Professional  Development

News and Events Professional Development

See upcoming professional development events created by the EAD team below.

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Upcoming Events

Join us for a series of virtual workshops on the Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy (EAD). The series will dive into the seven themes of the Roadmap, exploring the content and pedagogical approaches to strengthen history and civics instruction in the classroom. These interactive sessions will provide you with the opportunity to connect with peers and experts in the field. 

Join us for the full series! Register now and add all of the upcoming sessions to your calendar:

Blogs

As the school year gets into full swing, so does the implementation of EAD. Below are some highlights of how the EAD Roadmap and Pedagogy Companion are being implemented across the country:

  • Thirty teachers—elementary to high school—from around Arizona made up the first teacher task force to be trained by the Center for Political Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University to implement the EAD Roadmap in classrooms. The Rebuilding Arizona Civics website houses resources such as a podcast documenting the journey, lessons, and spotlights.
  • A new Indiana law requires every middle school student in the state to take a civics course by 2023, but the law does not provide detailed guidance about course content and objectives or about how to prepare educators to design and teach such a course. Through its Civic Renewal through Education for Agency program, Ball State University aims to provide a working model for Indiana and other states to explore, test, and adapt. A major factor positioning Ball State to develop and disseminate innovative and exceptional approaches to improve the quality of American civics instruction is alignment with the Educating for American Democracy initiative.
  • This year, 30 teachers in 13 local education agencies across Massachusetts are teaching the Democratic Knowledge Project’s EAD-aligned 8th-grade civics curriculum Civic Engagement in Our Democracy. The curriculum was one of only four recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as comprehensive, yearlong core civics materials meeting DESE’s standards for high quality. DKP also released a new whitepaper on rethinking how we measure, record, and report student learning in K–12. The paper proposes a new competency-based approach to student assessment to help us better understand student growth and achievement, spark innovation, drive smart investments in K–12 education, and inform decision-making by students, families, educators, and employers. The paper highlights the EAD initiative as an approach to defining core competencies in a specific subject area (civics) and proposes an example badge relevant to one of the themes. Finally, DKP is offering a series of short, EAD-aligned virtual professional development workshops this year focused on supporting deeper civic learning in the classroom; the first session is on November 14, 2022.
  • Nine exceptional teachers from across the nation were selected to participate in the first-ever iCivics Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Teacher Fellowship. The cohort worked in collaboration with iCivics staff and members of the EAD Implementation Consortium over the course of several months to develop an inquiry-driven, project-embedded, localizable U.S. history curriculum for 8th grade. This iCivics EAD curriculum is now being localized through pilots in three school districts—Jefferson County Public Schools (CO), Santa Fe Public Schools (NM), and Oklahoma City Public Schools (OK)–-to meet the needs and interests of each district’s students and communities and provide learnings for implementing the curriculum more broadly. Learn more about the district pilot program.
  • RealClear Education has launched a new, free online resource for K-12 civic education at RealClear American Civics. Developed using the Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy and carefully curated by veteran civics teacher Enrico Pucci, the website includes essential articles, primary and secondary resources, lesson plans, interactive games, and visual and audio resources to aid civics educators and inform students.

“The United States stands at the crossroads of peril and possibility.” Thus begins the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Report presented to the nation in March of 2021. The choice we make shouldn’t be left to chance—it must be guided by an intentional effort to implement high-quality civics and history education. 

Following are five lessons that spanned across the 10-session EAD strand at NCSS 100, presented by 19 leaders from both within and outside of the social studies field. We encourage you to go back to sessions you missed in order to more fully understand the exciting and historic efforts to realize EAD’s potential.

Lesson #1: There’s something unique about this national moment, and we need to rise to it 

In facilitating a fishbowl exercise during the Friday night EAD research session, Joseph Kahne of the Civic Engagement Research Group (CERG) raised a simple, essential question: What is different about introducing a Roadmap like this now versus 10, 20, or 30 years ago? Kahne, joined by two other leading scholars (David Kidd of the Democratic Knowledge Project and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg of CIRCLE), discussed a number of factors, including the proliferation of what is considered media and a declining trust in it; divides stemming from the nation’s increasing racial and ethnic diversity; and deepening ideological polarization. These themes came up again and again across sessions and reinforced what we knew: the overall health of our democracy is not a foregone conclusion. 

