A Portfolio-Based Civic Education
Program
Overview
We the People: Project Citizen is a
curricular program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students and adult
groups that promotes competent and responsible participation in local and state
government. The program helps people learn how to monitor and influence public
policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and
principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.
Entire classes of students or members of youth organizations work cooperatively
to identify a public policy problem in their community. They then research the
problem, evaluate alternative solutions, develop their own solution in the form
of a public policy, and create a political action plan to enlist local or state
authorities to adopt their proposed policy. Participants develop a portfolio of
their work and present their project in a hearing showcase before a panel of
civic-minded community members.
Curriculum
Project Citizen focuses on the role of state
and local governments in the U.S. federal system. The curriculum involves an
entire class of students or members of youth or adult groups in a series of
structured, cooperative learning activities that are guided by teachers,
organization leaders, and adult volunteers. Working in four cooperative teams,
the students learn to interact with their government through a five step process
that includes:
Students’ work is displayed in a class portfolio
containing a display section and a documentation section.
Textbooks
There are two levels of Project Citizen
program materials; each level includes a process-oriented student text. Level 1
is most appropriate for middle school students and Level 2 for secondary or
post-secondary students. The teacher’s guide for each level includes directions
for leading students through a multi-step process in which they conduct research
on a community problem and propose a public policy solution. The teacher’s guide
provides instructions for developing a class portfolio and preparing for a
simulated public hearing.
Each year, Civic Education Washington State is provided with a limited number of
free sets of materials to distribute to teachers wishing to participate in the
Project Citizen program.
Culminating Activity
Participating teachers and organization
leaders are encouraged to hold a showcase hearing as the culminating activity
for Project Citizen. Each of the four working groups prepares and presents a
statement on its section of the portfolio before a panel of community
representatives who act as legislative or administrative committee members. Each
group then answers questions posed by the committee members. The format provides
students an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of how
public policy is formulated while providing teachers with an excellent means of
assessing performance.
The Washington State Project Citizen Showcase is
held in May every year. To participate at the state showcase, a class must
first participate in a congressional district showcase. The top performing
class at each district showcase is then eligible to advance to the state
showcase. The portfolio winner from the state is sent to the annual Project
Citizen National Showcase. This culminating event is held in conjunction with
the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures. State
legislators, staff, and other adult volunteers from across the nation serve as
evaluators, determining the level of achievement attained by each portfolio.
Program Evaluation
The curriculum was first used in the 1995-96
school year as a pilot in 12 states. Since then the domestic program has
expanded to include schools in every state as well as American Samoa, the
District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. As of September 29, 2008,
approximately 32,200 teachers have taught Project Citizen to over 1,955,000
students.
The formula for tracking student participation is based on two different
surveys. The first was conducted in November 1997 by researchers at the Lyndon
B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, in preparing
An Assessment of We the People Project Citizen: Promoting Citizenship in
Classrooms and Communities. The second was conducted by the Center for Civic
Education in February 1999.International
Project Citizen is used in classrooms around the world and has been translated
into more than 40 languages. Countries using the curriculum include: Albania,
Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria,
Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan,
Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (south), Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon,
Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia,
Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania,
Russia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovak Republic, Slovakia, South Africa,
Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, West Bank and Gaza.
How To Get Involved
The Project Citizen program is administered
by Civic Education Washington State with the assistance of the Center for Civic
Education and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Funding is provided
by the Washington State Legislature and by the U.S. Department of Education by
act of Congress.
Teachers and Educators may:
Government Officials may:
Community, Business, and Professional
Associations may:
For more information on participating in the Project Citizen program, contact Kathy Hand and/or your congressional district volunteer.