News Articles
Florida League of City President John Marks, Tallahassee's Mayor, kicked off activities in Tallahassee for Florida City Government Week.
Florida City Government Week kicked off Monday with Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, President of the Florida League of Cities partnering with Leon County Schools and the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship to celebrate Florida City Government Week (Oct. 18 - 24, 2009). This partnership was formed to increase awareness of teaching civics in the classrooms during Florida City Government Week. Cities across the state celebrated Florida City Government Week in a number of ways.
Monday, Oct. 19-
- Mayor Marks was interviewed by student anchors on the morning television show at Springwood Elementary School about city government and what it's like to be mayor of the capital city.
Tuesday, Oct. 20-
- Astoria Park Elementary School was visited by the City of Tallahassee's Utility Department, Police Department and Public Works department. Students experienced the daily operational aspect of city services.
Wednesday, Oct. 21-
- Cobb Middle School hosted a student "mock" press conference for Mayor Marks. Students used prior speeches and policy statements to prepare their questions. The students asked the mayor about his policies, his plans for Tallahassee, and sought his advice on political involvement.
- The City of Tallahassee's Department of Environmental Policy and Energy Resources addressed 5th grade students at Ruediger Elementary School and 3rd - 5th grade students at Astoria Park Elementary School on the city's "green" initiative. The presentation sought to help the students understand what they can do to be more environmentally responsible.
Thursday, Oct. 22-
- Historian Kermit Brown provided an interesting address on the history of Florida and the City of Tallahassee to the 7th and 8th grade students of Fairview Middle School.
A 2009 Study by Frey Institute & Graham Center Shows Most Floridians are Cutting Back on Civic Involvement
MIAMI (Oct. 14, 2009) – A new report released today by the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship shows that Florida’s civic culture is in failing health, indicates that tough economic times are making the illness worse, and highlights the need for immediate action to treat the malady, said former U. S. Congressman Lou Frey, former Florida Governor and U. S. Senator Bob Graham and Michael Weiser, the chairman of the National Conference on Citizenship.
The report, prepared by the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, found that the state has one of the worst civic cultures in the country, ranking 46th in the nation. It ranked Florida 34th in average voter turnout, 49th in percentage of citizens who volunteer, 48th in percentage of citizens attending a public meeting and 37th in percentage of citizens who worked with others to address a community issue.
“If this report doesn’t demonstrate the need to help Floridians, particularly our youngest generation, better understand the importance of active citizenship, nothing ever will,” said Senator Graham. “The Legislature is to be commended for recently requiring that middle schools teach civics, but we need to take the additional step of making civics a subject that is taught and tested.”
Florida Representative Charles McBurney (R-Jacksonville) has introduced legislation, known as the “Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Civics Education Act,” to add social studies, including civics, to the list of subjects tested in the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Also, the Joint Center, in partnership with Leon County Schools and the Florida Law Related Education Association, has launched a newly-developed civics curriculum in Tallahassee schools that it hopes to spread to other districts.
The 2009 survey, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, indicated that the state’s collapsing housing market and impacts of the world-wide recession may be having negative impacts on citizens’ engagement, as well with 70 percent saying they have cut back on civic activities in the past year.
Equally troubling in this time of recession is a preliminary estimate in the study that puts Florida at 44th in the nation in the percentage of citizens who contributed at least $25 to charity in 2008.
“Simply put, Florida has a weak civic culture, one of the worst in the nation,” Congressman Frey observed, “But that doesn’t have to be the state’s future.”
Even in the midst of economic pain, weak citizenship is a statewide problem with a statewide solution, said Michael Weiser, chair of the National Conference on Citizenship, which helped develop the study as part of a national effort to measure the country’s civic health.
"Florida's leaders need to focus on such basics as civic education, teaching Florida history and encouraging Floridians to volunteer in their communities. These initiatives cost little but can yield highly leveraged results in terms of the future health of Florida's citizenship," Weiser said.
Some Florida communities – notably Palm Bay–Melbourne and Tampa–St. Petersburg – were found to have developed stronger civic cultures. And, the study shows, many who are already engaged in their community are doing more, with 46% of those who were highly engaged in the past year reporting that they are expanding involvement.