One of the EAD Roadmap’s authors, Paul Carrese, noted during the opening session that there were parts of the documents with which reasonable people might disagree, but that such disagreement need not be feared. Reasoned, civil disagreement is a feature of a healthy democracy. As Shawn Healy and Abbie Kaplan of iCivics noted in their session, there is bipartisan consensus that more—and better—civics and history education is seen as a key solution for our nation’s challenges. That’s the promise of implementing the EAD Roadmap effectively. 

Lesson #2: The promise of the EAD Roadmap lies in its capacity to crystallize and amplify best practices in civic education 

The 19 individuals who presented as part of the EAD strand at the NCSS conference did not fall out of the sky during the March 2021 release of the EAD Roadmap. This is not building from scratch, but on a body of research and best practices. Kahne, Kawashima-Ginsberg, and Kidd highlighted the underlying research during their session and the theme carried across sessions that focused on practice and equitable implementation.  

During their joint session on the EAD Pedagogy Companion, two current educators, Kimberly Eckert and Shannon Salter, highlighted the key moves and approaches to their existing practice that reinforced successful implementation. Meanwhile, Abigail Amoako Kayser and Renae Skarin of the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF) presented on how practices within the EAD Pedagogy Companion are particularly powerful for English learners and highlighted connections between the EAD Pedagogy Companion and Benchmarks of Quality for Serving English Learners. Similarly, the National Council of Teachers of English Executive Director, Emily Kirkpatrick, noted the natural way the EAD Roadmap reinforces best practice in English language arts that have been established and updated by the association for more than three decades. Indeed, session after session reaffirmed the power of the EAD Roadmap lies in its bold common sense and best practice. In other words, an outstanding educator will not have to look hard to see his or her practice reflected in the endeavor.

Lesson #3: Powerful learning happens within, not despite, tensions

As commonsensical as drawing in multiple perspectives, elevating student voice, centering learning on authentic inquiry, and other practices highlighted through the EAD Roadmap are, presenters were forthright and clear-eyed about the political minefield, educators—especially those in social studies —are asked to navigate.  

Despite the challenges, it was inspiring to hear presenters and educators resolved to move forward.  A session on historical tensions led by Ed Ayers and Annie Evans of New American History posited that high-quality learning happens in the tensions, or what EAD terms “Design Challenges.” Sessions led by Christina Ross and Sarah DeWitt of iCivics and Katharina Matro and Lois McMillan (teacher fellows with the American Historical Association and the National Council for History Education, respectively) highlighted that leaning into the tensions through emphasizing inquiry, presenting multiple perspectives, and empowering students with quality primary sources were exactly what the field and our democracy need right now. 

Lesson #4: Inquiry is an act of trust 

Beyond the question of whether it is wise to lean into historical tensions—a question answered with a resounding “yes”—there was also broad agreement across the sessions on how, namely by centering learning through powerful inquiry.  Presenters described meaningful inquiry as an affirmation of the best of human nature—a trusting that, given great primary sources and prompts, students can join educators in civil, thoughtful, and strong learning. 

Presenters described an art and a skill set to facilitate quality inquiry. InquirED CEO Shanti Elangovan described the criteria for great inquiries: avoid settled issues; focus on open, empirical, and/or policy issues; and lean into ethical questions that animate many of our nation’s and world’s most pressing challenges. In addition to Elangovan, a number of other sessions highlighted essential elements of strong inquiry, including presenting authentically important questions (see Eckert on Interdisciplinary Literacy session), setting a foundation with quality primary sources (see discussion during DeWitt and Ross’s session), and providing resources that address diverse viewpoints (see discussion during Ayers and Evans’ session).   

Lesson #5: Learning is a set of interconnected decisions, not isolated phenomena 

While ultimately rewarding, there is nothing inherently easy about this work. Multiple presenters highlighted the importance of having a system that supports these changes. Healy and Kaplan highlighted the systemic obstacles and underinvestment that educators are asked to overcome—for every $50 our nation spends on STEM education, an equivalent of 5 cents is spent on civics and history.  

Building our field to where it needs to be and realizing the potential of the EAD Roadmap will require increased commitment through federal, state, and local policies (see discussion in Carrese and Waller’s opening session), and even through priorities decided upon inside school buildings. What’s more, as Salter pointed out in her presentation, the EAD Pedagogy Companion highlights that civic learning is most effective when it happens in a learning community that mirrors the best elements of real civic life. 

