Using the Urban Agenda to Increase Civics Involvement and Literacy in a Middle School Social Studies Classroom By Paul Anthony Thebert A MASTER S PROJECT For ED 7999 Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies Graduate Division of Wayne State University Detroit Michigan In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING May 2004 MAJOR Social Studies Education Approved By Date Dr Bob Pettapiece ii Table of contents CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO THE URBAN AGENDA PROJECT 1 THE SITUATION 1 THE NEED 2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT 2 POPULATION 3 SUMMARY 3 CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF CURRENT RESEARCH 4 INTRODUCTION 4 THEORY 4 RESEARCH 6 PRACTICE 7 SUMMARY 10 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 12 INTRODUCTION 12 METHODOLOGY 12 DATA COLLECTION 13 POPULATION 13 PROCEDURE 14 SUMMARY 15 CHAPTER FOUR FINDINGS 17 INTRODUCTION 17 SUMMARY 20 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS 21 INTRODUCTION 21 RECOMMENDATIONS 21 PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS 22 REFERENCES 25 APPENDIX A LESSON PLANS 26 APPENDIX B GROUP WORK RUBRIC 31 APPENDIX C PRE TEST AND POSTTEST 33 APPENDIX D SURVEY 35 APPENDIX E ADDITIONAL DATA 37 Chapter One Introduction to the Urban Agenda Project Introduction The purpose of this project is to evaluate the Urban Agenda as a way to improve students retention of lessons about politics and their frequency of civics community involvement The Urban Agenda program as envisioned by Otto Feinstein at Wayne State University is designed to teach students methods for political goal making and consensus building Along the way students learn how to take appropriate action to convince politicians to help them work toward their goals The program began by teaching students a model for decision making based on identifying demands needs and responses necessary for gaining the former This is achieved through a series of questions leading students from self awareness to community consciousness and finally to political action After gaining group and classroom consensus students visit another school and gain consensus again in diverse groups representing students from different schools Students from urban and suburban schools came together in a convention in order to gain consensus and take political action to further their agreed upon goals The Situation Most social studies classes today are much as they have been in years past Teachers instruct students to read the chapter and answer the questions at the end of the section without engaging students Students who sit quietly and regurgitate the required information at the desired time earn rewards in the form of good grades Students who cannot or will not comply receive lower grades Innovative teaching techniques offer challenges and spur reluctant changes in most social studies classrooms To make social studies important to students they must realize its impact on their lives Experiential exercises such as Urban Agenda show students how important civics is by encouraging them to become politically active The Need Voter participation in America hovers around 20 Standardized tests in Michigan focus mostly on mathematics and reading punishing schools with unacceptable scores in these areas Social studies scores are valued less A school in which 100 of students pass social studies portions of standardized tests but fail math or reading portions are considered to be failing In an effort to avoid failing schools increase time spent on math and reading at the expense of social studies Social studies teachers therefore must make the amount of time they are given has an impact on students It is in social studies classrooms that students learn to connect politics to their lives Too often this connection does not take place Teachers must take pains to help students discover that they can make a difference that their voices will be heard if only they use them The Significance of the Project Through the Urban Agenda program students learn to find consensus among their peers This agreement will allow them to focus their efforts on a common goal This focus and agreement on what kind of political action to take will make it much more likely a politician will listen to their concerns Politicians respond better to concerns that include a suggested solution rather than just a complaint Focusing on one strategy allows students to be more persuasive Students will take this knowledge of political action into their adult lives encouraging them to become active voters and active members of the community The sense that they can change their world is a powerful thing for students with social and economic disadvantages Population This project took place in a middle school in an urban district Ninety percent of students in the school take advantage of the free or reduced lunch program making this a Title I school with students that are socio economically disadvantaged All of the students are African American Summary If a goal of social studies is to create effective citizens this goal does not seem to be being met Evidence appears in the poor voter turnout after nearly every election Social studies teachers can help reverse this trend by making students feel that politics is important to them and that they can change the world How students learn about civics and politics in school can influence their opinions of these subjects later in life This project was an effort to determine whether the Urban Agenda program will have a positive impact on students in terms of retaining civics knowledge and community action Students who feel that their actions can change their world are more likely to act The student population in this project is an urban one who is socio economic disadvantaged Chapter Two Review of Current Research Introduction This chapter contains a brief review of current research on civics education One author Anne C Lewis focuses on the current state of the social studies classroom and provides general suggestions on possible improvements The other two authors Rodney F Allen and Otto Feinstein offer specific strategies to be used in the classroom to increase student engagement in and retention of civics education Allen focuses on a classroom discussion model to teach students how to disagree constructively on the way to a stated goal Feinstein builds on that idea in presenting a model for building consensus and political action This research will be presented in three following sections theory research and practice Theory Anne C Lewis