Key Components

I’d say that there are a few key components that the teacher must put in place to have a successful Project Citizen experience.

1. Structure
During the first week of a new quarter* I introduce students to “public policy” by allowing them to read newspapers and discuss articles. Within a few days, I explain Project Citizen to them, and I give them a timeline of our schedule for the quarter and an overview of how their grade will be determined. This timeline makes it clear to students what my expectations are of them, when things will be due, and how their grade will be determined. Each day I explain what we’re going to do in class that day, what point they should be at in their projects, and what they will have to complete by the next class. This structure is very important to students, and it helps keep us on track to complete Project Citizen in the amount of time I have scheduled for it.

Basalt High School is on a four-quarter academic calendar, with transcript grades issued each quarter. Our grading system is also standards-based, which gives me flexibility on due dates and allows me to assess student learning at the end of the quarter and report that level of proficiency only.

2. Student Choice
I allow students to choose many important aspects of Project Citizen: who they work with in their groups; what topic they study; what format to use for their portfolios (traditional foam-core boards, Power Point, website, video); and what policy-makers they present to. This allows the students to study something they’re interested in, with people they enjoy working with, and to present using a medium they’re comfortable with. The only non-negotiables are that they complete each of the required steps individually and as a group and that they adhere to the deadlines I assign. I get very few complaints about the project because they choose so many parts of it themselves.

3. Accountability
Each student is individually responsible for about six assignments, in addition to their contributions to their group’s final project. Students are not allowed to join Project Citizen groups until they complete the first two assignments (a portfolio of articles about public policies and a quiz on public policy terms). Students who do not complete these assignments or who have not joined a productive group are required to participate in "e-congress" online rather than Project Citizen. This ensures that all students participating in Project Citizen groups are functioning at a high enough level to succeed with it, and that students know there are consequences for their individual decisions while working in a group.

During the weeks that the students are working in groups on the project, I have (almost) daily requirements for each student. I check for completion of these (usually rough drafts, brief research assignments, or brief brainstorming assignments) each day at the beginning of class. I threaten to, and sometimes do, remove students from groups if they are not completing their individual assignments. Finally, students are very aware that their entire quarter grade depends on their participation in and understanding of Project Citizen. There’s essentially “no way out.” Students soon start to enjoy the project and are self-motivated, but the grade requirements and personal accountability definitely improve the quality of student work and participation.

4. Positive Reinforcement
This is the factor that I never really appreciated until the third year I did the project. I found that students were starting the project with a negative attitude because they did not think they were capable of producing high-quality work and accomplishing a lofty goal (sparking change in a real public policy). When I show them examples of past projects, they are intimidated and discouraged, because they do not want to put forth the effort that is evident in the portfolio process. So this year, I encouraged them every day; I broke big tasks (completing the physical work on the panels or media presentation, for example) into smaller parts, so that students saw the task as something they could accomplish, and not impossible. Almost each day I complimented their work and progress, I reminded them of the purpose and importance of the project, and I told them they could do it. I am not usually a teacher who gives his students “pep talks,” but I am during Project Citizen. I have lots of individual and group conversations with students who are struggling, and I reassure them that they can complete this project. Once they see that they can, they do a great job.

5. Time
Another change this year was that I devoted an entire nine-week quarter of my civics classes to the completion of this project. Many teachers may not have the luxury of scheduling this much time for one project, but I trust the outcomes of this project enough to trust that my students will master a quarter of the standards for the year through the completion of this project. I spend about two weeks introducing them to public policy terms, concepts, and current debates and issues. Then we spend about a week and a half on each of the four steps in the project, with a final week or so for in-class presentations, feedback, and reflection. I require the students to present the first two parts (the problem and alternative policies) of their projects to the class on a specific date about half-way through the project. This provides an opportunity for students to practice making their presentation to a group, to get constructive criticism on their work, and to gain a sense of accomplishment and achievement. Before students present to policy-makers, they present their final projects two times in class and get feedback from their peers and teacher. No matter how much time a teacher spends on Project Citizen, the teacher and students will feel that more time was needed. But I think nine weeks was enough, and that more time may be too much.

6. Other Basic Skills
Students must be at a level of research, writing, speaking, and reading skill that they can competently find, analyze, and communicate information from a variety of sources. My students are all types of juniors and seniors in a public high school (including ELL students, students with ILP’s, and all others), and they possess most of the skills for success in this project.

