Citizenship Education Task Force Steering Committee

Date:

October 5, 2005

Meeting location:

Cross Building, Augusta

Notes compiled by:

Kathy Hunt

Chair(s) / Facilitator(s):

Kathy Hunt

Members present:

Pam Anderson, Barbara Kauffman, Fran Rudoff, Kerry Salvo, Liz McCabe-Park, Jim Carignan, Kathryn Hunt

 

Agenda Item(s):

Major Points of Discussion:

 

1. Year 2 Workplan

Kathy presented a draft workplan for Year 2 as well as suggested committee structure & staffing plan. There was a consensus to focus our efforts in five key areas:

·         Finishing the Promising Practices Resource Guides for K-12 and Higher Education, and developing a plan for infusing these materials into professional development forums for teachers.

·         Establishing a cohort of superintendents committed to school reform around the core principle of civic learning and engagement.

·         Reformulation of the Task Force.

·         Carrying out a public engagement campaign.

·         Policy change—promoting legislative engagement and the positions/responsibilities within MDOE necessary to support schools in their “on-the-ground” change efforts.

 

 

2. Mission Statement

Kathy presented a draft mission statement for review and input.  Although subject to further wordsmithing, SC members agreed, in substance, to the following mission statement:  make students’ civic learning and engagement a priority in every school and community in Maine, as well as in school reform.

 

SC members discussed and suggested rewording consistent with the following:

 

ŕ The Maine Coalition for Civic Learning and Engagement acts to make students’ civic learning and engagement a priority in education reform, and in every educational institution and community in Maine.

 

Kathy will share the mission statement with other Task Force members and elicit feedback.

 

3. Next Steps for Task Force

ü      Legislature

ü      Legislative Engagement

There was discussion about the timeframe, structure, and content of the Task Force’s final report to the legislature, and how this report can be used as a tool for engaging legislative support of key policy actions.  Kathy will follow up with Phil McCarthy on three issues:

 

·         Process for obtaining a carryover so the last official meeting of the Task Force can be held in January in conjunction with an Education Committee meeting.

·         Timeframe required for including recommendations for legislation in our final report.

·         Optimal timeframe for a legislators forum, and process for planning.  Fran indicated that KIDS Consortium has a $2,000 grant from ECS to devote to legislative engagement, but the money must be spent before the end of the calendar year.

 

 

4.

 

 

Next Steps:

Task 1

To be carried out by

Task 2

To be carried out by

Task 3

To be carried out by

 

Next Meeting Date/Time:

November 16, 2005   9:30am—12:30pm

Location:

Bates College, Chase Hall

Items for Next Meeting Agenda:

Updates, Public Engagement Campaign, Spring Forum at Bates, Legislative Report