Effective Assessments Strategies for Civic Education Literacy - Essay Sample

Introduction

Literacy is the foundational block of any academic discipline. It is, therefore, imperative for teachers to design and implement exceptional teaching strategies to endure the literacy of their students in the specific subjects or disciplines that they tutor. Civic education regardless of its deference in recent times is a relevant discipline and literacy in the matter, is a requisite of holistic, high school learning. In this context, this discussion will explore assessment strategies pertinent to civic education by featuring two books in the subject and highlighting the relevant assessment strategies for each book.

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The Constitution of America

The first book or literary piece relevant to any civics class in high school is the Constitution of America (the United States, 1920). It is the cornerstone of civic literacy since one's knowledge of and understanding of the constitution enables active participation and initiation of the change in the community. Moreover, learning the tenets of the constitution is an essential element of a democratic society like America. It is therefore vital for a teacher to have effective assessment strategies to ensure their students comprehend the American constitution.

Concerning the Constitution of America, the necessary skills that a student should possess are intellectual and research literacy. In assessing the intellectual capacity of a student regarding their understanding of the history of issues, a teacher can incorporate the discussion of current local, national and international affairs in the classroom (Bittman & Russell, 2016). Through such studies, a teacher can gauge the level of awareness of the students in his or her class concerning current issues. It also helps the teacher learn the percentage of his students. They are aware of the political situations as well as their civic literacy and their ability to connect politics to the various laws or rights provided in the Constitution of America.

Regarding their research skills, the teacher can regularly provide specific instruction on research topics on the constitution where the students are required to research the history of a bill, a law or an amendment, before writing a paper on the same. The teacher can also incorporate discussions of the same nature where individual students are provided with controversial or issues of interest regarding various local, regional or national laws. During such sessions, the teacher, as well as other students, are allowed to ask questions and engage the presenter of the research topic.

Know Your Bill of Rights Book

The Know Your Bill of Rights book is another essential civic education text necessary for high school students. The book introduces and helps students understand the United States Bill of Rights, amendments and how they apply in modern society (Patrick, 2012). In this context, the book provides insight into the bill of rights, and it also provides for an exceptional text for the classroom. One of the strategies that a teacher can adopt to assess student's civic literacy through the book is through the administration of critical thinking exercises. Here the teacher has students select a partner with whom they complete an essential thinking exercise, for example, examining historical text from the book. At the end of the activity, the tutor then has the pairs of students to share their responses with the entire class.

Another assessment strategy applicable in this context is the organization of debates on controversial bills or amendments. Here the teacher organizes the class into two groups and has each group tackle a legislative debate (Bittman & Russell, 2016). Congressional debates in government result in the formulation and development of laws. Consequently, moot parliamentary debates in class will enable the participants to understand the purpose and value of the power of the legislature in drafting and passing bill of rights and amendments.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the assessment exercises highlighted above have tremendous value to both students and teachers of civic education. Through a teachers debriefing of debate, for example, he or she learns and assesses the communication, engagement, critical thinking as well as participatory skills of the students. On the other hand, individual assignments and exercises help them gauge the student's understanding and comprehension of the constitution and the bill of rights. Moreover, it reproduces the application of their lessons to real-life situations within their communities.

References

Bittman, B. & Russell, W. (2016). Civic Education in the United States: A Multiple Regression of Civic Education Scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 1(2),. Retrieved May 25, 2020 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/187517/.

Patrick, S. (2012). The Know Your Bill Of Rights Book: Don't lose your constitutional rights--learn them! Oculus Publishers.

United States. (1920) The Constitution of the United States of America. Washington, Govt. Print. Off. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/20013929/.