Every student must take a stand-alone civics course at some point during their high school experience in order to meet their graduation requirements. CPS policy requires that one (1) of the two required service learning projects must be completed within the civics course class. AP Government may satisfy this requirement provided it includes in its curriculum the provisions laid out by state law, and includes a service learning project.

Courses:

• See here for courses that satisfy Civics Graduation.

• See slide 12 for more information on the ISBE mandate regarding Civics Education. 

• See here for more information on HS graduation requirements. 

Required:

• Standalone course 

• One semester minimum

• Offered grades 9-12

• ISBE Certified Social Science Teacher 

• Completion of the Civics Service Learning project is recorded in Aspen.    

Recommended:

• Full-year course

• 11th or 12th grade 

• IB Schools: 

  1. Option 1: One semester of civics in a TOK year.  

  2. Option 2: Standalone civics course

Restrictions:

• Either the Financial Education requirement or the U.S. Constitution test may be included in a full-year Civics course.  Both may not be included in Civics at one time.  Neither may be included in a semester-long Civics course.  

• Reparations Won Curriculum must be taught in U.S. History, not Civics.

Supports Available to Schools:

• Participate Civics Course: free, year-long curriculum and professional development

• FAQ on civics course implementation (forthcoming!) 

• High School Participate Civics Google Classroom 

• For information regarding programming, curriculum, and training or for additional information or supports, contact Maya Chavez Akin, Social Science Content Specialist, Grade 11, mchavezakin@cps.edu 

All students shall be offered one (1) semester of an Illinois Social Science Standards-aligned civics curriculum. This semester of education shall help young people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare them to be competent and responsible civic actors throughout their lives. Civic education course content shall focus on government institutions, the discussion of current and societal issues, service learning, and simulation of the democratic process. 

See slide 12 for more information on the ISBE mandate regarding Civics Education.

Recommended: 

• Civics is taught in Semester 1 (Q1 & Q2) of 8th grade and grounded in the MS Participate Civics curriculum.

Supports Available to Schools:

• Participate Civics Curriculum for 8th Grade: Free, semester-long curriculum

•  Middle School Civics FAQ and Implementation Guide

• For information regarding programming, curriculum, and training please contact Nicole Smith-Franklin, Middle School Social Science Specialist, nsmith-fran@cps.edu 

This course will focus student learning on the people, ideas, and forces that have shaped our world, and enable students to investigate their place in and capacity to act in an increasingly interdependent global society. It will allow students to appreciate the rich cultures that exist across the world. This course will advance through a combination of content knowledge, inquiry, and appropriate analytical skills in a literacy-rich fashion. These thematic investigations will include an emphasis on interdisciplinary social sciences and build understanding of cultural, institutional, economic, and technological patterns that, along with geography, have set the human stage. AP Human Geography may satisfy this requirement.

Courses: 

• See here for courses that satisfy World Studies.

• Note: AP World History does count. World History does not satisfy the District's World Studies Graduation Requirement.

Required:

• Offered grades 9-12

Recommended:

• 9th grade

Supports Available to Schools:

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Michelle Paul, mpaul3@cps.edu

History of the United States shall be taught in all public schools and in all other educational institutions in this State supported or maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds.

"The teaching of history shall have as one of its objectives the imparting to pupils of a comprehensive idea of our democratic form of government and the principles for which our government stands as regards other nations, including the studying of the place of our government in world wide movements and the leaders thereof, with particular stress upon the basic principles and ideals of our representative form of government."

"The teaching of history shall include a study of the role and contributions of African Americans , Latinx Americans, and other ethnic groups including but not restricted to Polish, Lithuanian, German, Hungarian, Irish, Bohemian, Russian, Albanian, Italian, Czech, Slovak, French, Scots, Hispanics, Asian Americans, etc., in the history of this country and this State."

"The teaching of history also shall include a study of the role of labor unions and their interaction with government in achieving the goals of a mixed free enterprise system."

No pupils shall be graduated from the eighth grade of any public school unless he has received such instruction in the history of the United States and gives evidence of having a comprehensive knowledge thereof.

Required: 

• Offered grades 9-12

Recommended:

• 10th grade

Supports Available to Schools: 

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Steven Roseman, High School Social Science Specialist, smroseman@cps.edu  

Every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Black History. These events shall include not only the contributions made by individual African-Americans in government and in the arts, humanities and sciences to the economic, cultural and political development of the United States and Africa, but also the socio-economic struggle which African-Americans experienced collectively in striving to achieve fair and equal treatment under the laws of this nation. The studying of this material shall constitute an affirmation by students of their commitment to respect the dignity of all races and peoples and to forever eschew every form of discrimination in their lives and careers.

