, teacher-oriented content videos, and assessment items, among other things.
• Civics Connection: Developed in partnership with College Board and the United States Association of Former Members of Congress, the Civics Connection provides video-based, internet-delivered set of lessons that engages former members of Congress to help high school students understand Congress and the issues it faces. Videos and resources are aligned to the AP U.S. Government and Politics curriculum and may be used in other government classes as well.

Perhaps our most popular resource is Civics360. So what tools do you find on Civics360?

• Multiple Student Friendly Readings for each assessed benchmark, available in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole

• English language reading guides for each Student Friendly Reading, developed with all levels of readers in mind

• Vocabulary Practice Worksheets that use Concept Circles to assist students with understanding key words from the benchmark

• A Quizlet tool for vocabulary practice and remediation

• Narrated student-oriented videos for every benchmark, with scripts to allow for reading along with the video

• Video Viewing Guides for each new video to facilitate engagement

• Online quiz practice within each module that reflect best practice in learning and assessment tools that facilitate engagement and retention. We have added clearer explanations and suggestions for reflection for every distractor in each question.

• • Stand-alone ‘Showing What You Know’ activities for the following benchmarks: 1.3 (Road to Independence), 1.5 (Articles), 1.6 (Preamble), 1.7(Limits on Gov Power), 2.4 (The Bill of Rights), 3.1(Forms of Gov), 3.2 (Systems of Gov), and 3.4 (Federalism). Look for the ‘Showing What You Know’ section on each module page!

• Additional civic resources to facilitate learning and review

• Organized into 9 Civics Focus Areas that reflect district pacing guides

The site also includes a 60 question practice assessment that reflects the actual EOC in structure and format.

Be sure to check out the overview video!

The use of these resources in the middle school civics classroom does, we believe, have something of an impact, especially in conjunction with professional development.

In Monday’s post, we’ll explore some new directions for LFI/FJCC in the action civics arena and discuss the types of professional development that we can provide!

“Civic Politics and Global Order”: A Special Issue of The Good Society: A Journal Of Civic Studies

More than a century ago, US President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare a state of war with Germany—a radical step in pursuit of a radical objective. Seeking “no conquest” and expecting “no indemnities” for any life or treasure lost, Americans, Wilson declared, would fight “for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free.”

The “concert of free peoples” that emerged from the Great War’s ashes—the League of Nations— never gave adequate international expression to such democratic civic ideals, nor could it prevent a second global conflict. Yet it laid grounds for a complex of institutions—among them the World Bank, United Nations, NATO, and European Union—that for decades after World War II embodied for millions of people the possibility of an increasingly stable and just world order. Now the prestige of that order has reached a historic low, and its continued existence has come into doubt.

Simultaneously, however, citizens and societies worldwide continue to seek ways of achieving Wilson’s essential vision: a vision of self-governing communities collaborating, despite conflicting interests, on the otherwise impossible task of creating a safe and just world.

Aware of such strivings and persuaded of their importance, the editorial board of The Good Society invites submissions from scholars and practitioners exploring the relationship between civic politics and global order. What interests do self-governing communities at the national, subnational, or transnational level have in maintaining international or global order? What normative commitments are required, and what independent and collaborative actions are advisable, to advance such interests while maintaining due regard for divergent local, cultural, and historical contexts?
What strategies and tactics—proven, novel, or forgotten—are ripe for implementation, experimentation, or rehabilitation? Above all hangs the question: Is there a regulative ideal of global order that self-governing aspirants and civic agents should adopt? If so, how can it be formulated, disseminated, theorized, and realized in a manner that respects the plural as well as universal interests and experience of humanity?

The editorial board invites papers of 6,000 to 8,000 words that address the questions above, as well as other relevant questions emerging from serious inquiry into the character of a good society and the conditions for achieving and maintaining it. Please submit papers by May 1, 2019 to: http://www.editorialmanager.com/gs/default.aspx

For more information regarding this call, write Trygve Throntveit, editor, tthrontv@umn.edu

The Good Society is the flagship journal for the interdisciplinary (between disciplines) and transdisciplinary (beyond disciplines) field of Civic Studies. For more information on Civic Studies, please visit http://civicstudies.org/about/ .