policy agenda
Legislative advocacy
Action in progress
RICLC is currently working to advance H7036 in the Rhode Island State Legislature.
This legislation would support essential funding for civics education in schools across Rhode Island. There is a pressing need; according to the 2022 State of Civic Education In Rhode Island report:
Only 21% of administrators said their district has standalone civics courses.
55% of teachers say they don’t have access to civics-related professional development.
36% of teachers say they don’t have access to curricular materials for teaching civics.
Less than 50% of RI students feel they have the skills they needed to take action on issues they cared about, or the kind of foundational civic knowledge that is crucial to understanding American democracy.
Together, we can increase funding for civics education in Rhode Island and ensure that every young person in the Ocean State has high-quality civic learning opportunities so they can the skills and knowledge needed to be participants in our democracy.
riclc advocay wins
Successfully advocated for and passage of the 2021 Civics Literacy Act mandating civic learning proficiency and a student-led civic project for real-world learning.
RICLC members serve(d) on RIHSSAC to support the revision of social studies standards and the development of guidance for these standards.
RICLC members were been appointed to the Civic Readiness Task Force to advice the Commissioner on how to define ‘civic readiness’ and what supports are needed.
In September 2022, RICLC in collaboration with the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) released The State of Civics Education in RI. This report summarizes the findings of a baseline survey on civic learning experiences in RI that reached over 160 school educators and over 970 students across 30 different districts.