But overall, the report said, communities in Florida fall well below national averages and far from benchmarks set by communities like Minneapolis, Seattle and Provo, Utah.
Ranking at the bottom of the list in Florida are the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and Sarasota-Bradenton areas. In fact, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale ranked 50th among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas on three key civic indicators: volunteering, public meeting attendance and collaboration with others on local issues.
“Despite some bright spots and evidence of personal compassion among many of our citizens, the report makes it clear that community leaders throughout Florida face a significant challenge to not only improve the state of their civic health, but also to find ways to avoid further deterioration in these times of economic difficulty,” said Senator Graham.
The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is a joint venture of The Lou Frey Institute at the University of Central Florida and The Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. The full study may be found at www.loufrey.org.
About the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is a partnership between the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida and the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida. Established in 2007, the Joint Center works on a variety of initiatives intended to strengthen civic education and improve the condition of Florida’s civic health
About the National Conference on Citizenship
Founded in 1946 and Chartered by Congress in 1953, the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) is a leader in strengthening our nation's civic life. In partnership with over 250 organizations, NCoC tracks, measures and promotes civic participation. Through this work, NCoC helps define modern citizenship in America. More information can be found at www.ncoc.net.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Contact:
Dr. Douglas Dobson, Executive Director, Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government, 407-823-4018; 407-271-0150, ddobson@mail.ucf.edu.
On September 17th, 2009 Mrs. Marie Santana’s fifth grade class celebrated Constitution Day. Through Liberty Day’s Celebration America program, a civics leadership program that brings high school and college students, known as Constitution Coaches, into classrooms to teach 5th graders about the U.S. Constitution, Kimberly Paternoster, a University of Central Florida College of Education graduate student, met with Mrs. Santana’s fifth grade class on Constitution Day.
Under the guidance of Dr. Scott Waring and Christopher Kazanjian from the UCF College of Education, Mrs. Santana from Cypress Springs, and Valerie McVey from the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, Kimberly designed and facilitated a lesson on the Constitution and structures of government. To begin the lesson, Kimberly engaged the students in a brief discussion about Constitution Day and why we observe September 17th. The students then broke into learning groups and answered a set of questions about the Constitution. During this activity students worked together to brainstorm their answers. Using a class discussion format, Kimberly then reviewed answers with the students. The focus then turned to the three branches of government. Through the use of a worksheet and discussion, Kimberly provided the students with an overview of the three branches. The lesson concluded with a web quest scavenger hunt. The students worked in pairs and navigated their way through a list of websites as well as the Liberty Day pocket Constitutions to complete a multiple choice quiz on the Constitution.
The students were engaged and focused during this lesson and appreciated having their Constitution Coach teach them about the importance of Constitution Day!
About Constitution Day and Liberty Day’s Celebration America
In 2004, Congress passed, and President Bush signed, Public Law 108-447, which states, in Sec. 111 Division J - SEC. 111(b), that all levels of educational institutions that receive federal funds are required to educate students on our U.S. Constitution on or around September 17th, the day the Constitution was ratified in 1787.
In order to help fulfill the federal mandates contained in the law and celebrate the day, which is most commonly known as Constitution Day, Liberty Day’s Celebration America is a national effort to inform students about the Constitution, inspire them to action, and involve them in the political process in a fun, interactive, and engaging manner. Liberty Day's premier program for teenagers and young adults presents college and high school students with the unique, hands-on civics in service learning opportunity. For more information, visit www.libertyday.org
Political Rules of the Road: Representatives, Senators and Presidents Share their Rules for Success in Congress, Politics and Life," written by Congressman Lou Frey and UCF Political Science Professor Dr. Aubrey Jewett, was recently released. Said Congressman Frey, "The book is based on political 'rules of the road' and life that were given to me over twenty years by Presidents, Senators, and Members of the House. I got the idea for the book when I became intrigued by what rules friends and colleagues of mine use in the biggest league in the world. I have only two rules, and they are pretty simple. The first rule is: Don't get in a fight with someone who buys their ink by the carload, i.e., the Press. The second rule is: If you have to explain, you are in trouble. Most of the rules in the book are incredibly practical and take into account the fact that the world can be cruel and unfair, but you still have to deal with it."The book is available at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Twenty five teachers from Jackson, Orange and Pinellas school districts will teach the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship's Applied Civics Course for 7th grade during the 2009-2010 school year. This curriculum provides teachers with everything they need to teach a yearlong civics course: lesson plans, content summaries, supporting materials such as student worksheets and teacher keys, and assessment plans.