As NCSS members, there is much to be proud of with the leadership role the association has played, is playing, and will continue to play in the EAD Roadmap’s development and success.  However, that success will only bear fruit when dedicated professionals like you engage in the ongoing conversation: check out the sessions; join in the conversation through padlets and jamboards; promote events; curate resources; try out activities; inform the questions and research; set the record straight on what quality inquiry across tensions can look like; and become an advocate for high-quality civics and history education for all. 

View all EAD strand sessions: 

Session 1: EAD: What is It and How Can It Impact Social Studies?
Presenters: Paul Carrese (ASU School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership) and Tammy Waller (Arizona Department of Education)

Session 2: Inquiry is Key to Learning in Polarized Times
Presenter: Shanti Elangovan (InquirED)

Session 3: YOUR Classroom Companion: Educating for American Democracy Pedagogy
Presenters: Kimberly Eckert (2018 Louisiana Teacher of the Year) and Shannon Salter (EAD Implementation Consortium Member and educator)

Session 4: The Educating for American Democracy Roadmap: Show Me the Research!
Presenters: Joseph Kahne (Civic Engagement Research Group, UC Riverside); Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg (CIRCLE, Tufts); and David Kidd (Democratic Knowledge Project, Harvard)

Session 5: A Wonderful Marriage: Integrating History and Civics through the EAD Roadmap
Presenters: Lois MacMillan (National Council for History Education Teacher Advisory Committee member) and Katharina Matro (American Historical Association Counselor for Teaching Division) 

Session 6: Powerful Learning within Historical Tensions
Presenters: Ed Ayers (New American History) and Annie Evans (New American History)

Session 7: It Takes a State: What States Can Do to Realize EAD’s Potential
Presenters: Shawn Healy (iCivics) and Abbie Kaplan (iCivics)

Session 8: Interdisciplinary Literacy: The Promise of the EAD Roadmap
Presenters: Kimberly Eckert (2018 Louisiana Teacher of the Year) and Emily Kirkpatrick (National Council for Teachers of English)

Session 9: Powerful Civics for All: Realizing the EAD Roadmap’s potential for ELLs
Presenters: Abigail Amoako Kayser (California State University-Fullerton, English Language Success Forum) and Renae Skarin (English Language Success Forum)

Session 10: We’re Going First with EAD and Here’s What We’re Learning
Presenters: Sarah DeWitt (iCivics) and Christina Ross (iCivics)

On-Demand Recordings

Professional Development Series - Session 1: Motivating Student Agency and Exploring America's Shared Story | View On-demand Recording

This three workshop series, led by Natacha Scott, Director of Educator Engagement at iCivics, will introduce educators to the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Roadmap by diving deeper into the design challenges, themes, and pedagogy principles. Each session will provide opportunities for participants to connect with peers, engage with the content of the Roadmap, and reflect on connections to their current instruction.

Our first EAD PD workshop discussed the first two design challenges focused on motivating student agency and exploring America’s shared story. This Session engaged participants in supporting their students to understand their roles as engaged citizens who also sustain civil disagreement and civic friendship. Additionally, participants began exploring how we can integrate the perspectives of Americans from diverse backgrounds into our narration of U.S. history.

View on-demand recording

Professional Development Series - Session 2: Teaching About Compromise and Honest Patriotism | View On-demand Recording

This three workshop series, led by Natacha Scott, Director of Educator Engagement at iCivics, will introduce educators to the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Roadmap by diving deeper into the design challenges, themes, and pedagogy principles. Each session will provide opportunities for participants to connect with peers, engage with the content of the Roadmap, and reflect on connections to their current instruction.

Our second EAD PD workshop discussed the design challenges focused on teaching about compromise and honest patriotism. This session engaged participants in understanding the tension of teaching about the value and the danger of compromise for a free, diverse, and self-governing people. Additionally, participants began to explore how we tell the story of our U.S. constitutional democracy that is honest about the failures and celebrates the successes.

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Professional Development Series - Session 3: Connecting Chronological and Thematic Approaches to History and Civics Instruction | View On-demand Recording

This three workshop series, led by Natacha Scott, Director of Educator Engagement at iCivics, introduced educators to the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Roadmap by diving deeper into the design challenges, themes, and pedagogy principles. Each session provided opportunities for participants to connect with peers, engage with the content of the Roadmap, and reflect on connections to their current instruction.

