Wisconsin Awarded $200,000 Educating for American Democracy Grant with Region 10 Comprehensive Center Staff Support
News August 08, 2023
In July of 2023, Educating for American Democracy (EAD) awarded Wisconsin $200,000 for the Wisconsin Civics Elementary Support (WCES) project, which will enhance the focus of recently developed Civics Fellows project for students in grades K-5. R10CC provided writing support for this grant application and will provide ongoing evaluation services for the project. In addition to nearly doubling the existing project budget, the EAD funding allocates extra Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) support for every region of the state.The ultimate goal of this work is to support excellence in civic literacy and civic engagement where:
- all students learn to become engaged citizens and critical consumers of information; to be actively involved in the civil discourse of their communities, state, nation, and world; to understand and actively participate in the processes of government, including voting; and are empowered to see themselves as essential members of their communities and have opportunities to actively participate in civic learning and problem solving;
- all schools and educators are equipped with the resources and support they need to foster excellence in civic literacy and civic engagement;
- all stakeholders are empowered to support the civic mission of schools and collaborate to support civic literacy and provide civic engagement opportunities to students of all ages.
Beginning in summer 2022, DPI recruited teams of teachers with expertise in civics education to develop a civics-focused K-12 Scope and Sequence (planned for public release in September 2023). R10CC supported DPI and teacher teams in developing the civics-focused K-12 Scope and Sequence. Subsequently, a cadre of 15 practicing teachers with expertise in civics education, called Civics Fellows, were selected to carry on the work developed over the past year by the teacher teams. These Civics Fellows are situated in each of Wisconsin’s 12 regional CESAs and the funding will support the time of a partner in each CESA.
By utilizing the CESA regions and their relationships with districts, these civics resources will more effectively reach K-5 classroom teachers statewide, providing them with concrete resources and lessons, curated by their peers, for integrating civics into a school day. Grant funding for the project will focus on economically disadvantaged schools, recognized tribal schools, and schools whose small district size typically limits their access to regional CESA resources.