James Madison Legacy Project Expansion
Posted in James Madison Legacy Project Expansion We the People: National Symposium on Civic Education
The James Madison Legacy Project Expansion (JMLPE) was a three-year curricular project that updated the Center for Civic Education’s We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution curricular program. Drawing upon the research and successes of its predecessor, the James Madison Legacy Project, the JMLPE aimed to transform the We the People curriculum so that all students would achieve greater gains in civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. In addition to the curriculum adaptations, the Center developed an aligned professional learning program to support teachers’ implementation of the curriculum.
The objectives of the James Madison Legacy Project Expansion were:
- to improve student academic performance in civics, social studies, and American government through the We the People curriculum;
- to prepare students for civic life and responsible citizenship;
- to improve civic outcomes for students with disabilities and English learners;
- to design and implement a teacher professional learning program to support instruction of the We the People curriculum through a community of practice; and
- to improve access to high-quality civics instruction by working with school leaders and increasing teachers’ knowledge and instructional efficacy.
In 2022, the Center convened a five-day workshop to begin the process of updating the We the People curriculum and developing a teacher professional development program. JMLPE was fully implemented in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years. Teachers attended five-day summer institutes at sites across the country which included presentations from historians and constitutional scholars, pedagogy demonstrations, and participation in a simulated hearing. Teachers received continuing support as they taught We the People to their students.
JMLPE RESEARCH
The Civic Education Research Lab (CERL) at Georgetown University conducted quantitative and qualitative research on the JMLPE. The Center, with its state partners and Civic Mentors, used the research to inform the development of the curriculum and the teacher professional learning program throughout the project’s duration. In the first year of the JMLPE, CERL fielded a pilot study of expert teachers and their students who were taught the updated We the People curriculum. CERL researched the impact of the fully implemented teacher professional learning program and the adapted We the People curriculum in the following two academic years. The research was anchored by cluster-randomized control trials with school level of assignment. The impact evaluation compared teachers enrolled in the JMLPE and their students to a comparison group of teachers and their students in conventional civics classes. Separate studies were conducted for students in classes with high percentages of students with disabilities and English learners. The impact of the professional learning program on teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogy was assessed. Over two years, a total of 379 teachers and 12,501 students participated in the JMLPE research.