Joint Committee Committee on Joint Education (04/27/2005)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

COMMITTEE ON JOINT EDUCATION

Date:	04/27/2005	ATTENDANCE

Time:	07:40 AM to 08:30 AM	Bacon
		Balmer
Place:	HCR 0107	Benefield
		Evans
This Meeting was called to order by		Jones
	Senator Windels	King
		Larson
This Report was prepared by		McKinley
	Susan Liddle	Paccione
		Penry
		Pommer
		Rose
		Solano
		Spence
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Colorado Civic Canopy & Civic Mission		-

07:40 AM -- Briefing from the Colorado Civic Canopy and the Civic Mission of the Schools

Senator Windels welcomed the presenters and stated that today's briefing would cover some of the excellent civics efforts going on in Colorado. An agenda of the morning presentations was distributed (Attachment A). Jack Van Ens, portraying Thomas Jefferson, gave an overview of the value of civic engagement. Information about Mr. Ens is appended as Attachment B.

07:46 AM -- Colorado Civic Canopy

Bill Fulton, one of the founding members of the Colorado Civic Canopy, provided a handout containing the history and vision of the Canopy (Attachment C).

07:48 AM -- Civic Mission of Schools

Jill Conrad, Director of the Colorado Campaign for the Civic Mission of the Schools, distributed a packet of materials related to Civic Mission of the School Campaign (Attachment D). Ms. Conrad introduced the next presenters who were going to talk about best practices in civic education.

07:55 AM -- Understanding Best Practices in Civic Learning

Dale Greenawald, Director of Colorado Close-Up, and Barbara Miller, Center for Education in Law and Democracy, discussed methods to develop better civic engagement in students. These include activities such as mock trials, mock legislatures, civic projects, etc. Ms. Miller talked about the importance of providing professional development and discussed a group of teachers that had visited the Capitol in February for a professional development activity.

08:03 AM

Ms. Conrad introduced some of the community members who are involved with the Civic Canopy including Cal Frazier, Sam Mamet, and Jan Mazotti. Mr. Frazier, the former Commissioner of Education, commented on the valuable efforts of the Canopy and talked about a proposed Fall 2005 event in which members of the legislature would visit civics/government classes around the state and talk about the value of representative government. Ms. Mazotti, Colorado Business Roundtable also commented.

08:09 AM

The committee talked about the reach of the Canopy's efforts, specifically if local elected officials are also being encouraged to become involved with schools in their areas. There was discussion about other future efforts to involve policymakers and schools, including how plans are going to pull in school boards and superintendents in the efforts.

08:19 AM

The committee continued talking about the value of professional development opportunities for teachers across the state, and the importance of developing the connections between the Capitol and schools.

08:23 AM

Ms. Conrad concluded her remarks stating that the primary goal of the Canopy is to make civic education more of a priority in Colorado. Mr. Ens commented that a big challenge is fitting civics into the school day with the pressure that already exists with the variety of tested subject areas that tend to get a higher priority. The members commented.

08:30 AM

The Joint Education Committee adjourned.