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State Seal of �Civic Engagement

General Information

November 2020

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

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Background

Assembly Bill 24 (2017) instructed the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a set of criteria to award students who have demonstrated excellence in civic education.

“It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a State Seal of Civic Engagement (SSCE) to encourage, and create pathways for, pupils in elementary and secondary schools to become civically engaged in democratic governmental institutions at the local, state, and national levels.”

-California Education Code (EC) Section 51470

The SSCE dates back to Assembly Bill 24 (2017), which instructed the CDE to develop a set of criteria to award students who have demonstrated excellence in civic education.

California Education Code (EC) Section 51470 outlines the general purpose of the Legislature with the SSCE, which is to “establish a State Seal of Civic Engagement to encourage, and create pathways for, pupils in elementary and secondary schools to become civically engaged in democratic governmental institutions at the local, state, and national levels.”

If you followed the criteria adoption process, you probably noticed that one of the key themes that came up at each SBE meeting was accessibility. California’s seal is different from other state seals in its emphasis on accessibility.

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Criteria Adoption

On September 10, 2020, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted criteria and guidance for awarding a SSCE.

Adopted criteria and implementation guidance are available at https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/hs/hssstateseal.asp.
Watch the SBE discuss the SSCE criteria at https://bit.ly/2HFT8r9.

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Key State-Level Activities

Date	Event
October 2017	AB 24 signed into law
November 2018	Convening of SSCE Advisory Group
January–February 2019	Drafting of SSCE criteria
March–April 2019	Public review, comment, and edits
July 2019	Draft criteria presented to the SBE
August 2019	SBE Information Memorandum on incorporating the SSCE into the College and Career Indicator
September 2019	Revised draft criteria presented to the SBE
September 2020	Final criteria adopted by the SBE
January 31, 2021	Statutory deadline for the SBE to take action

After then-Governor Brown signed AB 24 into law in October 2017, the CDE then recruited and worked with an advisory group of secondary history-social science (HSS) teachers and representatives from other stakeholder groups to develop the criteria.

The CDE presented the draft criteria to the SBE in July 2019, September 2019, and finally in September 2020, at which point the SBE adopted recommended criteria and guidance well in advance of its statutory deadline of January 31, 2021.

During this process, the CDE received feedback from the SBE to look into incorporating civic engagement into the College and Career Indicator, in addition to adopting criteria for a SSCE. The CDE is currently working with stakeholders on this project, and provided an information memorandum to the SBE about their proposal in August 2019.

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Adopted Criteria (1)

The student must:

Be engaged in academic work in a productive way;
Demonstrate a competent understanding of United States and California constitutions; functions and governance of local governments; tribal government structures and organizations; the role of the citizen in a constitutional democracy; and democratic principles, concepts, and processes;

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Adopted Criteria (2)

The student must:

Participate in one or more informed civic engagement project(s) that address real-world problems and require students to identify and inquire into civic needs or problems, consider varied responses, take action, and reflect on efforts;
Demonstrate civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions through self-reflection; and
Exhibit character traits that reflect civic-mindedness and a commitment to positively impact the classroom, school, community and/or society.

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Initial Implementation Guidance

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Student Eligibility

Who is eligible to earn the SSCE?

Any pupil enrolled in California public schools, direct-funded charter schools, the juvenile justice system, and/or in alternative school settings up through grade twelve.

Students may earn an SSCE in either grades eleven or twelve, for purposes of affixing insignia to a transcript to use in college or work applications.

Local education agencies (LEAs) may develop local means of recognition for younger students as a pathway to earning the SSCE.

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Placement of Insignia

Where can the insignia be placed?

High School Diplomas
General Educational Development Certificates
Certificates of Completion
Transcripts (grades eleven and/or twelve)

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Ordering Insignias (1)

How do LEAs order insignias?

The CDE is developing an online Insignia Request Form and additional guidance to help LEAs order insignias. LEAs will complete this form online to order insignias. One seal per eligible student may be affixed to the diploma, certificate, or transcript.

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Ordering Insignias (2)

When can LEAs order insignias?

LEAs should submit the online Insignia Request Form a minimum of four weeks prior to the date the insignia is required. The Insignia Request Form will be available by the spring of 2021 on the SSCE web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/hs/hssstateseal.asp.

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Ordering Insignias (3)

Is there a charge for insignias?

