The Civic Action Project- Educator Survey

Name: ______Phone: ______

E-mail: ______State: North Carolina Program: 4-H

NC County: ______

The Constitutional Rights Foundation and the NC Civic Education Consortium appreciate all you have done to implement and help in the development of CAP. Your responses on this survey are important as we revise and seek funding for this program. Please be as detailed as possible and provide any samples of student work, supplemental materials you used/created, student comments or writing, etc.

I. Summary of your program

a)Please provide an overview of the program in which you utilized CAP:

b)Did you incorporate any features to enhance the CAP experience for students, such as hosting guest speakers, taking field trips, attending local government meetings, hosting community events, etc.? If so, please describe:

II. Your Use of CAP Components

1. a) Which CAP lessons did you use in your summer program? Circle all that apply.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

b)Which of the above lessons did you find most helpful in implementing CAP? Why?

c) Were there any of the lessons that you found difficult to implement or that students did not respond well to? If so, please note which lessons in particular and describe in detail any difficulty experienced.

d)Do you have any recommendations that would make the CAP lessons more user-friendly for use in your summer program or more engaging for summer program participants? If so, please provide details regarding specific lessons(noting the lesson number/title) or about CAP in general:

e)Describe any adaptations you made to the lessons, or describe any supplementary activities or materials you used in conjunction with the CAP materials. Please explain why you felt these were necessary. (if possible, please attach examples):

2. a) Did you use the following CAP forms? Check all that apply.

___ Civic Action Project Proposal

___ Civic Action: Thinking It Through

___ Civic Action

___ Civic Action Report

If you did not utilize any of these forms, please explain why:

b)How effective were the forms in organizing the civic action project for you as an educator leading and organizing the project component of CAP?

Very effective Effective Somewhat ineffective Very ineffectiveN/A

Explain:

c)How effective were the forms for the students when completing their project?

Very effective Effective Somewhat ineffective Very ineffective

Explain:

d)Describe (and if possible, attach) any adaptations you made to the CAP forms, or any additional forms you created and used to help students work on their project:

3. Did you use any type of check list or evaluation tool as your students worked on their project (such as the CAP rubrics or your own created forms?) Explain. If you created your own checklists or forms to help keep students on track, please describe (and if possible, attach):

4.Did you add any other components to the project component of CAP to make it work in your summer school setting? (e.g., a final portfolio, additional reflection forms, etc.)? If so, please attach and explain why you added them.

5. a) Did students access the CAP web site? Yes No

b)If yes, what online tools did they use? (Check all that apply.)

____ Forms____ Tips/Help with forms

____ Blog____ Forum (“Student Talk”)

____ Student Work____ Other ______

c) If yes, how helpful was the web site to students?

Very helpful Helpful Somewhat unhelpful Very unhelpful

d) If no, why didn’t students access the materials online?

6. a) Did students post on the student forum or on the blog on the CAP website? Yes No

b) If yes, how beneficial was posting on the forum and/or blog for students?

Very beneficial Beneficial Not at all beneficial

Please explain your answer:

c)If no, why didn’t students post on the forums or blog?

8. a) Did you post on or read the teacher forum (under the “TALK” tab) on the CAP website?

___ Yes, posted on it and read it.

___Yes, read it but didn’t post.

___ No, neither read nor posted on the forum.

b)If yes, how beneficial was posting or reading the teacher forum to you?

Very beneficial Beneficial Not at all beneficial

c)If no, why didn’t you post on or read the teacher forum?

II. Your Approach to Implementing CAP

  1. a) Over what period of time did you use the CAP curriculum (i.e. three days for 8 hours a day; one week

for 6 hours a day; etc.)?

b)Over this time period, about how many total hours did you spend on CAP total?

c)In addition, if you used CAP in another way (e.g. used an activity for a separate presentation; used some materials in a one-day event; etc.) please explain:

  1. How did you group students for their CAP projects?

___ They worked as one large group on one issue at a time.

___ They worked in small groups. (Indicate average number of students per group: ___)

___ They worked on individual projects.

___ A combination of the above. Please explain:

3. a) About how much time did you spend on preparing and planning to teach CAP (i.e., reading lessons and

understanding components in order to teach them, organizing projects, etc.)

0-5 hours6-10 hours11-20 hours21+ hours

b)Was this amount of time: Acceptable Unacceptable

If unacceptable, please explain what improvements could be made to make the preparation process easier:

  1. How much time on their own (outside of summer camp hours)do you think students (on average) spent on their CAP, if any?

0-2 hours2-4 hours4-8 hours8-10 hours 10+ hours

  1. Did you track student progress or evaluate student learning in any way? Please explain:

III. Your Assessment of the CAP Experience

  1. How would you rate the overall success of the CAP lessons?

Very successful Successful Somewhat unsuccessful Very unsuccessful

  1. How would you evaluate the overall success of the project component of CAP?

Very successful Successful Somewhat unsuccessful Very unsuccessful

  1. How effective was the project component as a means for students to apply what they learned in the CAP lessons?

Very effective Effective Somewhat ineffective Very ineffective

  1. Please rate how satisfied you were with each of these elements of the CAP lessons and project:

a)Preparation/planning time required of you:

Very satisfied Satisfied Somewhat unsatisfied Very unsatisfied

b)Ease of use of the teaching methods as explained in the CAP lessons:

Very satisfied Satisfied Somewhat unsatisfied Very unsatisfied

c)Ease of engaging students in the civic action project component:

Very satisfied Satisfied Somewhat unsatisfied Very unsatisfied

d)Ease of tracking students’ work on the project component:

Very satisfied Satisfied Somewhat unsatisfied Very unsatisfied

e)Ease of evaluating students’ work on the civic action component.

Very satisfied Satisfied Somewhat unsatisfied Very unsatisfied

f)If you chose “Somewhat unsatisfied” or “Very unsatisfied” for any of the above, please explain why and note any suggested improvements here:

5. a) What do you think were the three most important things students learned as a result of participating in the lesson plans and/or the project component of the CAP program?

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b)What evidence do you have to demonstrate these three outcomes (i.e. examples of student work, student testimonials, etc.)?

  1. Overall, do you think the CAP program(including the lessons and the project) was an effectiveway to teach your participants about active citizenship? Explain:
  1. Will you use the CAP program (lessons and/or project) again? Why or why not?
  1. Do you have any additional recommendations for improving CAP for use in after school or summer programs?

IV. Professional Development

  1. Rate the elements of professional development in terms of their effectiveness in preparing you to implement the program.

a)Resources provided on the CAP web site.

Highly effective Effective Not effective Did not participate

b)Support from site coordinator (NC Civic Education Consortium)

Highly effective Effective Not effective Did not participate

c)Professional exchange with other teachers via CAP web site.

Highly effective Effective Not effective Did not participate

d)Was there anything else that helped you prepare to effectively implement CAP in your summer program? Please explain:

  1. How do you think CAP might be expanded in your area/in your program(s)?
  2. With appropriate stipends, would you be willing to take a role in expanding CAP in your area in the future?

V. Overall highlights/Additional Comments

Please attach any samples of student work, student writing and comments regarding CAP, pictures, and/or other documentation.

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