Credentials

Kids Around Town: Civic Education through Democratic Action 

Adapted from the version that was published in Social Studies & the Young Learner, September/October 1997.

Teaching for civic efficacy is a major priority in elementary school education. Yet in an effort to address controversial issues, teachers may oversimplify them or substitute rote - if well-intentioned - community service projects that are not well-integrated into the curriculum. Classrooms across Pennsylvania, however, are engaged in a program called KIDS AROUND TOWN (KAT) that develops in young citizens a range of skills and strategies for understanding public policy and participating directly in their community's decision-making processes.

KAT youngsters select a public policy issue that interests them, and proceed to conduct research, analyze arguments and data, and attempt to solve problems. KIDS AROUND TOWN won the 1995 Program of Excellence Award from the Pennsylvania Council for the Social Studies, and the equivalent award in 1996 from the National Council for the Social Studies. The program, a local government education model, was developed through support from the Citizen Education Fund of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. The League piloted the program in nine school districts over a two-year period in association with West Chester University; KAT is currently being implemented at a multitude of sites.

Selecting an Issue

Student choice helps motivate learning. The KAT model incorporates this principle by encouraging students to select the local issue for research.

When fifth graders from the Leidy School in Philadelphia decided to participate in KIDS AROUND TOWN their teachers and community volunteers held preliminary planning sessions to identify a list of feasible alternatives. Problematic issues included environmental concerns, recreational facilities and housing. Speakers, including a representative from Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Commission and a neighborhood builder involved in housing renovation, were invited to discuss these issues with the children.

Resources would allow students to take on only one issue as a project, and it was agreed that the majority vote would determine the choice. Despite the preference of the majority of the adults for focusing attention on the water quality of a local pond in Fairmount Park, the children favored the issue of abandoned housing and voted accordingly.

From the start, lessons of resource allocation, persuasion, compromise and civic priorities were learned and internalized by the students. They interviewed with local experts about their problem, walked the neighborhood with City Commissioners and visited specific offices in City Hall.

It is fair to note that several teachers who have implemented KAT began their projects with some degree of anxiety. Leidy School teachers acknowledged that they knew nothing about abandoned housing before becoming engaged in this issue, and they wondered, "How do you teach something you know nothing about?" These teachers noted later that their involvement in KAT reawakened the lifelong learner in them, and helped them provide fine role models for their students.

Research and Analysis

Research and analysis underpin the reality of democratic choice, for without information and inquiry, distinctions cannot be defined and choice is not rational.

Third graders in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania spent one year examining issues of land development and open space. They noticed as more families moved into the area that their treasured recreational facilities and open space had been disappearing. They studied arguments and evidence provided by different perspectives on development represented in their community. They practiced recognizing scare tactics, bias, smooth marketing and propaganda techniques. They visited sites involved involved in controversy and interviewed elected officials and private proponents active in the public policy debates.

The third graders did not emerge from their study with one point of view. Instead, they spoke clearly about the role of taxes, the level of public services that taxes could purchase, and the tradeoffs involved in various zoning decisions. When the students articulated their personal opinions about a given policy choice, they substantiated their opinions with well-informed arguments.

Seeking Solutions and Taking Action

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," according to British statesman and political philosopher Edmund Burke over 200 years ago. KAT kids link their study to action, building connections that bridge school and neighborhood.

KAT encourages students to ask about their issues: So what? What difference does this make? What, if anything, can be done, and how?

Not every KAT study lends itself to unified action or simple solution. The youngsters in East Stroudsburg, for example, did not arrive at a consensus, but they did develop an outline of pros and cons based on their research.

One year, third grade students in Hazleton, Pennsylvania restored a local playground after a study about community property and vandalism. Another year, these classes focused on issues of school safety. Culminating their research, these students submitted a set of proposals to their local school board, including modifications to some rules and requests for funding and permission to make and hang a series of signs in designated places. The school board granted the students' requests.

In the spring of 1995, students from Spring Hill School in Pittsburgh were found at the microphone at City Council hearings on a proposed curfew ordinance. They had studied the experiences of other major cities throughout the country, and reported to the policy-makers the strengths and weaknesses of those ordinances, what worked and what didn't.

Assessment

The KAT model offers measures of both process and product. Clear objectives and performance standards are provided for authentic assessment. Realistic culminating scenarios are suggested, along with appropriate scoring rubrics. By the time KAT students complete their projects, they have developed a multifaceted record of growth. They have collected a "trail" or portfolio that may consist of activity logs, journal writing, letters, surveys, tabulations, graphs, maps, speeches, word banks, posters, models and booklets.

Assessments are performed by students through self-evaluation, as well as by teachers. The KAT model suggests that teachers use an observation checklist for specific abilities, such as "checks accuracy of information" and "examines different perspectives."

A sample public policy scenario would describe a fairly typical local dilemma, such as: "Some people in your town want to build a new fire station. Other people disagree. How would you decide what your town should do? What would you do to make your decision known?"

Scoring rubrics outline and allocate points according to important competencies mastered, such as "recognizing the importance of studying the issue before arriving at an opinion," or "student weighs advantages and disadvantages of possible solutions." A student who expresses an opinion about the fire station controversy without first indicating the need to ask questions and research the facts would receive a score of 1 on a scale of 1 to 4. A score of 4 would go to students who demonstrate clearly that it would be necessary to study the issue and explore alternatives. The scenarios could also serve as a pre-test to ascertain a base level of student understanding before the project even begins.

The KAT program gives students lifelong learning strategies with which they can effectively, realistically and responsibly deal with civic, moral and social issues. KAT coaches youngsters in their practice of community behavior and civic initiative. One teacher commented, "Participating in KAT takes a lot of flexibility . . . but it was the most rewarding thing I've ever done as an educator in 13 years!"

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