The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials which may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this Section; provided, however, that each school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of instruction time which shall qualify as a unit of instruction satisfying the requirements of this Section.

Required:

• To be taught in Elementary and High School 

Curricular Supports: 

• Social Science History Content Mandates Doc

• CPS-Developed Interdisciplinary African and African-American Studies Curriculum (all grade levels and core content areas) *Please note this curriculum was developed before the release of ISBE’s social science inquiry standards. We recommend leveraging the rich primary and secondary resources to support inquiry-based learning. 

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu

Additionally, the state mandates “the study of the events related to the forceful removal and illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S. citizens during the Great Depression."

Required:

• To be taught in Elementary and High School 

Curricular Supports: 

• Social Science History Content Mandates Doc

• CPS-Developed Interdisciplinary Latino and Latin American Studies Curriculum (all grade levels and core content areas) *Please note this curriculum was developed before the release of ISBE’s social science inquiry standards. We recommend leveraging the rich primary and secondary resources to support inquiry-based learning. 

• For consultation or additional supports contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu 

The law takes effect on Jan. 1 and the requirement begins with the start of the 2022-2023 school year.  

House Bill 376, signed into law in July 2021, requires every public elementary and high school in the state to devote a unit of curriculum to the history of Asian Americans in the United States.

Required:

• To be taught in Elementary and High School 

Curricular Supports:

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago offer a variety of resources to support the teaching and learning related to the TEAACH Act

• For consultation or additional supports ,contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu 

Effective July 2020, House Bill 246 provides that the teaching of history of the United States shall include a study of the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this State.

Required:

• To be taught in Elementary and High School

Curricular Supports: 

• Social Science History Content Mandates Doc

• IL Civics Hub’s Inclusive History Toolkit 

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu 

Every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the history of women in America. These events shall include not only the contributions made by individual women in government, the arts, sciences, education, and in the economic, cultural, and political development of Illinois and of the United States, but shall also include a study of women’s struggles to gain the right to vote and to be treated equally as they strive to earn and occupy positions of merit in our society.

The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials that may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this Section. Each school board shall determine the minimum amount of instructional time that shall qualify as a unit of instruction satisfying the requirements of this Section.

Required:

• To be taught in Elementary and High School

Curricular Supports: 

• Social Science History Content Mandates Doc

• For consultation or additional supports contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu 

The state of Illinois requires that students receive instruction on specific content, including:

• Holocaust and Genocide study 

• Women’s history

• Disability history and awareness 

• Congressional Medal of Honor

• Labor history

• Role and contribution of ethnic groups in the history of the US and state

Required:

• To be taught in Elementary and High School

Curricular Supports: 

• Facing History & Ourselves Holocaust & Human Behavior Unit of Study (9th/World Studies)

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu 

As part of the City Council of the City of Chicago’s Burge reparations package for the survivors of torture, required that all CPS students in 7th/8th and 10th grade US history courses learn about Jon Burge, former Chicago police commander who, along with officers working under his command, has been accused by more than 100 African-Americans of torturing and physically abusing them while they were in police custody in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. 

Required:

• To be taught in all high school U.S. History courses (includes Honors, APUSH)

Curricular Supports:

• Reparations Won CPS Resource page

  • 8th Grade Curriculum

  • 10th Grade Curriculum

• For consultation or additional supports contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu 

IL state policy has shifted away from a stand-alone “Constitution Exam.” ISBE currently outlines that the following topics shall be  taught in all public schools 

• American patriotism and the principles of representative government, as enunciated in the American Declaration of Independence; 

• The Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois; 

• The proper use and display of the American flag; and

•  The method of voting at elections by means of the Australian Ballot system and the method of the counting of votes for candidates

MS Mandate

The CPS 8th grade promotion policy was created to support the ISBE American Patriotism & Government mandate. Therefore, while students must show a “passing score” on an examination/assessment of the U.S. and IL Constitutions it DOES NOT require “Blue Book” multiple choice test. Teachers, with support of their administration,  design the examination/assessment in alignment to the mandate that is culturally responsive, grade level and context-appropriate for their students. 

