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Democracy Schools Network
Monthly Update
July 2025
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Registration for the Fall 2025 Illinois Democracy Schools Convening is now open!
Motivating Agency, Sustaining the Republic
Monday, September 22
8:00 AM – 2:30 PM
NIU Conference Center
1120 E. Diehl Rd.
Naperville, IL 60563
Breakout Sessions Include:
- AI for Research and Writing: Or How I Learned to Embrace AI Without Fearing Plagiarism and Losing My Mind
- Bridging Divides Through Civil Discourse: Empowering Students to Find Common Ground
- Can the President Do That? Resources for Teaching About Executive Power
- Civic Harmony: Navigating Multiple Perspectives in our American Constitutional Democracy
- Civic Virtue and Civil Society: Fostering Informed and Active Citizenship
- Civics Resources for Dialogue and Inquiry
- Legal Precedent in Unprecedented Times
- Methods for Engaging Multilingual Learners in Civic Inquiry
- Model UN: A Civic Learning Powerhouse
- Q&A on the Role of the Courts in Our System of Checks and Balances
- Religious Upstanders in Nazi Germany
- SCOTUS Preview
- Unlock Your Students' Civic Superpower
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What’s in the Mix for 2026? Looking to the Midterms
| | EAD Rural Hub Series on Media Literacy | | |
Search Smart: Teaching Students to Analyze Online Information
Featuring Vanessa Otero, CEO of Ad Fontes Media, creator of the Media Bias Chart
Tuesday, August 5, 6 pm ET
Register here.
Knowledge in Action: Guiding Students from Research to Real Change
Featuring Shawn McCusker, speaker and author of Becoming Active Citizens: Practices to Engage Students in Civic Education Across the Curriculum
Tuesday, September 2, 6 pm ET
Register here.
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Meet Our New Illinois Democracy Schools
We are pleased to announce that these two schools have completed the renewal process; we look forward to their continued membership in the Illinois Democracy Schools Network:
Carlinville High School (since 2017)
York Community High School (since 2018))
We are delighted to welcome these new schools into the Illinois Democracy Schools Network:
Carlinville Primary School
Carlinville Intermediate School
Carlinville Middle School
Roxana High School
And, Carlinville Community Unit District 1 is recognized as the first K-12 district in the state of Illinois to have membership in the Illinois Democracy Schools Network.
Join us at the Annual Convening to learn more about these new and veteran Illinois Democracy Schools!
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Data Science 4 Everyone Summit
Data Science 4 Everyone and the National Council for Social Studies are organizing a joint summit on Tech and AI Ethics in Chicago, IL on August 1-2. The rapidly emerging technology in computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), data science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and quantum computing is set to quickly shift the function of the vast majority of existing jobs across all industries, and create many new ones we cannot yet predict. Many U.S. workers will quickly see their professional and personal lives become more algorithmically assisted and data-dependent.
Financial support is available in the form of stipends that can help cover the registration costs and other travel needs. You can find more information about the event and register here, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
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Research Roundup: Tips for Teaching Civics in the Early Grades
Jessica Wolff and Nan Mead of the Center for Educational Equity demonstrate that civic learning is developmentally appropriate for elementary students in the latest DemocracyReadyNY report titled, “Civic Learning Is a Whole-Child, Whole-School Endeavor.” However, civic learning suffers in the early grades from a dearth of time and resources, inadequate teacher preparation and support, and unequal opportunities for marginalized students. Wolff and Mead offer eight recommendations to overcome these challenges:
- The early grades are formative and an opportunity to establish healthy civic habits. They are among students’ first experiences engaging with community beyond family.
- Elementary students should have opportunities to experience civic activities with proper guidance, like classroom-based projects.
- Early civic learning opportunities must be developmentally appropriate and differentiated to the unique needs of each learner. A neighborhood cleanup campaign qualifies.
- Elementary schools should focus on civic values and develop a sense that each student is an integral member of the community. Wolff and Mead write, “Civic education is a whole-school endeavor.” The larger school experience, including the bus, cafeteria, and playground, shapes students’ civic identity.
- Civic learning opportunities must be multidisciplinary and multimodal: Social studies should have dedicated instructional time, but civic learning opportunities abound across the curriculum (e.g., laws of probability in math). Additionally, civic learning must include a mix of direct instruction and student-centered activities such as class discussions of local issues.
- Schools should account for interpersonal and systemic issues affecting marginalized students’ access to civic learning. For example, funding disparities often lead to a narrowed curriculum that crowds out civics. It is also important that this racially and ethnically diverse generation of students have mirrors and windows within the curriculum that reflect them and their peers, respectively.
- Build upon what skilled elementary teachers already do, linking instructional practices to civic knowledge, skills, and mindsets that students are developing (e.g., media literacy instruction).
- Civic learning is a collaborative effort between teachers and administrators, schools, parents, and the surrounding community: “Bringing families and the community members into school decisions, fostering an environment of open communication, trust, and confidence in teachers and school leaders, can help stave off worries about indoctrination or fears of being 'out of control’ of their children’s education.”
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Earn Your Microcredentials
Become a Guardian of Democracy Educator
The Illinois Civics Hub has partnered with the Lou Frey Institute at the University of Central Florida to provide educators the opportunity to earn microcredentials in the proven practices of civic education embedded in the middle and high school civics course requirements in Illinois. Courses include:
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Current and Controversial Issue Discussions—Learn from academic experts Dr. Diana Hess & Dr. Paula McAvoy as you explore the purpose, role, and function of discussion strategies as pedagogical tools to equip young people to be engaged citizens. This course will enhance the practice of educators with strategies and resources to create a classroom climate in which there are equitable opportunities for ALL students to engage in dialogue about essential questions across the curriculum.
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Simulations of Democratic Processes—Learn from academic experts Dr. Walter Parker & Dr. Jane Lo as you explore how democratic processes and procedures occur as part of the regular functioning of government, in each of the three branches of government, and at each level of government. This course will guide you through the purpose, planning, and implementation of three simulations: town hall meetings, legislative hearings, and moot courts.
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Informed Action through Service Learning—Learn from academic experts Dr. Joseph Kahne and Jessica Marshall as you explore the purpose, role, and function of informed action through service learning as a pedagogical tool to equip young people with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be active members of their community. In this course, you will interact with strategies and tools you can use in your classroom to support student-centered informed action through service learning.
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NEW: Constitutional Democracy as Content and Practice—Learn from academic experts Dr. Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Dr. Shawn P. Healy, and Dr. Bonnie Laughlin Schultz as you explore how the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap can help teach constitutional democracy as both content and practice across disciplines K-12.
New courses beginning in fall. More information here. Those who successfully complete the five-week online course will earn a Bronze Certified Guardian of Democracy Educator badge via Badgr and the University of Central Florida Center for Distributed Learning.
Participants can earn 15 PD hours through the DuPage Regional Office of Education. Please note that due to changes in our funding, the Democracy School Network is no longer able to offer a stipend to participants.
There are three strands of courses for each proven practice of civics education. Graduate credit is available through the University of St. Francis for completing all three courses. More information here.
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Attention Social Studies Teachers:
If you want to be kept current on Social Studies standards, course mandates, and resources to support both, we invite you to sign up for the Illinois Civics Hub newsletter here.
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