Petition to Strengthen Civics Requirements in the proposed Secondary Regulations
In Spring 2022, RICLC petitioned RIDE and the Council of Elementary and Secondary Education to prioritize civics education in the Proposed Revisions to the Secondary Regulations.
In 2021, the Rhode Island Civic Literacy Act was passed into law, requiring that all RI students achieve civics proficiency and engage in one student-led civics project before graduation. The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) chose not to develop regulations specific to this law but, rather, planned to incorporate this requirement into the Secondary Regulations. However, the proposal release for public comment failed to meet the mandates of the Rhode Island Civic Literacy Act and include civics in a comprehensive, meaningful way.
In response, RICLC drafted a set of amendments to the proposed revisions to regulations to meet the requirements of the Civic Literacy Act, launched a petition, and asked supported of equitable, culturally-sustaining, and student-led civic learning to submit written testimony to RIDE and testify at public hearings. RICLC members, adults and youth provided oral and written testimony to support RICLC proposed amendment.
In addition, RIDE and RICLC collaboratively held a public Civics Town Hall on May 4, 2022 so that public could offer direct feedback on RIDE’s proposed revisions to the secondary regulations specifically as a it relates to civics.
On April 12, 2022, RICLC's Allison Pao and Youth Voice Fellows Justin and Deren testified at RIDE's public hearing in support of our suggested amendments to strengthen the civics requirements in the proposed Secondary Regulations.
Proposed Amendments
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The Civics Literacy Act, passed into law in 2021, states that “(b) All middle and high school students attending public schools, or any other schools managed and controlled by the state, shall demonstrate proficiency, as defined by the local school district, in civics education that shall also satisfy half credit or course requirement in history and social studies”. We believe that this aspect of the law can only be achieved uniformly and equitably by RIDE placing at least a half credit civics course requirement at the high school level.
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We believe the regulations should offer a broad definition of civics proficiency that reflects a comprehensive definition of high-quality civic learning. We appreciate the regulations including a community-based process to further define proficiency, so would consider this definition a list of must-haves that could be expanded upon and deepened through the community engagement process
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The Civics Literacy Act passed into law in 2021 requires that all students complete a student-led civics project in middle or high school. We recommend that RIDE meet this law’s mandates by (1) placing the student-led civics project requirement at the high school level and (2) stipulating that in order to meet the civics real-world proficiency requirement all students must complete a student-led civics project as part of achieving their graduation requirements.
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As currently written in the regulations, schools will have the option of taking a performance-based diploma assessment in one of the three real-world relevant proficiency requirements (civics, computer science, and financial literacy). We believe that all students deserve access to deep learning around all three real-world proficiency areas, and therefore, should be expected to complete an assessment in each, or at least two, one of which should be for civics. The requirement of an assessment would ensure schools commit to delivering high quality instruction in all three areas.
Additionally, the performance-based diploma assessment for civics should be an assessment of the student-led civics project. The Civics Literacy Act, passed into law in 2021, requires that all students complete a student-led civics project in middle or high school. We recommend that this aspect of the law’s mandate be met by (1) placing the student-led civics project requirement at the high school level and (2) including an assessment of the student-led civics project as the performance-based diploma assessment for civics.
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The amendments suggested above introduce new language that we believe are necessary to accomplish the goals set out in the Civics Literacy Act and to ensure students have real-world civics proficiency. Below are enumerated definitions of civics and student-led civics project.
