Subcommittee

Statewide Coalition

The Coalition's role in the Campaign is to bring together leaders in education, business, non-profits, youth development, and other partners to support the Civic Mission of Schools Campaign. Members of the CMS Coalition are also members of the committees listed below.

Practice Committee
The Practice Committee's role in the Campaign is to help educators implement the CMS Promising Approaches using high-quality methods and materials.

Michelle Herczog, Ed.D.--Chair
Los Angeles County Department of Education

Our work so far:

• Electronic Directory of Resources for California Schools. Each resource is reviewed by members of the Practice Committee. Submissions for new resources are invited.
  
• Constitution Day event for Los Angeles County teachers. This event is designed to integrate the promising approaches in teaching about the Constitution. The model is available for replication.
  
• Brochure to support Campaign Community Forums. These events are designed to raise awareness about the importance of civic education, the six promising approaches, and how different facets of the community can support the Civic Mission of Schools.

Policy Committee
The Policy Committee's role in the campaign is to work with state and local governments, school boards, and other agencies to examine existing policies addressing civic education and to generate new policies to strengthen civic education statewide.

Gary Dei Rossi--Chair
San Joaquin County Office of Education

Our work so far:

• Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 30, introduced by Assembly Member McCarthy, was signed into law in June, 2005. The bill urges the State Board of Education and all local school governing bodies in California to examine current practice and develop plans to increase and broaden emphasis on principles and practices of democracy.
  
• The California Association of School Boards has passed resolutions endorsing the Civic Mission of Schools Campaign and the promising practices in civic education.
  
• Incentive and Recognition Program is being designed for schools and districts that take on the challenge of strengthening civic education.

Research Committee
The Research Committee's role is to provide information about, and conduct new research on civic education in California that will assist schools, inform policy makers and educate the public.

Mary Kirlin,, Ph.D.--Chair
Sacramento State University

Our work so far:

• California Civic Index Preliminary Report will be available on September 20th, and will provide an analysis of the web-based civic index survey results, explaining California students' civic commitments, capacities and civic opportunities, and recommendations for next steps.
  
• White Paper on Promising Practices for Strengthening Civic Education, is designed to give educators a quick overview of each of the six promising approaches from the Carnegie Foundation's CIRCLE report on the Civic Mission of Schools, demonstrating how each practice is linked to research while also discussing any caveats to the research. The focus is on implementation of the approaches.
  
• Web-based Civic Index Survey has been designed and administered to over 2,000 high school seniors in California, to assess students' civic commitments and capacities as well as the civic opportunities available at their schools. The results of the survey will be used to support efforts to capture the attention of policy makers in Sacramento and to inform the schools in their efforts to provide better supports for student civic engagement.

Civic Mission Pilot Schools Committee
The Schools Committee's role in the campaign is to support schools/districts to examine the promising practices in civic education, and to design and implement a plan for strengthening their practice and leading other schools to do the same.

Keri Doggett, Debbie Genzer, Susan Philips --Co-chairs
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Our work so far:

• Ten California Civic Mission of Schools/Districts have been selected to lead the way in examining promising practices in civic education, and to design and implement a plan for strengthening their practice. The schools/districts are located from Eureka to Los Angeles, and represent urban, suburban, and rural districts with a wide range of API scores and socioeconomics.
  
• Becoming a Civic Mission School - Resources was used by the pilot schools/districts to develop a plan for strengthening their practice. The resources include steps and strategies for planning, facilitating dialogues, and resources for both in-class and out-of-class school based activities.
  
• Civic Mission School Plans have been developed by each pilot school/district. Examples of plans include trying out civic-based lessons and programs in core subject area classes, establishing new civic education related Academies and expanding, as well as revamping student government/leadership classes.

Youth Committee
The Youth Committee is a youth-led committee whose role in the Campaign is to develop youth as partners in designing and implementing the Civic Mission of Schools Campaign.

Lindsey Callen--Chair
Youth Service California

Our work so far:

• Collect resources from youth-led civic education groups for the Directory of Electronic Resources for California Schools.
  
• Develop youth outreach campaign material
  
• Develop and deliver youth presentations on the campaign for school boards and teacher professional development workshops.

Outreach and Communications Committee
The Outreach Committee's role in the Campaign is to generate awareness and support for the Civic Mission of Schools in California.

Our work so far:

• Developed a Civic Mission of Schools Brochure and Prospectus
  
• Developed a Civic Mission of Schools Media Presentation.
  
• Developed collateral outreach materials.
  
• Developed Civic Mission of Schools Press Releases.
  
• Establishing relationships with news organs throughout the state.
  
• Created Campaign website.