The third EAD PD workshop in our design challenge series focused on exploring how to connect chronological and thematic approaches to history and civics instruction. This session supported participants in making connections between their current approaches in the classroom and strategies that can engage students with moving between concrete and conceptual learning.

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How Can We Ensure Our Sources of Information About Contemporary Debates and Possibilities are Accurate and Fair? with the Stanford History Education Group | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Hub and Dr. Joel Breakstone, Director of the Stanford History Education Group SHEG, for an informative webinar on how to combat misinformation with research-based strategies that teach students across the curriculum how to evaluate information that affects them, their communities, and the world. Learn how to weave the SHEG resources into your current practice to prepare students for college, career, and civic life. Walk away with ideas and FREE resources aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, Theme 7.

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Building Better Rubrics for Student Feedback | View On-demand Recording

Standards implementation requires new thinking about how assessment can be used to support student growth. One of their key questions when building curriculum based on the standards is “how will we give students and stakeholders meaningful feedback that goes beyond measurement, but enhances learning?” Engage with resources, templates and strategies to create rubrics for performance assessment tasks in social studies. Walk away with new ideas and tools to enhance your current practice aligned with standards and the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap Pedagogy Companion.

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Using Performance Assessments in Social Studies | View On-demand Recording

Standards implementation requires new thinking about assessment. One of the key questions when building a curriculum based on the standards is “how will we know students have learned it?” The current standards require students to engage in content, disciplinary literacy practices, and inquiry. Educators have identified the need to create assessments where students can demonstrate competency in these areas. This workshop will introduce educators to strategies to build classroom performance assessment tasks aligned to standards where students get opportunities to demonstrate what they are learning. Educators will walk away resources, tools, templates, and strategies to create their own classroom performance assessment tasks aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Pedagogy Companion.

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What is Constitutional Democracy? | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Hub and our Civics Learning Partners at iCivics for a webinar that shares both strategies and resources to help classrooms explore, What is Constitutional Democracy? Walk away with ideas aligned to the proven practices of civic education and the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap., Theme 4- A New Government and Constitution.

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Let’s Build an Inquiry! | View On-demand Recording

Experience resources to build your own classroom inquiry lessons. Walk away with ideas and resources aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap Pedagogy Companion.

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Let’s Build an Inquiry! | View On-demand Recording

Experience resources to build your own classroom inquiry lessons. Walk away with ideas and resources aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap Pedagogy Companion.

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How Does The Constitution Change Both Formally and Informally? | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Hub and the American Bar Association Division for Public Education as we explore the role of the amendments, both formal and informal, to make a more perfect union. Get connected with free resources and strategies to enhance your current practice aligned with the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, Theme 5- Institutional & Social Transformation.

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Using Essential and Supporting Questions in Curriculum Design | View On-demand Recording

At the heart of inquiry, is the use of essential and supporting questions in curriculum design. Prepare for your summer curriculum project with strategies and resources to enhance your practice in facilitating student-centered inquiry across the social sciences. Walk away with ideas and FREE resources aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap Pedagogy Companion

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Making Thinking Visible | View On-demand Recording

Do you want resources to help you know what students are thinking? Experience an inquiry utilizing metacognitive strategies from Harvard University’s Project Zero Visible Thinking Toolkit that can be used for both formative and summative assessment. Walk away with free, ready-to-use critical thinking protocols aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Pedagogy Companion. Appropriate for all grade levels.

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What Different Perspectives are there on How Our Geographic, Social, Economic, and Political Landscape Changed Over Time and on the Benefits and Costs of Those Changes? | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Hub and the Chicago History Museum to explore how classroom inquiry around redlining can be used to help students examine how to take issues to informed action. Walk away with new ideas and tools to enhance your current practice aligned with Illinois Social Science standards and the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, Theme 2 – Our Changing Landscape.

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Creating a Collaborative and Reflective Classroom for Inquiry | View On-demand Recording

Student-centered deliberations and inquiry are at the core of emerging learning standards that span the curriculum. Learn research-based best practices in creating a safe environment for student participation in addressing the most essential questions facing our communities, Walk away with free resources and tools aligned to the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap to enhance your current practice.

