Hawaii is one of three states featured in a new report from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Research that analyzes different approaches to reforming high school civics programs. The other states included in the ”All Together Now: Collaboration and Innovation for Youth Engagement” report are Florida and Tennessee. 

In particular, the study looked at the Hawaii Department of Education‘s required “Participation in Democracy” course as a case study. The requirement, which was put in place in 2006, was nearly repealed by the Board of Education in 2011 until a coalition of teachers and parents known as the Aloha POSSE rallied against the proposal to lower social studies requirements and make the course optional.

Participation in Democracy, according to the report, “places a strong emphasis on experimental education.” It’s aimed at increasing students’ understanding about the U.S. government and other civics topics and demonstrating “the role of a citizen in civic action by selecting a problem, gathering information, proposing a solution, creating an action plan, and showing evidence of implementation.”

In fact, the report praises the course’s alignment with the National Council for the Social Studies’ new framework for state social studies standards — in particular, the dimension that promotes “Action Civics.”

For example, Corey Rosenlee, an outspoken Participation in Democracy teacher at Ewa Beach’s Campbell High School, recently spearheaded a major field trip for hundreds of the school’s students to the state Capitol so that they could urge lawmakers to consider funding air conditioning for their sweltering classrooms and experience the legislative process for themselves. 

And it appears that their rally didn’t fall on deaf ears: numerous measures, including a funding request from the governor, were introduced this session to help cool off Hawaii’s classrooms. At least one of the bills, Senate Bill 2424, which would require the DOE to come up with a “master cooling strategy,” is advancing.

That’s quite an accomplishment considering “civic education in the U.S. still leaves much to be desired,” the report says. 

Advantages of the Hawaii course, according to the national report, are its focus on student action and its promotion of public schools’ civic purpose. 

But the report highlights one major weakness of Participation in Democracy: although it’s mandated, it isn’t accompanied by an assessment. Teachers are allowed to choose their own methods of gauging student success, but the state has yet to develop a standard benchmark for its civics program.

The report also notes that the state doesn’t earmark any money for the course.

Civil Beat reported on state of civics education in Hawaii and its potential impact on young voter turnout in its October piece Could Better Civics Education in Hawaii Boost Young Voter Turnout?

Read a synopsis of the national report here. 

Photo: Campbell High students rally for A.C. in October 2013. (Alia Wong/Civil Beat)

— Alia Wong