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Student Engagement

Elements

Creating Culture and Support for Excellence for All

Inquiry as the Primary Mode of Learning

Practice of Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency

Assess, Reflect, Improve

Stakeholders

Student Engagement

Educator Actions

School Leadership Actions

Community, Family, and Caregiver Engagement

 

Student Engagement

The IDS Framework provides guidance on how school staff can engage students in activities and learning experiences that promote IDS elements and values across the school system.

Creating Culture and Support for Excellence for All Inquiry as the Primary Mode of Learning Practice Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency Assess, Reflect, Improve
1SEa. RECOGNIZE the possibilities for all people in the United States to participate in American constitutional democracy. 2SEa. DEVELOP written and oral argumentation skills and an ability to use evidence to support claims throughout the inqiury process. 3SEa. SEEK opportunities to practice citizenship school wide to grow civic mindedness and capacity for civic engagement in and outside of school. 3EFCa. EDUCATE parents and community members on the importance of place-based learning to develop civic competencies in classroom practices and extracurricular activities.

 
1SEb. PRACTICE a growth mindset by taking ownership and responsibility for learning, connecting content, and extra curricular goals with relevant experiences.

 

 2SEb. ASK questions and apply media literacy skills during analysis and investigation of content and sources. 3SEb. ENGAGE with peers around current and societal issues facing the school and the community to take informed action aligned with classroom learning and extra curricular clubs. 3EFCb. PROVIDE authentic opportunities for school and community to engage in shared problem solving, intentionally inviting voices that have not been represented in past endeavors to participate.
1SEc.COLLABORATE with diverse perspectives outside of their own lived experiences to understand others’ place in “We the People” and understanding of “a More Perfect Union.” 2SEc. LISTEN and SEEK to understand the perspectives of others as part of making an informed decision; being open to revise and/or strengthen one’s initial stand given new information.

 

 3SEc. EDUCATE members of the community, both in and outside of school, with the outcomes of the practice of constitutional democracy. 3EFCc. CELEBRATE community-school partnerships in ways that highlight student contributions, as well as efforts of community members.
1SEd. LEARN AND USE strategies for persisting and overcoming learning struggles and leverage assets. 2SEd. PARTICIPATE in conversations in and out of classrooms to solve challenges through productive disagreements, constructive compromise, and conflict-resolution.

 

 3SEd. CENTER student voice in creating norms and success criteria for civic action, both in and out of the classroom, with opportunties for reflection and revisions throughout the learning process. 3EFCd. IDENTIFY decision-making points where student, community, and caregiver voices are not heard, and work to set up system to gather input and collaborate
1SEe.EXPLORE how their identities, interests, and assets place them in “We the People” and advocate for the support needed to achieve excellence. 2SEe. DEVELOP AND EXERCISE voice and choice in classroom practices and extra curricular activities to create and implement norms for individual tasks and collaborative work with peers.

 

