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Speed Networking:

1. At the sound of the chime, find a partner

2. Each person has 90 seconds to introduce him/herself

3. Possible things to share include:

An organization you work with A specific project you are working on What excites you about civic engagement,

dialogue, and collaboration Why you are here today

4. Repeat from Step 1!

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2nd Annual “Raise the Civic “Raise the Civic Canopy”Canopy” Event

a gathering to improve the civic health of Colorado in our schools and communities

Wednesday, February 22, 2006Colorado History Museum

COLORADO CAMPAIGN FOR THE CIVIC MISSION

OF SCHOOLS

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What is the Civic Canopy?

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What is the Civic Canopy?

A metaphor for civic life rooted in collaboration and dialogue amongst our diverse perspectives

A network of individuals, organizations and institutions dedicated to increasing civic health in our communities

An umbrella for collaboration—a way to share and expand resources to increase our collective impact

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What is the purpose of the Civic Canopy?

To transform our civic culture by promoting collaboration among Canopy participants

Foster dialogue on civic matters among diverse members of society

Measure and strengthen the civic health of our communities using common indicators

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Purpose of Today’s Event

To strengthen the network individuals and organizations doing civic engagement work

To “raise the Canopy” by providing a broader vision under which our individual efforts are operating

To take action in individual Working Groups on a range of specific focus areas

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Collaboration

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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Background of the CampaignBackground of the Campaign 2003 National Report, The Civic

Mission of Schools CO Coalition (grew out of the

Canopy) part of National Campaign to address growing concern about youths’ civic knowledge & involvement Focus is policy change

One of 18 states (one of 6 “Tier I” states)

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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National Campaign EffortsNational Campaign Efforts National Advisory Council (Gov. Roy Romer &

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Co-Chairs) Students to Citizens Caucus in the US House of

Representatives Advocacy Efforts

Increasing the frequency of NAEP Civics (from every 8 years to every 4 years)

New relationships with funders (Carnegie, Knight, Annenberg, Gates, etc.)

National Steering Committee of leading education and policy organizations

Communications Tools & Supports Former CO Congressman David Skaggs is National

Director for the Campaign Please stay for the reception to hear him speak at

5:45pm

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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Democracy must be born anew in each generation, and education is its midwife.

---John Dewey

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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CO Campaign: CO Campaign: MissionMission

To increase the quantity and quality of civic learning in Colorado schools, grades K-12

What would need to happen to ensure that all CO students receive adequate access toaccess to and and quantity ofquantity of high quality civic learningcivic learning opportunities ((qualityquality)) throughout their K-12 education?

Key QuestionKey Question

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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Our PlanOur Plan

1. Build public support Statewide coalition Communications & Outreach

2. Engage policy makers and school leaders

Community engagement Outreach with policy makers

3. Develop a shared agenda Statewide Summit (December 2005)

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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Key Accomplishments to DateKey Accomplishments to Date

1. Designed community engagement process (Garfield Re-2 & Poudre School district)

2. Helped develop teacher professional development in civic learning using $200K state appropriation

3. Orchestrated several OpEds and media coverage of the issue

4. Developing key partnerships (forming host committee for Summit, etc.)

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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Today…Today…

Seeding conversations on key topics, including:

Overlap with workforce competence

P-16 curriculum alignment Role of teacher preparation Youth leadership in real

governance roles

Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Educating for Democracy

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Dialogue

The Art of Thinking Together. . .

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Dialogues on Homelessness

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3 Point 4 Point 5

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Civic Indicators

Defining and Measuring the Civic Health of Communities

                                            

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What are civic indicators? Ways to measure the capacity of a

community to do other things (e.g. solve problems, address concerns, etc.)

Distinct from Quality of Life Measures

The “vital signs” of our civic health

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What is civic health?

“Capacity to engage effectively in mutual learning and decision making in order to maintain and improve quality of life."

(Yampa Valley Partners)

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How do civic indicators help increase the civic health of communities?

Provide measures that different efforts can use to assess common progress

Just like vital signs, they provide a snapshot of our overall civic health

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So what happens next? Continue to build the network of indicator

partners and to define a short list of “social capital measures” that provide a common starting point for indicators

Work to create or adapt an online database and reporting mechanism

Use indicators to foster dialogue and collaboration amongst diverse partners

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Canopy Next Steps Engage a body of participants

interested in moving the organizational capacity of the Canopy forward

Use the website to disseminate information from today’s event and future collaborative projects

Continue to build connections and collaboration amongst the individual Canopy members