Frequently Asked Questions

Individual, group, or classwide projects are all encouraged. Each has its own pros and cons, which are further complicated by having to teach remotely. If all students choose individual projects, manageability could become an issue for teachers. Group projects might involve management challenges, too.  Class projects could be more manageable for teachers if you are hard pressed for time or overwhelmed by the idea of facilitating too many projects. That said, a classwide project might not support student choice and authenticity, which is the most important criteria in student-led civics projects. Therefore, it is difficult to provide a clear answer regarding which approach is best, and we encourage each teacher to be flexible given their context. For example, teachers can do one class project and encourage a few individual projects for students who have a passion for particular topics. Also, a teacher might want to help group a few students who may be willing to find an effective way to work on a similar small group project. Feel free to experiment!

Voice-oriented projects also require identifying levers of change/audience, specific methods of creation and presentation, and short-term goals (signs of success). For example, we encourage students to go beyond tweeting a message without a plan for these aspects or short and long-term goals. We will provide more detailed, step-by-step guides for civics projects that are “voice”-oriented and “influence”-oriented. For additional guidance, the DESE Civics Project Guidebook outlines the salient features of student-led civics projects. These features can be found here. 

The Student-led Civics Unit coming in March will provide more clarification about what makes a project voice-oriented, influence-oriented, or both  in relation to various levers of change. One key clarification is that voice-oriented projects also require identifying levers of change/audience, specific methods of creation and presentation, and short-term goals (signs of success). For example, we encourage students to go beyond tweeting a message without a plan for these aspects or short and long-term goals. We will provide more detailed, step-by-step guides for civics projects that are “voice”-oriented and “influence”-oriented. For additional guidance, the DESE Civics Project Guidebook outlines the salient features of student-led civics projects. These features can be found here. 

The idea of levers of change is introduced in the Transformation in Politics Unit (featured in our grade 8 curriculum).  We will provide a brief teacher guide demonstrating how the key concepts of the previous units connect to the concept of levers of change in the Student-led Civics Unit.  The Student-led Civics Unit also provides a lesson activity helping students consider various levers of change in their local contexts that are beyond the government. They include non-governmental organizations/local agencies, professional media, schools/educational organizations, social media, celebrities, peers, members of their communities and families, and other groups they might leverage for their projects. Connecting students to various actors in local school, city or town offices/departments throughout the year is also a great way to get students acquainted with the local levers of power and change around them. 

Identifying an achievable goal(s) is key to the success of the civics project. The Student-led Civics Unit will help students identify short-term, achievable goals, such as identifying who and how many individuals or groups to speak with about their projects. Also, helping students find as narrow a local issue, root cause, and goal as possible is a good general rule to follow. This year is a pilot year for all, not only for students, but also for teachers. Teachers can explore what works or does not for a particular piece of the project and share it with the DKP to figure out more effective implementation strategies  for the next time.   

The standard unit structure for remote learning is 12 lessons of 40 mins per lesson for 6 weeks. In this structure, two lessons are taught per week. We suggest that teachers begin implementing this civics project unit around the first week of April to allow ample time for the typical end-of-the-year mayhem. We certainly provide optional activities for teachers who might have extra in- and out-of-class time (asynchronous time) in our standard Student-led Civics Unit. Additionally, we will provide guidance and suggestions if teachers find they have less time than anticipated.

Civics projects are process-oriented. The Student-led Civics unit breaks down a big project into small milestones. As they finish each milestone, students experience success, which helps to boost self-efficacy and ownership of their projects. As well, we encourage teachers to adopt a “teacher as coach, student as mentee” approach to the civics projects. Students are asked to engage in real-world problem-solving for their civics projects. In the real world, there IS no guarantee of success. However, teachers can work with students to problem-solve and overcome obstacles as they arise. Emphasizing at the start of the unit, as well as throughout their projects, that students will be assessed based on their process and effort, rather than on the ultimate achievement of their goals, can help alleviate unnecessary stress for both teachers and students. To aid in this, we provide a student-facing checklist that includes progress check-ins, as well as a teacher-facing rubric for assessment.  This year is a pilot year for all, not only for students but also for teachers. We will provide flexible options for teachers who might face challenges in pacing the curriculum and guiding students. Teachers can explore what works or what does not work for a particular piece of the project and share it with the DKP to figure out more effective implementation strategies for the next time. 

The extent of teacher support students need will vary according to the context.  We will offer flexible options according to the different situations  individual teachers may face. Additionally, the Student-Led Civics Unit creates an opportunity for students with strengths that are not usually highlighted by academics to shine. They might create compelling artwork or make an impassioned speech that utilizes their performance skills. Their relationship-building skills might be key to working with stakeholders or to galvanizing their community around their issue. Thus, students who might have historically struggled with academic content can excel in their civics projects. 

