Edward M Kennedy Institute For The United States Senate Inc

THE EDWARD M. KENNEDY INSTITUTE FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE WILL DEVELOP A PROJECT-BASED LEARNING PROGRAM TO TRAIN TEACHERS TO FACILITATE CIVIL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT CRITICAL POLICY ISSUES AMONG STUDENTS WITH DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES. THE PILOT CIVIL CONVERSATIONS PROGRAM WILL BE DESIGNED FOR 8TH AND 11TH GRADERS TAKING ADVANCED PLACEMENT GOVERNMENT CLASSES. THE MUSEUM WILL ENGAGE A FORMAL PARTNER TO ASSIST WITH PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND TRAIN AT LEAST EIGHT TEACHERS TO TEST THE MODEL WITH 200 STUDENTS. FOLLOWING THE TESTING PHASE, THE MUSEUM WILL TRAIN 10 MASTER TEACHERS FROM OTHER STATES, WHO WILL SHARE THE PROGRAM WITH TEACHERS IN THEIR REGIONS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO CREATE A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR PARTICIPATING EDUCATORS. AN EVALUATOR WILL DESIGN INSTRUMENTS TO ASSESS CHANGES IN EDUCATOR AND STUDENT KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES.

THE EDWARD M. KENNEDY INSTITUTE FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE WILL EXPAND ACCESS TO ITS IMMERSIVE CIVICS LEARNING EXPERIENCE TO ENABLE EDUCATORS TO INCORPORATE INQUIRY-BASED CIVICS ACTIVITIES IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. THE MUSEUM WILL DEVELOP AND TEST DIGITAL TOOLS TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE FROM THEIR CLASSROOMS IN A SENATE DEBATE ON A REAL-LIFE BILL BASED ON ITS "TODAY'S VOTE IN THE CLASSROOM" PROGRAM, CURRENTLY OFFERED ON-SITE IN ITS FULL-SCALE REPRODUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER. PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL INVOLVE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB PORTAL PROTOTYPE, AND THE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO AND WEB TOOLS. A BETA TEST SITE WILL HOST PROGRAM MATERIALS THAT WILL BE SHARED WITH TEACHERS IN SEVERAL STATES WHERE PARTICIPATING EDUCATORS WILL USE THE MATERIALS IN THEIR CLASSROOMS, AND PARTICIPATE IN A FORMATIVE EVALUATION PHASE. THE MUSEUM WILL PARTNER WITH WGBH IN THE FULL IMPLEMENTATION PHASE, WHICH WILL INVOLVE THE ENROLLMENT OF NATIONWIDE PARTICIPANTS, ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE ONLINE PROGRAM.