 3SEe. DESIGN, with guidance from teachers, inquires that explore issues that are central to students’ communities, local to global. 3EFCe. TRAIN AND ENGAGE students and caregivers to model civic friendship as they facilitate conversations in their peer groups to gather input from diverse community stakeholders.
Glossary of Terms
  • Civic Competencies: The skills and knowledge you need to be an active and informed citizen. This includes things like critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving.
  • Civic Engagement: Taking part in your community and government. This can involve things like voting, volunteering, attending meetings, being a good neighbor, or  starting your own initiative.
  • Civic Inquiry Experiences: Learning activities that encourage you to ask questions, research, and analyze issues that affect your community.
  • Civic-mindedness: Having a strong concern for the well-being of your community and a willingness to contribute to its improvement.
  • Civic Responsibility: The duties and obligations you have as a citizen, like obeying the law and participating in civic life.
  • Civics: The study of the rights, duties, and principles of citizenship. It’s about how governments work and how citizens can participate.
  • Civics Integration: Bringing civics lessons into other subjects, like science or literature, to show how they connect to real-life situations.
  • Civil Dialogue: A respectful conversation about a topic, even if there are disagreements.
  • Co-creating: Working together with others to make something new, like a project or solution to a community problem.
  • Collaborate: Working together with others to achieve a common goal.
  • College, Career, and Civic Engagement (C3): A program of National Council for Social Studies which emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge to prepare students for higher education, career, and civic life.
  • Communities of Practice: Groups of people who share a common interest and learn from each other.
  • Community Stakeholders: People or groups who are affected by decisions or issues in a community.
  • Community Voice: The collective opinions and needs of the people in a community.
  • Conflict Resolution: Finding a peaceful way to settle disagreements.
  • Constructive Compromise: Reaching a solution that meets some of the needs of all parties involved in a disagreement.
  • Democratic Classroom: A learning environment that encourages participation, discussion, and respect for diverse viewpoints.
  • Democratic Skills: The abilities needed to participate in a democracy, like critical thinking, public speaking, respectful listening and compromise.
  • Dialogue: A two-way conversation where everyone has a chance to be heard.
  • Dispositions: Your attitudes, behaviors, and habits related to civic life. For example, a disposition towards civic engagement would be a willingness to volunteer or participate in local government.
  • Diverse Family Structures: Recognizing that families come in all shapes and sizes, and everyone can contribute to civic life.
  • Equitable Access: Making sure everyone has a fair chance to participate in civic life, regardless of background.
  • Extracurricular Activities: Activities outside of regular classes that allow one to pursue a special interest, meet new people, and develop a new skill set. 
  • Faculty Senate: A group of teachers who represent the faculty and have a say in school policies.
  • Formative Assessment: Regularly checking understanding throughout the learning process, allowing you to adjust your learning approach.
  • Global Citizen: Someone who understands the interconnectedness of the world and takes responsibility for global issues.
  • Growth Mindset: Believing that your abilities can be developed through effort and learning.
  • Historically Underrepresented and Economically Excluded Groups: Communities whose voices haven’t traditionally been heard in government or civic life, and who may face economic challenges.
  • Informed Action: Taking action based on knowledge and understanding of the issue.
  • Inquiry Learning: Learning by asking questions, researching, and analyzing information.
  • Media Literacy: The ability to critically evaluate information you see and hear in the media.
  • Media Literacy Creators (or Producers): People who create media content.
  • More Perfect Union: This phrase comes from the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. It reflects the idea that the founders aimed to create a constantly improving system of government, better than any that had come before.
  • Norms for Individual Tasks: These are the unwritten rules or expectations for how to complete specific tasks or behave in certain situations. For example, the norm for taking a test might be to work quietly and independently.
  • Participatory Budgeting: This is a process where community members directly decide how to spend part of a budget. It allows people to have a say in how their tax dollars are used.
  • PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. It’s a framework for creating a safe and positive school environment by focusing on rewarding good behavior and providing support to prevent problems.
  • Place-based Learning: This approach to education connects what you learn in the classroom to the real world by using your local community as a context for learning.
  • Productive Disagreements: Disagreements where people listen to each other, focus on the issue, and work towards finding a solution that considers all viewpoints.
  • Recursive: This means something that repeats itself, but with changes based on what was learned from previous iterations. 
  • Schoolwide Civic Learning: Efforts to integrate civic education throughout a school, not just in civics class. This can involve things like student government, service learning projects, and discussions about current events.
  • Student Voice: Giving students opportunities to express their ideas, opinions, and concerns about their world. 
  • Wise Producers and Consumers: People who create and consume media responsibly, with an awareness of potential biases and the impact of their choices.

 

Examples of Elements in Practice
  • DuQuoin High School has embraced the opportunity to have students listen and seek to understand the perspectives of others and address a global issue by making connections across the curriculum. In English II, students read a fictional book entitled Sold by Patricia McCormick; this book exposes the truth about human trafficking. Students are drawn to the story about 13-year-old Lakshmi who is from a very impoverished village in Nepal and becomes a victim of human trafficking, due to her family’s poverty. Students then read other texts that offer diverse perspectives on this current social issue. After this introductory experience in English II,  the topic is then explored  in other classes. They read nonfiction articles discussing the different types of trafficking that happen all over the world, including the United States. Students read articles about bonded labor, child labor, domestic servitude, forced labor, forced marriage, and sex trafficking. Each article includes a real story of a person who was forced into that particular form of slavery, and how they eventually escaped. In the Current Events course, students analyze this as a contemporary issue, and look for solutions to this problem. Spanish classes also explore this issue as a regional problem that plagues several countries in central and South America. This experience is made even richer by engaging community organizations to collaborate with the school to support civic learning for all students by arranging for two guest speakers. The first is from Bangladesh, who challenges students to explore the connection between culture and human trafficking. The second speaker works for the International Justice Mission and discusses the efforts of the International Justice Mission to end slavery across the globe. This has resulted in much student interest in taking action to alleviate this appalling world problem. ( 2SEc, 2EFCd)
  • Sterling Morton West HS  encourages students to collaborate with the school administration and the larger community to address issues relevant to self and peers. There is a student member on the school board.  The student is elected by the student body to represent them for a term of one year.  Their role is to voice student concerns to the school board.  We also have a program for students to have breakfast with the principal on a regular basis with the goal of allowing them to express and communicate any concerns.  One of the common themes amongst students was concern about the student uniform and as a result the administration and the school board looked into alternatives for the school uniform. (3SEd)
  • Participatory Budgeting (PB) engages students in deciding how to spend funds to benefit the school community. School PB gives students voice and choice to support continous school improvement, develops student leadership, supports student and school success, and involves the entire school in meaningful civic experiences. Three of our Illinois Democracy Schools were involved in a Participatory Budgeting project during the 2023-24 school year.  Read the details from the teacher who oversaw each: Spoon River Valley HS, Alton HS, West Chicago HS.  (4SEe)