Civics End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment - Frank C. …fcmartin.dadeschools.net/documents/curriculum-night-1415...an end of course exam for civics in middle school. Students must successfully

Civics End-of-Course (EOC)

Assessment

CS / HB 105 “The Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

Civics Education Act”Main Components of the Legislation include . . .

• Students successfully complete a one semester Civics education course.

• Beginning with the 2014 – 2015 academic year, the Civics EOC Exam will count as 30% of the students final grade.

Status of Civic Knowledge

National findings revealed that:• 22% of Americans think the three branches of

government are Republican, Democrat and Independent.

• Over one third of Americans cannot identify even one of the three branches of government.

Annenberg Survey • September 2006 national survey found that only a

little more than half of Americans believe the President of the United States must follow the rulings of the United States Supreme Court.

• What is the rule of law ?

First Amendment• In a study conducted by the First Amendment

Center and the American Journalism Review, only two percent of Americans polled could identify the five rights in the First Amendment.

• What are they???

Xavier University Study: Americans Put to Shame • Center for the American Dream• 2012 study revealed that :

One in three natural born citizens failed the civics portion of the US Citizenship Test.

97.5% pass rate forimmigrants.

Citizenship Test• To pass the naturalization/citizenship test you must

answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly.• If the pass rates were 7 out of 10, one-half of

native-born citizens would fail.− 85% did not know the meaning of the “the rule of law.”− 82% could not name “two rights stated in the Declaration

of Independence.”− 75% were not able to correctly answer “What does the

judicial branch do?”− 71% were unable to identify the Constitution as the

“supreme law of the land.”− 68% did not know how many justices are on the Supreme

Court.

Status Report on Florida• Surveys conducted by FLREA between 2003-2005

found that school districts in Florida reported little time available in elementary grades to teach civics or any social studies subject, mainly because of other FCAT priorities.

Surveys in Middle School• Survey results between 2003-2005 found that

less than 10 percent of school districts reported offering a separate, stand alone civics course in middle school.

• Miami- Dade county and Palm Beach counties both offered year long mandatory civics courses at 7th grade.

2010Sandra Day

O’Connor Act passed

unanimously in Florida

Legislature

The Sandra Day O’Connor Act accomplished three major priorities for

civics in Florida:Required the reading

portion of language arts to include civic education

content.

Clarified 2006 Legislation to designate at least one semester of

civics in the middle grades.

Required the inclusion of an end of course exam for

civics in middle school. Students must successfully complete at least a one

semester civics education course in middle school. Beginning with students entering grade 6 in 2012-

2013. Amended s. 1003.4256, F. S.

Regarding Cognitive ComplexityCognitive complexity Breakdown

Depth of Knowledge

Levels

Webb, Norman L. and others. “Web Alignment Tool” 24 July 2005. Wisconsin Center of Educational Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2 Feb. 2006. <http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/WAT/index.aspx>.

Civics EOC• Will only assess civics and government

benchmarks…..not geography, economics, etc

Civics EOC Assessment Test Items Criteria

1. All Civics EOC Assessment test items are in multiple-choice (MC) format.

2. Test items are worth one point each. No points deducted for wrong answers.

3. Test items have four answer options (A, B, C and D).

4. None of the above, all of the above , not here, not enough information or cannot be determined ARE NOT to be used as distractors.

How is FC Martin Preparing My Child

iCivics (formerly Our Courts) is a web-based education project

designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active

participants in our democracy. iCivics is the vision of Justice

Sandra Day O'Connor, who is concerned that students are not getting the information and tools they need for civic participation,

and that civics teachers need better materials and support.

iCivics has much to offerboth teachers and students!

− Lesson plans correlated to Florida’s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards; Objectives, PowerPoints, and worksheets accompany the lesson plans so they are easy to utilize

− Interactive and engaging online-based games for students (these can be used as homework or quiz grades as scores can be printed and/or e-mailed!)

Access to Daily Assignments

Mobile Devices

• Create rigorous, relevant, student-centered learning environments that better prepare all students for the global community• Engage learners with transformative instruction enhanced by collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and technological literacy• Ensure equity and access to digital tools and resources• Strengthen 21st century skills necessary for future success