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How Has the Role of the Executive Branch Changed Across our History? | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Hub and Dr. Charles Flanagan, Outreach Supervisor for the Center for the Legislative Archives at the National Archives, to explore how to use online resources to teach about the development of U.S. foreign policy from the Age of Imperialism to the Cold War. The webinar will feature two eBooks and a classroom lesson highlighting 20th Century changes in America’s relationship to the world. The eBooks present political cartoons showing the evolution of U.S. foreign policy, from the Monroe Doctrine to America as a global leader. The cartoons also provide the context for Congress, the President, and the War Powers, a lesson examining the changing balance of power between the legislative and executive branches as America rose as a superpower. Walk away with new ideas and tools to enhance your current practice aligned with Illinois Social Science standards and the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, Theme 6 – A People in the World.

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Judge John F. Grady Virtual Summer Teachers Institute | View On-demand Recording

The ABA and the Northern District of Illinois District Court are thrilled to announce the launch of the Judge John F. Grady Virtual Summer Teachers Institute featuring a lecture and Q&A with Prof. Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean of Berkeley Law) and curriculum support from Mary Ellen Daneels (Lead Teacher Mentor for the Robert R. McCormick Foundation). Join our experts as we dig into the First Amendment by focusing on the rights to assembly and association and walk away with classroom-ready activities and resources.

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Navigating Difficult Classroom Conversations: Strategies for Engaging Students in Social Issue Discussions | View On-demand Recording

Learn how to enhance your classroom practice of engaging students in civil discourse face to face or at a distance. Learn how to curate the right question, prompt, and strategy to meet your learning targets. Walk away with new ideas and tools to enhance your current practice aligned with standards and the Educating for American Democracy Pedagogy Companion.

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What Values, Virtues, and Principles can Knit Together "We the People" of the United States of America? | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Hub and our Civics Learning Partners at the Bill of Rights Institute for a webinar that shares both strategies and resources to help classrooms explore, “What values, virtues, and principles can knit together ‘We, the People’ of the United States of America?” Walk away with ideas aligned to the proven practices of civic education embedded in the Illinois 6-8 and 9-12 civics course requirements and the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, Theme 3 – We the People

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Equipping Students to take the L.E.A.D. with Service Learning | View On-demand Recording

In this interactive session, explore how to design a curriculum to equip students to be responsible and participatory members of their community. Get connected with cross-curricular resources to provide meaningful and manageable service learning opportunities in your classroom aligned with the 6-8 and 9-12 civics course requirements and the Educating for American Democracy Pedagogy Companion and Roadmap.

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What are the Responsibilities and Opportunities of Citizenship and Civic Agency in America’s Constitutional Republic? | View On-demand Recording

Join Illinois Civics and Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center IHMEC for an interactive webinar that teaches civics through history to prepare students for participation in our constitutional republic. Explore resources from IHMEC that you can use to enhance your classroom practice to help students address the essential question, How can I participate? Walk away with tools and strategies aligned to the Illinois Social Science standards, 6-8 and 9-12 civics course requirements, and the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, Theme 1 – Civic Participation.

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Simulations of Democratic Processes: Do This, Not That! | View On-demand Recording

Simulation of Democratic Processes are a proven practice of civic education that build student knowledge of the institutions the gird our republic as well as skills and dispositions for civic participation. Learn how to prepare, implement and reflect on manageable simulation experiences. Walk away with free resources and strategies to enhance your classroom practice aligned with the 6-8 and 9-12 civics course requirements and the Educating for American Democracy Pedagogy Companion.

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Classroom Resources Aligned to the Proven Practices of Civic Education | View On-demand Recording

Join the Illinois Civics Instructional Coaches as they share their favorite FREE resources aligned to the 6-8 and 9-12 civics course mandates and the Educating for Democracy Roadmap and Pedagogy Companion. Collaborate with others as you sharpen your saw and prepare for powerful civics in the 2021-22 school year.

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Using Constitutional Law to Understand Academic Freedom in the Classroom with Dr. Steven D. Schwinn | View On-demand Recording

Join Dr. Steven D. Schwinn, Professor of Law at the UIC School of Law, for an examination of academic freedom in the classroom using both judicial precedents and current events, and pending cases that might shape this topic in the future. Deepen your understanding of how the First Amendment applies to students and educators. This webinar is aligned to Theme 7 of the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, “Contemporary Debates and Possibilities.”

