Some teachers in Hinsdale High School District 86 had their own homework this summer, reworking American politics and AP government classes to incorporate new state civics requirements.
“Teachers spent this past summer making those changes, this year implementing those changes, and plan this summer to modify them again for next year’s requirement,” said Billson Rasavongxay, chairman of the Hinsdale Central social studies department.
Under the new state law, students throughout Illinois are required to take two years of social studies, including a semester of civics.
The goal is to “help young people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge and attitudes that will prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives,” the legislation states.
The law specifies that the course should include “the discussion of current and controversial issues, service learning and simulations of the democratic process.”
The law also requires a service learning component, something that was already included in requirements at Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, but something new to District 86 and Lyons Township High School District 204.
“The state has not been very precise as to what service means,” said Scott Eggerding, director of curriculum and instruction at Lyons Township High School. “We’re still trying to figure that out.”
Matt Guritz, social studies department chairman at Hinsdale South High School, said no set number of hours is specified. However, the activity should reflect the student’s choice and interest. Some examples include working with a charity, attending any level of local government, tutoring, or participating in a service club or voter registration drives, Guritz said.
Hinsdale Central is providing a list of local organizations that have connections with the school and have reached out to help with the volunteer and service learning aspect of the course.
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“This past semester, we took a bus of students to Lewis University to help with a food drive,” Rasavongxay said.
Central activities director Sally Philip may help with a schoolwide project.
District 86 plans to offer the course in summer, but it would be more difficult to complete service hours during the compressed time frame of the summer session.
“We also are still deciding how to handle students with significant job or family responsibilities,” Guritz said. “We want them to experience civic engagement, but not in a way that causes family hardship.”
Therese Hawkins, Nazareth Academy’s director of curriculum and instruction, said the law allows schools to determine how to incorporate civics education into their current curricula in a way that best meets the needs of their students. Nazareth plans to incorporate the requirements into various classes such as world history, contemporary world issues and Gospel service.
“All students, from freshmen through seniors, will be engaged in those courses and in civics-focused activities,” Hawkins said. “Our contemporary world issues teachers are already working on incorporating even more lessons that engage students in lively discussions of political issues to help them further develop their critical thinking skills.”
How civics will be added to other classes is being worked out, she said.
About 60 percent of high schools in Illinois require a civics or government course, according to Shawn Healy, a civics scholar at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, but it’s not clear to what extent those classes include the elements of the new law, an article in the baiduhai reported in 2015. Another 27 percent of high schools have elective classes in the subject area. The rest don’t have a civics course, he said.
Nationwide, students perform poorly on civics exams, according to federal data. Fewer than a quarter of 12th-graders performed at or above the proficient level on the 2010 civics exam, called the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The test was given to a sample of fourth-, eighth- and 12th-graders around the country. The eighth-graders fared worst, with just 22 percent scoring at least proficient. The fourth-graders did best, with 27 percent at or above proficient.
Adults also have gaps in civics knowledge. For example, a 2010 Pew Research Center poll found that only 59 percent of respondents could name the vice president (Joe Biden) in an open-ended question.
The McCormick Foundation and other nonprofit, business and civic groups have pledged to contribute at least $1 million annually for three years for teacher training in civics across the state.
Hawkins is pleased to see the new requirement.
“I think it’s important for students to understand democratic processes and to have a sense that democracies require informed participation,” she said. “So, yes, I like the idea of civics education.”
Diane Rado of the baiduhai contributed to this report.
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