Building Bridges: Civics Education through Collaborative Inquiry

Karon LeCompte!Pat Sharp!Betty Ruth Baker!Baylor University!!Karen McDonald!Waco ISD!

Session Overview

Partnership Program Background

PDS Model

District Perspective

Parkdale Elementary

iCivics in Action

Baylor University Teacher Education Program

Four year program with three phases: 1.  2 Novice years with one semester field experience annually

2. Teaching Associate Year with full year one hour teaching daily and pedagogy classes in the PDS

3.  Intern Year with full year, all day co-teaching and 9 weeks full teaching in a PDS.

Parkdale PDS Waco, Texas

Economically Disadvantaged-82%

Limited English Proficiency-9%

At Risk-54% Mobility Rate-28%

Parkdale PDS Waco, Texas

Ethnic  Groups  

African  American-­‐42%  

Hispanic-­‐31%  

White-­‐24%  

Na<ve  American/Asian/Pacific  Islander-­‐3%  

The Baylor Model

Collaborative partnership between the Baylor School of Education, Baylor Law School, and local area school districts. Designed to leverage the unique expertise and resources of all involved parties

�  School of Education: provided professional development for teachers, supported implementation of iCivics, conducted research

�  School of Law: provided content experts to assist teachers

�  School Districts: provided the venue in which to implement iCivics, support from top level administrators, content area champions

Why did Waco ISD endorse iCivics?  According to the NAEP Report A Nation’s Report Card: Civics 2010:

There has been a marginal increase in 4th grade students with a basic understanding of civics. There is no increase in 8th and 12th grade students since the previous 1998 study.  

 

Citizenship

Building Bridges: Civics Education in a new format. Can children learn from playing video games?

What is iCivics?

�  Free, online civics education program �  16 online games (citizenship, Constitution,

separation of powers, branches of government) �  Teacher materials (curriculum, state alignment,

game guides, etc.)

�  Vision of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

�  Designed to prepare young Americans to become knowledgeable, engaged 21st century citizens by creating free and innovative educational materials.

Justice O’Connor Senate Judiciary Hearing

Our Research

Pretest/Posttest Scores and Mean Change by Grade Level

Grade   Pretest  Mean   Pos-est  Mean   Change  Score  

4   9.9  (3.9)   19.4  (4.9)   +9.53  

5   13.9  (4.1)   17.4  (4.4)   +3.54  

6   10.6  (3.7)   12.1  (3.4)   +0.64  

8   20.4  (3.1)   22.8  (3.8)   +1.35  

12   17.2  (4.7)   16.8  (5.0)   -­‐0.36  (Standard  Devia<on)  

What Students Say…

�  They loved the games

�  They learned civic knowledge

�  They learned about civic processes

�  Their civic attitudes and dispositions increased

What Teachers Say…

�  Students loved the games

�  Extended student learning outside of the classroom

�  Classroom management was a non-issue

�  They were pleasantly surprised by the benefits of iCivics in regards to content knowledge and students attitudes towards civic learning

�  They needed more time to play and understand the games & additional professional development

What Teachers Say…

Community Engagement Experience

�  Over 60 children came to the Baylor Law School to participate in a community engagement day �  Visit with Justice

O’Connor �  Mock Trial �  Law Library �  Tour of City Hall

Parkdale – Professional Development

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Overview of iCivics Civics Education for Young Children – Making the case for starting civics education with young children Vocabulary Let’s Play – Immigration Nation Role Play the game

iCivics at Parkdale and Beyond…

Hands on, Hearts on, Minds on

How to Implement iCivics in School Districts

�  Identify a Champion

�  Zero funding investment

�  Establish the parameters and the effect on classroom instruction time

�  Align correlation to TEKS/state standards

�  Ensure support from district supervisors

�  Choose the optimum schools and teachers

�  Identify technology challenges and their resolutions

�  Ensure principal support

�  Conduct professional development for teachers

�  Provide classroom support and follow through

Seamless Integration of Curricula

•  The Constitution •  Separation of Powers •  Legislative Branch

•  Executive Branch •  Judicial Branch •  Persuasive Writing •  Local Government

•  Principles of Government (Federalism) •  Voting/ Civic Participation •  Budgeting

•  Foreign Policy & National Defense

iCivics in Action

So What?

�  iCivics does have a positive impact on both students’ civic knowledge and dispositions �  In many ways it became a great equalizer

�  Requires a shift thinking about how children learn—a shift towards a more technologically driven curricula

�  Highly dependent on teacher’s engagement with and implementation of the game in the classroom �  Professional development is key

�  Successful implementation in classrooms, requires a commitment from school district, state, and national leaders

iCivics Symposium

Participating teachers and local area school district representatives attended

Going Beyond the Games

�  Teachers are crucial in making iCivics �  Powerful �  Authentic �  Integrative �  Meaningful �  Value Based

�  Take 2 - Turn to a partner

�  Content experts and community engagement

Learning Can be Fun…

The PDS Model

21st Century Learning

Strong Partnerships

Teaching for deep understanding

Teaching with Technology

Conclusions

Karon LeCompte, Assistant Professor

karon_lecompte@baylor.edu

Pat Sharp, Professor

pat_sharp@baylor.edu

Betty Ruth Baker, Assistant Professor

betty_ruth_baker@baylor.edu

Karen McDonald, Curriculum Specialist

kmcdonald@wacoisd.org