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Educating 4 Democracy: Opportunities for High-Quality Civic Learning with the Civic Engagement Research Group | View On-demand Recording

Join Dr. Erica Hodgin, Co-Director of the Civic Engagement Research Group (CERG) based out of the University of California Riverside (UCR) to learn about their new  resource website focused on providing educators with the tools they need to prepare youth to participate in democratic society. The website Educating 4 Democracy offers a collection of videos and learning modules to help guide educators interested in learning how to provide high-quality civic learning opportunities to their students. With dedicated topic pages such as Civic Discussion & Deliberation and Civic Action, early and veteran teachers, leaders, and administrators alike will be able to take the civic development of their students to the next level. This webinar is aligned to Theme 1 of the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, “Civic Participation.”

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SCOTUS Preview | View On-demand Recording

Join Dr. Steven D. Schwinn, Professor of Law from the UIC Law School for a preview of the upcoming SCOTUS term. Walk away with insights to enhance your understanding of the courts. This webinar is aligned to Theme 5 of the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, “Institutional and Social Transformation.”

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Avoiding the Rabbit Hole: Teaching Concepts in Conspiratorial Thinking | View On-demand Recording

Conspiracy theories are becoming part of mainstream discourse and public awareness. From political to pandemic-related beliefs to older ideas such as the Earth is flat, we are finding that more and more of our friends, family and loved ones believe at least one conspiracy theory. How do we teach students to avoid conspiracy theories without actually teaching them the specifics of such false beliefs? This session explores the psychological and cognitive factors behind conspiratorial thinking, including the role of fears and anxiety, cognitive dissonance and biases, motivated reasoning and institutional cynicism. We will discuss the ways in which conspiracy theories exploit our emotions as well as fill our emotional needs. As part of this session, we will outline essential learning objectives and concepts and provide instructional resources for integrating these concepts into the curriculum, including our free, interactive lesson which is part of the Checkology® virtual classroom. This webinar is aligned to Theme 7 of the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, “Contemporary Debates and Possibilities.”

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Civic Online Reasoning in Science Classrooms | View On-demand Recording

Scientific misinformation abounds online. Join Dr. Joel Breakstone, Director of the Stanford History Education Group, to learn how to improve students’ ability to evaluate scientific information on the internet and incorporate Civic Online Reasoning in the classroom to support inquiry in STEM as well as the social sciences. This webinar is aligned to Theme 7 of the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, “Contemporary Debates and Possibilities.”

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We the People

This theme explores the idea of “the people” as a political concept–not just a group of people who share a landscape but a group of people who share political ideals and institutions.

Read more about the theme in:

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Institutional & Social Transformation

This theme explores how social arrangements and conflicts have combined with political institutions to shape American life from the earliest colonial period to the present, investigates which moments of change have most defined the country, and builds understanding of how American political institutions and society changes.

Read more about the theme in:

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Contemporary Debates & Possibilities

This theme explores the contemporary terrain of civic participation and civic agency, investigating how historical narratives shape current political arguments, how values and information shape policy arguments, and how the American people continues to renew or remake itself in pursuit of fulfillment of the promise of constitutional democracy.

Read more about the theme in:

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Civic Participation

This theme explores the relationship between self-government and civic participation, drawing on the discipline of history to explore how citizens’ active engagement has mattered for American society and on the discipline of civics to explore the principles, values, habits, and skills that support productive engagement in a healthy, resilient constitutional democracy. This theme focuses attention on the overarching goal of engaging young people as civic participants and preparing them to assume that role successfully.

Read more about the theme in:

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Our Changing landscapes

This theme begins from the recognition that American civic experience is tied to a particular place, and explores the history of how the United States has come to develop the physical and geographical shape it has, the complex experiences of harm and benefit which that history has delivered to different portions of the American population, and the civics questions of how political communities form in the first place, become connected to specific places, and develop membership rules. The theme also takes up the question of our contemporary responsibility to the natural world.

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A New Government & Constitution

This theme explores the institutional history of the United States as well as the theoretical underpinnings of constitutional design.

Read more about the theme in:

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A People in the World

This theme explores the place of the U.S. and the American people in a global context, investigating key historical events in international affairs,and building understanding of the principles, values, and laws at stake in debates about America’s role in the world.

Read more about the theme in:

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The Seven Themes

The Seven Themes provide the organizational  framework for the Roadmap. They map out the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should be able to explore in order to be engaged in informed, authentic, and healthy civic participation. Importantly, they are neither standards nor curriculum, but rather a starting point for the design of standards, curricula, resources, and lessons. 

