Build educator capacity and cultivate dynamic classrooms
Our team’s coaching, paired with our best-in-class curriculum, save your teachers time, build confidence, and positively impact student outcomes.
Professional Learning Services for Districts
For more than a decade, iCivics has provided educators nationwide with high-quality civics and history curriculum. But we know that educators need more support in order to create transformative civic learning opportunities that extend beyond the classroom walls.
Our professional learning services are designed to help school and district leaders provide their educators with the rigorous training and proven strategies needed to master content, refine skills, and confidently apply best practices in order to nurture students’ civic development.
Our Theory of Action
High-quality teaching and learning
and
Students with the civic skills and knowledge prepared for life-long engagement in our democracy
Menu of Services for Districts
We are pleased to offer school districts a menu of professional learning services. All services encompass a full year of support, are comprehensive and customizable, and can be delivered synchronously or asynchronously.
Explore Current Offerings
Information and Media Literacy in the Digital Age
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- Explain what information and media literacy is and why it is key for pursuing accuracy and cultivating engaged citizenship;
- Demonstrate how to apply information literacy skills when investigating, building evidence-based claims, and engaging in discussions; and
- Identify challenges, bias, misinformation, and where and how to engage in/share information responsibly.
Fostering An Inquiry-Based Civics Classroom
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- Explain what inquiry-based teaching and learning are and why they are essential to cultivating engaged and informed citizens;
- Demonstrate how to create and implement strategies for integrating inquiry-based learning in the classroom; and
- Collaborate with colleagues to identify challenges and test out and reflect on new strategies around questions, sources, and tasks.
Cultivating Leadership and Supporting a Shift to Inquiry
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- Explain why inquiry-based teaching and learning is important to supporting student outcomes and school/district goals;
- Understand what inquiry looks and feels like in the classroom; and
- Identify specific ongoing needs and collect data through iCivics’ “classroom visit tool” to support and coach educators’ growth.
Implementing a Core Civics and History Curriculum for 8th Grade
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- Explain why history is part of civic education and how an inquiry-based curriculum helps cultivate informed and engaged citizenship;
- Unpack, internalize, and teach with U.S. History Through Inquiry: Beginnings to 1877; and
- Implement inquiry-based strategies that develop historical thinking and civic engagement.
Foundational Courses on Civic Education
- Identify methods for incorporating civic education into classroom culture and management;
- Make connections between civic education and important pedagogical strategies such as inquiry, differentiation, information literacy, and multilingual learning;
- Leverage the classroom as an opportunity to build a service mindset and leadership skills with students; and
- Create opportunities for civically engaged learning and activities both inside and outside of the classroom.
Our Unique Approach
Following are key differentiators of iCivics’ professional learning pathways grounded in effective practices and standards:
Lead with Inquiry
Pathways are structured inquiries grounded in a compelling question, with carefully curated, research-based sources and tasks.
Drive Continuous Improvement
Individualized
Pathways are designed to be flexible to meet state standards, and the unique, localized context of the students, teachers, and district.
Foster Collaboration
Pathways intentionally create collaborative environments for teachers to learn from one another and share challenges and successes.
Cultivate Leadership
Pathways provide supportive coaching, walkthroughs, and constructive feedback that nurture and grow educators into leaders.
Why invest in building educator capacity in your district?
Only 22 percent of 8th graders in the United States scored proficient or above in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in civics, meaning that they understand civic principles and know how to apply them.
So what can we do? There are several factors that make a difference in students’ civic proficiency, from dosage to pedagogy to family engagement.
The 2022 NAEP data tells us that the single most important factor is teachers’ confidence in their ability to explain the importance of participation in the political process and government, accounting for a 35-point difference in student performance.
Teacher Confidence in Explaining the Importance of Participation in the Political Process and Government
This is where iCivics can support you. Our team’s coaching—paired with our best-in-class curriculum—can save your educators time, build capacity, and positively impact student outcomes in your district.
Together, we will build the best pathway forward.
Download the brochure
Learn more about our professional learning for districts and explore our menu of services.