Leveling project participation for English language learners and students with special needs can be facilitated by thoughtfully pairing or grouping students with mixed strengths. We are working with translators for translated materials for Spanish-speaking students.

Yes. Students with  non-U.S. origins can choose topics that interest them, which might be about their own home countries or global issues. Teachers can encourage students to connect their topics (Ex. the UN Sustainable Development Goals) that are located within a specific context to their current physical location, as it is said in a slogan, "Think Globally, Act Locally.”

We will provide an assessment rubric for teachers in early March. We will also provide a student-facing check-list.  Also, the DESE Student-led Civics Guidebook has suggested criteria here. 

Yes, we provide a list of potential topics for the civics projects and other student examples here. 

We encourage you to figure out where student disengagement comes from first. If the disengagement is detected not only in a civics project but also in other areas of learning, we’d encourage DKP pilot teachers to bring up this challenge of disengagement to your pod and instructional coach so you can troubleshoot solutions. 

If the disengagement stems from the civics project itself, and for example, a student is having trouble identifying an issue they care about, our advice would be this: start with grievance. Adolescent students have no shortage of complaints. If you can get students to start expressing something that frustrates them while prompting them to think about the systemic root cause of their issue, you may find yourself connecting even the most personal frustration to deeper concerns that students can bring into a civics project. For example, a student may be frustrated that they were late for school and got a demerit. Get them to write out their grievance, ask them questions about who/what caused the issue and whether they think others face this issue. You could quickly see how such a journal or conversation might prompt you to get the student asking questions about who decides the bus schedule, who funds the bus, and how the routes are chosen. OR it could bring a discussion or reflection about parental transportation needs, work schedules, and even school start times. Herein lies a student-led civics project! 

Additionally, teachers may encourage students to write a short journal to "Tell me your Story" or fill out student interest survey forms (an example). Use the results to help students identify an issue they are passionate about, as well as explore a value system linked to that issue. These ideas may have been explored in Unit 1, “Identity and Values.” 

And finally, if you are crunched on time and don’t have bandwidth for dozens of one-on-one conversations to coax out a systemic concern from disengaged students, we would suggest utilizing group projects. Grouping students with others who have particularly strong inclinations to a particular issue may help bring some students along as they develop a deeper knowledge of the topic, and at the very least, allow for productive learning opportunities for all group members. 

We encourage teachers to consider student choices first. Teachers can certainly facilitate discussion to help students identify their passion and topics, but premature teacher sharing might lead the project to become teacher-led, not student-led. This year, though, given the nature of online learning, teachers could share their ideas with students and encourage students’ choice and voice along the way, by encouraging students to identify the methods and tools of participation and action. 

We use a portfolio approach to assessing the student-led civics project. The primary focus is the process and less on the outcome, and assessment begins in the very early stage of the project. The idea behind this process-oriented assessment is to help teachers break down the civics project into several small milestones and identify the key learning goals of each milestone.  Teachers can identify students' needs and promptly provide targeted guidance, so that students can stay on the track and work towards the completion of the whole project. 

Drawing upon this idea, the DKP  provides a student-facing checklist, which is a self-diagnostic kit. It aims to help students themselves identify where they are in the project, what they accomplished for each milestone, and what needs to be done to complete the whole project.  The student-facing checklist can be easily turned into a teacher-facing assessment rubric (an example). The student-led civics project isn't just about what students do, but about why they do it and how they do it. You can read more about assessing student-led civics projects here (DESE).  

Alert stakeholders

Students may contact city officials, mayors, school committees, principals, superintendents, members of the community, etc., while doing their action projects. Prior to the project, teachers may need to alert these stakeholders about potential inquiries that would come from students. Some letter templates teachers can use for this purpose are available here. 

Coordinate a schedule with a school librarian

A school librarian can play a key role in the phase of students researching their topics. Consider creating a schedule with a school librarian for helping students to develop strong media literacy skills and to conduct high quality research. 

Work with the IT staff/administration

Students may want to use social media for their projects, but schools often have different Internet and media policies. Please talk with IT staff and/or your administration to figure out school policies on social media and strategize the best ways students can use social media. 

In a remote learning setting, the second element might vary depending on your school context, but you may still want to alert stakeholders and check with the IT staff and administrators. 

There will be a Civics Journal for the short version of our unit on student-led civics projects. There will also be opportunities for continuous reflection in the 8th grade unit materials, especially as it relates to aligning with stage 6, “Reflection and Showcasing.” In the final lessons of the unit, students will be asked to formally take stock of their activities and learnings in the unit. That said, this can be modified in the long version of the unit to more similarly mirror the Civics Journals we provided in previous units, but due to the inherently unique nature of the projects, students will approach this reflection more directly from previous grade 8 units. 

You can find the interactive Student-led Civics Guidebook here. There are plenty of teacher cases, student examples, topics and driving question suggestions and much more. Also, we have compiled some more DKP specific examples here.