7. Lessons on New Skills
I teach “mini-lessons” that take about 30-40 minutes at the beginning of some of our classes (which are 80-minute blocks) to help students master or review skills that they may not already have. These lessons include research and computer skills; media literacy (choosing an appropriate news source); writing surveys, petitions, and press releases; phone skills; public speaking; presenting information persuasively; and others. These lessons give students the ability to confidently complete the required tasks in the project. I always teach a new skill before I ask the students to do something they may not have done before. This gives students the confidence to proceed with the project.

8. Authentic Final Assessment
I think the key difference in my third year over the previous years was that I required every student to present their project to a real group of policy-makers, outside of our school building. Again, there was essentially “no way out” of this requirement; they had to present to a group of policy-makers to pass my class. If they did not show up on the night of the presentations, they had to schedule another time and present to another real policy-maker by themselves. The threat of this option ensured that almost every student showed up at our showcases. We talked about this final presentation a lot in class as the final week approached; many students were nervous about the prospect of showing their work to elected officials and a public audience. But the pressure of standing in front of that group motivated the students to produce something they were proud to stand up and talk about. No one wants to look unprepared or uneducated in front of a serious public gathering, and this fact became the primary motivator for students in the final stages of the project.

In addition to serving as a powerful motivator, the final presentations were reported (by the students in their written reflections) to be the most memorable, empowering, and rewarding part of the whole experience. Numerous students made significant progress in overcoming their fears of public speaking; some students learned an important lesson about the accessibility and sincerity of our local elected officials; almost all students reported feeling proud after their presentations; and many felt personal political power and voice for the first time. The self-confidence instilled by the experience of presenting real policy-changing ideas in front of a policy-making body and having that group of policy-makers take your ideas seriously and consider them is difficult to match with any other civics project I know of.

This year I contacted the school board and town council and scheduled time on their agendas weeks before the end of the project. I did not know the students’ topics or how many would present to each group when I made these initial contacts, but they reserved time for us anyway. Then, I organized a special hearing of county, state, and federal issues for students studying issues that would be best addressed at these higher levels of government. I invited a county commissioner and a Congressional field representative to be panelists at this showcase. I conducted this showcase, and advertised it to parents and the public, in our county’s community center and courthouse. This provided a formal, government-oriented setting for the students to present in. Living in a small, semi-rural community made these government officials easy to access, and I’m not sure how a bigger city council or school board would respond to a request to listen to student presentations. But it’s worth a try!

• Reflections on the showcases from outside observers, Project Citizen Coordinators Gail Schatz and Barbara Miller.

Words of Caution

The freedom of choice I grant my students opens the door for potentially controversial or “feather-ruffling” projects to be presented in public, with my name and reputation attached to them. This can be daunting. Interestingly, the only hostile reception any of my students received was in response to my ELL class’s presentation to our school board about the school cafeteria food’s quality. These students spent weeks of hard work preparing a persuasive presentation that argued, through surveys, interviews, and research, that our school’s cafeteria food was of unacceptably low quality. The school board president and our district’s food service manager spent class periods with us, at my invitation, helping the students understand the issue and the district’s policy-making procedure. However, our food service manager was not pleased that the students were going to present their findings to the school board and have this issue aired to the general public. The superintendent removed this group from the board’s agenda three days before the meeting, at the food service manager’s request. I found myself in the awkward position of having to choose to either confront my superintendent over his actions or disappoint my students by allowing them to be removed from the agenda. I decided to fight for my kids and eventually got them back on the agenda.

The presentation went smoothly and was well-received by the board and the press, but we were approached by a very agitated food service manager and staff as we left the meeting. Since then, the cafeteria staff has remained hostile towards my students and me because of the students’ criticism of their food. While this has been an uncomfortable and challenging experience for me, it has also been a valuable learning experience for my students.

In the future, I may not require groups like this one to present to a public policy-making meeting until they have worked more directly with the people involved in the issue. I will especially remember this lesson when dealing with school issues or other issues that involve specific local people doing their jobs. The format of Project Citizen requires students to prove that there is a “problem” with a current policy, but the people responsible for the problematic policy are likely to feel personally targeted and get defensive when the students present to them. I sent a letter to all local policy-makers and school staff when we began the project, encouraging them to help students and not get defensive if students question some of our policies, but this disclaimer only goes so far in calming people’s nerves when criticized.