HS Mandate

The CPS high school requirements indicate that students must successfully complete a course that integrates the U.S. and IL constitutions (as well as the topics above) to be eligible for graduation. 

For more information on the state mandate for American Patriotism & Government see here (slide 5). 

Required: 

• Between 7th/8th grade 

• In High School

MS Recommendations:

• Learning provided in 8th grade through the Civics course 

HS Recommendations:

• Assessment given in U.S. History not Civics

• Schools should discuss with Social Science Department Chair and/or appropriate school-based decision maker(s) in what class(es) and semester(s) the mandate will be met, (our department recommends it is done in 10th grade US History class)

  • Grades should be entered for this “course” in pass or fail method.

• School programmers should program CPS Course Number: 216101N for all teachers and students scheduled for the course in which PL 195 will be given.

Curricular Supports:

• The MS mandate can be met through the implementation of the MS Participate Civics curriculum

• This mandate can be met through the implementation of the It’s Supreme! Curriculum *developed for 10th grade

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Yamali Rodriguez-Gruger, Department Director, YaRodriguez@cps.edu

Elementary School Social Science Minutes:  

• Uninterrupted, dedicated SS minutes

• Grades K-5: 150 mins/week 

• Grades 6-8: 300 mins /week   

For Grades 6-8, social science minutes must be met by teachers with social studies endorsement.

Curricular Supports:

• For recommendations of possible daily schedules, please refer to the ADOPTING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCHEDULES FOR THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR.

• For consultation or additional supports, contact Tamara Acoba, Social Science Elementary School Manager, tmacoba@cps.edu 

Students are required to take a minimum one unit of study in Financial Education, formerly known as the ‘Consumer Education’ requirement, embedded into any existing course (Social Science, Civics*, Math, Business, Seminar, etc.).  It can also be offered as a stand alone Personal Finance semester or full year course.

CPS has issued the following  implementation guidance, and the Empowered! curriculum plus crosswalk support document articulates expected learning outcomes and content to be covered, along with extensive curricular resources that can also be used.

Required: 

• Offered in grades 9-12

• One unit = minimum 9 sequential weeks of lessons

• CPS Content Areas cover: Economic Concepts, Money Management, Banking, Credit, Insurance, Investments, & Consumer Protection

Recommended:

• Unit offered in either of the following:

(1) Stand alone course (Catalog titles include: financial education, financial literacy, financial algebra, adulting 101, personal finance)

(2) Integrated into an existing course like Math, Social Science, CTE Business, JROTC, or Seminar, etc.

• *NOTE: Cannot be integrated into a one semester Civics course; may be included in a full-year civics course only.

Supports Available to Schools: 

• Financial education Knowledge Center page

• Student Learning Outcomes

• CPS Empowered! Financial Education Curriculum and Crosswalk Support document 

• Training

• Programmer’s Guidance

All HS students who matriculated in SY’ 16-17 and after, must complete two service learning projects in order to meet the service learning graduation requirement. Service learning projects are course-embedded civic oriented projects that provide students with opportunities to engage in civic learning and lead civic actions. 

Students’ transcripts must demonstrate:

1. Successful completion of a project in a Civics or A.P. U.S. Government course coded with the civics SLP course code

2. Successful completion of a second service learning project in conjunction with any other course offerings coded with the appropriate SLP course code

Only students who matriculated prior to SY’ 16-17 can complete 40 service learning hours to meet the service learning graduation requirement.

Required:

• The appropriate service learning project course code must be programmed.

• The civics SLP course code must be one of the two SLP course codes programmed for each student.

Recommended:

• The second service learning project should be embedded into another required course, preferably during 9th or 10th grade.

• In order to facilitate projects remotely, we recommend extending an existing unit with an Inquiry to Action project or using one of our remote independent Civics SLPs.  Additionally, you can access the learning hub for synchronous and asynchronous Inquiry to Action training.

Required: 

• Completion of this requirement as hours is tracked in Aspen as Service Learning Hours for these specific students.

Curricular Supports:

• SLP Course Codes

• 2019-2020 Service Learning Project Requirement Policy & Resource Guidance

• Knowledge Center Resource Page

• The Inquiry to Action Framework and resources are forthcoming

Remote Independent SLPs:

• Voter Turnout during a Pandemic (English & Spanish) 

• The Power of Social Movements (English & Spanish)

• Covid-19 (MS)

• Covid-19 (HS)

For questions or additional supports or to sign up for the monthly newsletter, contact Margie Smagacz, mdsmagacz@cps.edu