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Driving questions provide a glimpse into the types of inquiries that teachers can write and develop in support of in-depth civic learning. Think of them as a  starting point in your curricular design.

Learn more about inquiry-based learning in  the Pedagogy Companion.

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Sample guiding questions are designed to foster classroom discussion, and can be starting points for one or multiple lessons. It is important to note that the sample guiding questions provided in the Roadmap are NOT an exhaustive list of questions. There are many other great topics and questions that can be explored.

Learn more about inquiry-based learning in the Pedagogy Companion.

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The Seven Themes

The Seven Themes provide the organizational  framework for the Roadmap. They map out the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students should be able to explore in order to be engaged in informed, authentic, and healthy civic participation. Importantly, they are neither standards nor curriculum, but rather a starting point for the design of standards, curricula, resources, and lessons. 

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The Five Design Challenges

America’s constitutional politics are rife with tensions and complexities. Our Design Challenges, which are arranged alongside our Themes, identify and clarify the most significant tensions that writers of standards, curricula, texts, lessons, and assessments will grapple with. In proactively recognizing and acknowledging these challenges, educators will help students better understand the complicated issues that arise in American history and civics.

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Motivating Agency, Sustaining the Republic

  • How can we help students understand the full context for their roles as civic participants without creating paralysis or a sense of the insignificance of their own agency in relation to the magnitude of our society, the globe, and shared challenges?
  • How can we help students become engaged citizens who also sustain civil disagreement, civic friendship, and thus American constitutional democracy?
  • How can we help students pursue civic action that is authentic, responsible, and informed?
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America’s Plural Yet Shared Story

  • How can we integrate the perspectives of Americans from all different backgrounds when narrating a history of the U.S. and explicating the content of the philosophical foundations of American constitutional democracy?
  • How can we do so consistently across all historical periods and conceptual content?
  • How can this more plural and more complete story of our history and foundations also be a common story, the shared inheritance of all Americans?
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Simultaneously Celebrating & Critiquing Compromise

  • How do we simultaneously teach the value and the danger of compromise for a free, diverse, and self-governing people?
  • How do we help students make sense of the paradox that Americans continuously disagree about the ideal shape of self-government but also agree to preserve shared institutions?
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Civic Honesty, Reflective Patriotism

  • How can we offer an account of U.S. constitutional democracy that is simultaneously honest about the wrongs of the past without falling into cynicism, and appreciative of the founding of the United States without tipping into adulation?
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Balancing the Concrete & the Abstract

  • How can we support instructors in helping students move between concrete, narrative, and chronological learning and thematic and abstract or conceptual learning?
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Each theme is supported by key concepts that map out the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students should be able to explore in order to be engaged in informed, authentic, and healthy civic participation. They are vertically spiraled and developed to apply to K—5 and 6—12. Importantly, they are not standards, but rather offer a vision for the integration of history and civics throughout grades K—12.

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Helping Students Participate

  • How can I learn to understand my role as a citizen even if I’m not old enough to take part in government? How can I get excited to solve challenges that seem too big to fix?
  • How can I learn how to work together with people whose opinions are different from my own?
  • How can I be inspired to want to take civic actions on my own?
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America’s Shared Story

  • How can I learn about the role of my culture and other cultures in American history?
  • How can I see that America’s story is shared by all?
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Thinking About Compromise

  • How can teachers teach the good and bad sides of compromise?
  • How can I make sense of Americans who believe in one government but disagree about what it should do?
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Honest Patriotism

  • How can I learn an honest story about America that admits failure and celebrates praise?
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Balancing Time & Theme

  • How can teachers help me connect historical events over time and themes?
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The Six Pedagogical Principles

 EAD teacher draws on six pedagogical principles that are connected sequentially.

Six Core Pedagogical Principles are part of our Pedagogy Companion. The Pedagogical Principles are designed to focus educators’ effort on techniques that best support the learning and development of student agency required of history and civic education.

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This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

EAD teachers commit to learn about and teach full and multifaceted historical and civic narratives. They appreciate student diversity and assume all students’ capacity for learning complex and rigorous content. EAD teachers focus on inclusion and equity in both content and approach as they spiral instruction across grade bands, increasing complexity and depth about relevant history and contemporary issues.

