SERP is pleased to announce support from Leonard D. Schaeffer for our Civics Curriculum Project: Preparing High School Students for the Challenges of American Democracy. The proposal was submitted in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), both key partners in the development and implementation of the course.

For over two decades, the SERP Institute has been generating innovative and effective elementary and secondary curricula in a variety of areas: literacy, math, social studies, and science. Now we’re answering a call as urgent as any: American civics education. Many educators recognize the challenge and the opportunity, but high-quality civics curricula are in short supply. And to be taken up, those curricula must respond to the standards established by states and school districts. 

A hallmark of SERP’s approach to problem-solving research and development is the deep partnerships we form with districts; these partnerships ensure that the structuring and refinement of curricula and professional learning supports dovetail with the constraints of school systems. SERP is thrilled to execute this project through a continuing partnership with the District of Columbia Public Schools and a new partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Education. Over the course of the next four years, practitioners, researchers and designers will generate, implement, and evaluate a new, semester-long high school civics curriculum. The high-quality instructional materials will:

• Focus on the tensions between key democratic principles (such as majority rule vs. individual rights, and freedom of speech vs. freedom from harm promoted by speech).
  
  
• Integrate general literacy, disciplinary literacy, and digital media literacy.
  
  
• Incorporate a capstone civic action project, empowering students to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
  
  
• Be made freely available online to teachers nationwide

Through his Fellows in Government Service initiative, Leonard Schaeffer has long championed civic participation by supporting talented college students to engage in government service. With his backing, this new effort will extend that impact to a much larger group of high school students - equipping them with the critical knowledge, skills and agency essential to a thriving democracy. With Mr. Schaeffer’s enabling support, SERP and its partners will help to ensure the next generation is ready to meet the moment as active, informed citizens.