Learning Law and Democracy Foundation 17-19
Learning Law and Democracy: Principles of Democracy – Connecting civic education to principles that guided the nation's founders and continue to be our foundation today is the goal of LLAD's "Principles of Democracy" project for Minnesota's young people. By focusing on the why, how, and who of our system of government, K-12 students in and out of the classroom will be prepared to carry on Minnesota's civic tradition of informed civic participation. They will learn about the Constitution, structures of government, politics and active citizenship.
$200,000 each year is for grants to the Minnesota Civic Education Coalition: Minnesota Civic Youth, the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation, and YMCA Youth in Government to conduct civics education programs for the civic and cultural development of Minnesota youth. Civics education is the study of constitutional principles and the democratic foundation of our national, state, and local institutions and the study of political processes and structures of government, grounded in the understanding of constitutional government under the rule of law.
- The number of students/schools participating in Legacy funded student programs, both local and statewide will increase.
- Availability of information about the quality and quantity of civic education across the state will increase through the online civics education assessment, schools will be inspired to do better.
- 150 additional lessons will be available on the teachingcivics.org website, search capacity will improve, existing lesson database will be updated, online tools will support increased student and teacher engagement.
- Teachers will be more prepared to teach civics and community leaders and volunteers will learn about ways to participate in local civic education efforts.
STUDENT PROGRAMS for more than 5,000 youth:
- We the People for 4,000 students in 62 classrooms. Out if these, 91 students from Cannon Falls, Albany, Westbrook-Walnut Grove, and Community School of Excellence participated in the We the People Competition on Dec. 11, 2018, Minnesota State Capitol.
- Project Citizen taught more than 1,000 young people how to solve community problems. The best 51 projects were showcased at the State Competition, May 15 at State Capitol. Because the program is outgrowing the capacity of the State Capitol for the State event, two schools held school-wide competitions to select the top scoring projects for the state event. This is the program change needed to make it possible to continue to hold the event in the State Capitol,
INCREASE TEACHER CAPACITY TO TEACH CIVICS:
- Super Civics: A new program for elementary students called “Super Civics” was created to teach the building blocks of civic engagement skills and knowledge needed before students enter high school; provided professional development: Jan 28, 20 people; May 16-17, 9 people; Institute, June 18-20, 23 people
- Annual Update Institute Aug 7, 8, and 9, 2018 at the Minnesota Judicial Center with 29 participants. Cosponsored by the Minnesota Court System.
- James Madison Legacy Workshop, Dec 5, 2018; 15 teachers; theme Powers of the President and Executive Branch
- MCSS Annual Conference, March 3 - 4, 2019 in Duluth. Super Civics workshop for 20 teachers, and exhibit for promoting workshops, website, and civics survey.
- Civics Survey: LLAD worked with Civics Coalition to create and administer a voluntary civic education self-assessment. The significant outcome was detailed responses from 85 teachers/administrators about when and how civics courses are taught in their schools, how they prepare for the required MN Civics Test, as well as additional civic opportunities they provide for their students.
Website Teachingcivics.org
- Connects k-12 educators, both in and out of schools, with a searchable database of nearly 1,000 vetted civics and government lessons. In 2018-19, 2686 users accessed lessons approximately 7,000 times, each time finding an average of 2.55 lessons; enhancing civics instruction for approximately 100,000 young people. On Feb 8, a new website design person was contracted to redesign the website and provide all services to launch the new site. The design process is proceeding, albeit slowly, and teacher members of the website team have been updating lessons currently included in the site. This process is a continuing effort. An estimated 1/3 of the lessons need attention.
$200,000 each year is for grants to the Minnesota Civic Education Coalition: Minnesota Civic Youth, the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation, and YMCA Youth in Government to conduct civics education programs for the civic and cultural development of Minnesota youth. Civics education is the study of constitutional principles and the democratic foundation of our national, state, and local institutions and the study of political processes and structures of government, grounded in the understanding of constitutional government under the rule of law.
Through proposed activities:
- The number of students/schools participating in Legacy funded student programs, both local and statewide will increase
- Availability of information about the quality and quantity of civic education across the state will increase through the online civics survey, schools will be inspired to do better
- 150 additional lessons will be available on the teachingcivics.org website, search capacity will improve, existing lesson database will be updated, online tools will support increased student and teacher engagement.
- Teachers will be more prepared to teach civics and community leaders and volunteers will learn about ways to participate in local civic education efforts.
- Communities will value the importance of great civics education for their young people.
- CIVIC EDUCATION ONLINE SURVEY
- Analyzed results from online survey conducted by Minnesota Civic Education Coalition.
- Created informational materials
- Shared results with decision makers, (legislators, Commissioner of Education).
- Revised survey.
- TEACHINGCIVICS.ORG WEBSITE
- Super Civics Teacher Consultants developed/ selected 120 K-8 lessons and resources to add to the "Super Civics Toolbox" on website. https://teachingcivics.org/programs/super-civics/
- Added 15 secondary lessons to teach current issues, updated other lessons and links.
- Improved lesson search function.
- Revised 50% of website content. website graphic design is next. Tasks related to updating links, etc. are ongoing.
- STUDENT PROGRAMS
- Conducted the annual We the People State Competition and Showcase at the State Capitol, Dec. 11, 2019 for 18 unit teams, a total of 60 students.
- Planned 2020 Project Citizen: selected date, May 13, scheduled 8 meetings rooms in State Capitol, recruited judges. Covid-19 resulted in canceling the Project Citizen event on May 13.
- TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- 28 teachers attended 3-day summer institute “Update,” August 5-7, 2019 with focus on MN cases, laws, government.
- 38 secondary teachers at Anoka workshop on controversial issues and elections,
- MCSS workshop for 30 elementary teachers.
- Pre-service sessions for 40 students, St. Thomas and Bethel.
- Super Civics Summer Institute, planned for June 2020 was canceled.
Although 150 teachers served with professional development were proposed, 136 actually participated in professional development.