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This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Growth Mindset and Capacity Building

EAD teachers have a growth mindset for themselves and their students, meaning that they engage in continuous self-reflection and cultivate self-knowledge. They learn and adopt content as well as practices that help all learners of diverse backgrounds reach excellence. EAD teachers need continuous and rigorous professional development (PD) and access to professional learning communities (PLCs) that offer peer support and mentoring opportunities, especially about content, pedagogical approaches, and instruction-embedded assessments.

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This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Building an EAD-Ready Classroom and School

EAD teachers cultivate and sustain a learning environment by partnering with administrators, students, and families to conduct deep inquiry about the multifaceted stories of American constitutional democracy. They set expectations that all students know they belong and contribute to the classroom community. Students establish ownership and responsibility for their learning through mutual respect and an inclusive culture that enables students to engage courageously in rigorous discussion.

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This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Inquiry as the Primary Mode for Learning

EAD teachers not only use the EAD Roadmap inquiry prompts as entry points to teaching full and complex content, but also cultivate students’ capacity to develop their own deep and critical inquiries about American history, civic life, and their identities and communities. They embrace these rigorous inquiries as a way to advance students’ historical and civic knowledge, and to connect that knowledge to themselves and their communities. They also help students cultivate empathy across differences and inquisitiveness to ask difficult questions, which are core to historical understanding and constructive civic participation.

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This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Practice of Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency

EAD teachers use their content knowledge and classroom leadership to model our constitutional principle of “We the People” through democratic practices and promoting civic responsibilities, civil rights, and civic friendship in their classrooms. EAD teachers deepen students’ grasp of content and concepts by creating student opportunities to engage with real-world events and problem-solving about issues in their communities by taking informed action to create a more perfect union.

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This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Assess, Reflect, and Improve

EAD teachers use assessments as a tool to ensure all students understand civics content and concepts and apply civics skills and agency. Students have the opportunity to reflect on their learning and give feedback to their teachers in higher-order thinking exercises that enhance as well as measure learning. EAD teachers analyze and utilize feedback and assessment for self-reflection and improving instruction.

X
This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:
EAD teachers commit to learn about and teach full and multifaceted historical and civic narratives. They appreciate student diversity and assume all students’ capacity for learning complex and rigorous content. EAD teachers focus on inclusion and equity in both content and approach as they spiral instruction across grade bands, increasing complexity and depth about relevant history and contemporary issues.

X
This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Growth Mindset and Capacity Building

EAD teachers have a growth mindset for themselves and their students, meaning that they engage in continuous self-reflection and cultivate self-knowledge. They learn and adopt content as well as practices that help all learners of diverse backgrounds reach excellence. EAD teachers need continuous and rigorous professional development (PD) and access to professional learning communities (PLCs) that offer peer support and mentoring opportunities, especially about content, pedagogical approaches, and instruction-embedded assessments.

X
This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Building an EAD-Ready Classroom and School

EAD teachers cultivate and sustain a learning environment by partnering with administrators, students, and families to conduct deep inquiry about the multifaceted stories of American constitutional democracy. They set expectations that all students know they belong and contribute to the classroom community. Students establish ownership and responsibility for their learning through mutual respect and an inclusive culture that enables students to engage courageously in rigorous discussion.

X
This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Inquiry as the Primary Mode for Learning

EAD teachers not only use the EAD Roadmap inquiry prompts as entry points to teaching full and complex content, but also cultivate students’ capacity to develop their own deep and critical inquiries about American history, civic life, and their identities and communities. They embrace these rigorous inquiries as a way to advance students’ historical and civic knowledge, and to connect that knowledge to themselves and their communities. They also help students cultivate empathy across differences and inquisitiveness to ask difficult questions, which are core to historical understanding and constructive civic participation.

X
This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Practice of Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency

EAD teachers use their content knowledge and classroom leadership to model our constitutional principle of “We the People” through democratic practices and promoting civic responsibilities, civil rights, and civic friendship in their classrooms. EAD teachers deepen students’ grasp of content and concepts by creating student opportunities to engage with real-world events and problem-solving about issues in their communities by taking informed action to create a more perfect union.

X
This resource aligns with the core pedagogical principle of:

Assess, Reflect, and Improve

EAD teachers use assessments as a tool to ensure all students understand civics content and concepts and apply civics skills and agency. Students have the opportunity to reflect on their learning and give feedback to their teachers in higher-order thinking exercises that enhance as well as measure learning. EAD teachers analyze and utilize feedback and assessment for self-reflection and improving instruction.


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