This curriculum focuses on the 2003 Campaign for the Civic Missions of Schools, ?six promising approaches? to civic learning and the civic knowledge, intellectual and participatory skills, and dispositions useful for the 21st century middle school classroom. Teachers will focus on two forms of student engagement: engagement with civics content (curricular) and with civic life (experiential). It aims to involve students in critical and higher-order thinking, to teach students "life-long learner" skills, and to present students with multiple perspectives. Its "eclectic approach" draws from a variety of materials to provide both content and teaching strategies that build on students' background experiences, incorporate a variety of learning styles, make use of appropriate technologies, develop FCAT-related literacy skills, and offer authentic assessment to gauge student learning.
This civics curriculum comprises six units: Citizenship Duties, Rights, and Liberties; State and Local Government in Florida; Foundations of American Government; Overview of the United States and its Federal Government (including a mini-unit on related economics content); Elections, Parties, and Pressure Groups; and Global Affairs and U.S. Foreign Policy. The curriculum also addresses all of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and Benchmarks for 7th Grade Civics, Geography, and Economics.
Content background for teachers is incorporated into each lesson as are assessments. Lesson materials are drawn from a wide array of Internet-based resources.
Teachers Recognized for Pilot Program from Florida League of Cities, Inc. Quality Cities Magazine
With support from the Florida Department of Education, The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship is leading a partnership that will provide educational opportunities for civics teachers in Volusia, Orange, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties. The partnership includes political science professors at the University of Central Florida, social studies education professors at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, and Florida Virtual School.
Targeting middle school teachers in partner districts, the project will develop and offer an intensive Civics Mentor-Teacher professional development seminar. Developed and taught by social studies education professors and political science professors who specialize in American government, the seminar will explore the Next Generation Social Studies Standards (NGSSS) in civics as well as the content and pedagogy needed to effectively teach those standards. Teachers will spend two weeks in residence at UCF and will complete all remaining seminar requirements in an on-line, asynchronous, interactive learning environment. Three graduate credits for POS 6403 (Teaching American Political Institutions) will be provided upon successful seminar completion and will constitute one-third of participants' certification renewal requirement. In addition, teachers successfully completing the seminar will become Teaching Associates of the Joint Center and will serve as mentors in their districts, offering NGSSS professional development programs at school and district levels. To reach a wider range of teachers, the Joint Center will partner with the Florida Virtual School to create an on-line course that will introduce NGSSS civics standards for K-12 levels.
The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and Volusia County Schools have entered into a partnership to strengthen civic education in Volusia County?s schools and throughout the state. The partnership agreement is subject to annual review by the District and by the Joint Center. The Joint Center and the District have each committed to fulfilling goals that will contribute to improved civic education. The Joint Center will:
- Provide professional development opportunities for Volusia County civics teachers, including opportunities for college credit
- Work with the District to assess student learning outcomes for selected civics classes
- Provide opportunities for district schools to participate in innovative civics education curriculum development projects, including Cities in the Classroom
- Work with the District to fund a civics resource teacher who will provide classroom assistance to Volusia County civics teachers
- Work with the District to establish a teacher mentor program.
For its part, the District will:
- Implement a district-wide, year-long middle school civics course beginning in the 2009-10 school year
- Work with the Joint Center with the goal of strengthening civic education at all grade levels in Volusia County Schools
- Join with the Joint Center in implementing and assessing innovative applied civics curricula; including Cities in the Classroom and other curriculum projects that the district and the Joint Center deem to be beneficial to enhanced civic learning outcomes
- Work with the Joint Center to disseminate effective civic education practices to other districts throughout the state. The partnership agreement was signed by Congressmen Frey, Senator Graham, and district Superintendent Smith in May, 2009.
Teaching Citizens About Their City Government from Florida League of Cities, Inc. Quality Cities Magazine