Per California EC sections 51470–51474, no fee may be charged to LEAs or students for a SSCE.

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Next Steps

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Next Steps for the �California Department of Education

Provide technical assistance, including presentations and webinars, to support LEAs with adoption of local criteria, programming, and ordering of insignia.
Disseminate resources for LEA use in developing local criteria and programming, through web pages, Twitter, and the History-Social Science (HSS) newsletter.
Support stakeholder groups with identifying, promoting, and scaling local civic engagement programs from early-adopter LEAs.

As part of the authorizing legislation for the SSCE, the CDE is responsible for developing statewide criteria and guidance, and is limited to primarily an administrative role as it pertains to implementation.

So, the CDE’s next steps focus mainly on developing the process for ordering and disseminating the insignia to LEAs.

This means that LEAs will use the state-adopted criteria to guide development of local criteria and programs to assess and award students the SSCE. Districts will use that information to self-certify which students have met the statewide criteria, and will order insignias from the CDE.

The CDE plans to support local implementation of the SSCE in three main areas. This will include:

Develop, present, and provide technical assistance presentations and webinars to help explain the SSCE to LEAs and support local adoption of criteria, programming, and ordering of insignia.

Disseminate resources for LEAs to use in developing local criteria and programs through web pages, Twitter, and the HSS newsletter.

Support stakeholder groups who are identifying, promoting, and scaling local civic engagement programs from early-adopter LEAs.

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Next Steps for �Local Educational Agencies

Begin to develop civic engagement opportunities for awarding the SSCE in local contexts.

Develop local criteria
Develop pathways to define and recognize civic engagement leading towards a SSCE
Design local programming (performance tasks, capstone projects, assessments)

Connect with local and statewide organizations to gather support and resources for early-adopting LEAs.

The CDE is excited at how eager many LEAs are to implement the SSCE.

Since LEAs will use the statewide adopted criteria as a guide to develop local programs, an initial step would be to begin developing a local set of criteria that fit the needs of the community in encouraging student civic engagement.

This might also include developing pathways to recognize students in earlier grades working towards a SSCE, including local awards for civic engagement in younger grades as a path to earning the SSCE upon graduation.

LEAs may also wish to begin considering and designing local programming for students to demonstrate their civic engagement, including performance tasks, capstone projects, or other forms of assessments.

Many stakeholder organizations share this excitement for implementing the SSCE, and are also developing resources to support early-adopting LEAs.

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Resources and Questions

SSCE email address: SSCE@cde.ca.gov
CDE Resources to Support Civic Engagement web page: https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/hs/civicengprojects.asp
Content, Literacy, Inquiry, and Citizenship Project: https://californiahss.org/
California Courts Civic Learning Initiative: https://www.courts.ca.gov/20902.htm
California HSS Project: https://chssp.ucdavis.edu/

The CDE has several resources to support LEAs as they develop local SSCE programs.

The CDE has an email address to support the SSCE: SSCE@cde.ca.gov.

The CDE has also updated its Resources to Support Civic Engagement web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/hs/civicengprojects.asp to help guide LEAs as they implement the SSCE. On these pages, LEAs can find links to free resources from nonprofit agencies that support statewide and local programs for civic engagement.

For three years, the Sacramento County Office of Education has contracted with the CDE to implement the Content, Literacy, Inquiry, and Citizenship (CLIC) Project. The CLIC Project convenes statewide and regional Communities of Practice (CoP) and provides framework-aligned professional learning. Check in with your region’s CoP to find local resources that support civic engagement. More information is available at https://californiahss.org/.

CLIC continues to develop and compile resources for educators who are implementing the HSS Framework, including civic education. Their finished videos are hosted on YouTube, including videos on classroom approaches to civic learning and fostering student advocacy.

The California Courts Civic Learning Initiative supports the annual Civic Learning Awards and provides guidance on how to engage students in the Executive Branch of our government. You can find more information about this exciting initiative at https://www.courts.ca.gov/20902.htm.

The CDE also works closely with the California HSS Project, also a CLIC partner, which offers resources and professional learning opportunities all over California. Their web page is available at https://chssp.ucdavis.edu/.

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Stay Informed!

SSCE Web Page

https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/hs/hssstateseal.asp

HSS Newsletter�To join, send a blank email message to �join-history-social-science@mlist.cde.ca.gov

HSS Twitter �@CaEdHSS