PA schools must now administer a locally developed assessment of US history, government, and civics at least once to students in grades 7-12. Are you satisfied with the steps your district has taken to meet these requirements? What additional steps would you recommend?

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I reached out to Ms. Drennen, the Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development, who was gracious to provide me some insight as to how LMTSD is meeting this requirement. As Act 35 was signed by Governor Wolf in 2018, this coincided with the 6 year curricular review process of Social Studies which anticipated this requirement. Courses in the LMHS curriculum were identified which met these knowledge requirements and include 3 options taken typically in 11th and 12th grades: United States Government and Civics, Introduction to Government and Economics, and AP US Government and Politics. A civics exam was designed by LMTSD using resources from the Act 35 Civics Toolkit from the PA Department of Education (https://www.pdesas.org/Page/Viewer/ViewPage/48/). 

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In trying to understand the goals of Act 35, I believe it centers around the idea that the “[e]ducation of the people is a critical success factor of this government. Thomas Jefferson expressed, ‘An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.’” (“Act 35 Civics Assessment of Civics Knowledge Introduction” on the above website). I applaud the LMTSD for devising its own civics exam tailored to the district’s high academic standards and with input of the Social Studies department. Clearly, there is a shared appreciation of the importance of our students having a working knowledge of the foundations of our democracy and its processes. While this meets state requirements, I would suggest the following possible additional steps:

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Consider at least one (and perhaps annually starting in 7th grade) additional knowledge assessment administered earlier, to allow for a data driven means to encourage a sustained engagement with civics throughout the secondary school years. In essence, do not wait until close to graduation to assess civics competency; we need to start encouraging civics engagement earlier. An earlier assessment would also provide a measure of deficits and areas of focus to guide future curricular adjustments. 

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In addition to these Knowledge assessments (which the civics exam will address), the other two pillars of a Quality Civics Education Program include Skills and Action (ibid). To me, these are the most important areas that need to be developed further and ideally earlier, to give our students as many opportunities as possible to apply the knowledge gained and develop the skills and practices that they can hopefully take with them beyond graduation into their adult lives. The resources listed under “Act 35 Civics Pillar 2 - Civics Skills” include several programs that could lead to student run groups that build and complement those extracurricular offerings already in place for our students. With faculty and school district support, such programs as Project Peace (a “peer-mediation, anti-bullying and youth court training program centering around the skills of non-violent conflict resolution and active civic engagement”) or others could be ideal complements. 

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The last pillar, Action, should also be expanded with faculty and administrative support so as to encourage: “Acceptance of diversity • Involvement in the community • Military service • Voting in elections • Assuming responsibility for choices • Respecting rule of law • Political attentiveness…” and other key concepts. These are all vital habits we should strive to develop in our student body. I am particularly interested in the intersection between DEI, anti-bullying initiatives and civics. This connection needs to be emphasized more, and we should be framing conversations that tackle issues of inequity as part of one’s civic duty to be involved in one’s community and upholding the ideals of our government. A greater involvement in community service can be emphasized as well, with more organized student activities outside of MLK day to actively participate in service, both driven by student body clubs and from the administration. Lastly, non-partisan efforts to encourage election participation as voters and candidates is a concept we should be actively encouraging. 

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The psychological toll of social isolation on children and adolescents from the pandemic is significant. What initiatives will you implement to make more behavioral-healthcare services available to this population?

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There is abundant evidence addressing the deleterious mental health effects of the pandemic on children and adolescents from social isolation, leading to loneliness and depression, likely anxiety, stress, and possible increased suicide rates. A few relevant articles out of the many that have already been written are: 

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7267797/

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1904

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33099414/

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These effects on the mental health of our children are undisputed, and it is likely that this body of research will only continue to grow in years to come. As a school board, a top priority will be to work with the district’s administration with all the necessary stakeholders to ensure that these mental health issues are appropriately addressed and that we are prepared to do so immediately. The challenge I see is that there will be mental health effects that we cannot yet anticipate. Hopefully there will be county-wide and statewide guidance to help share best practices in addition to fund resources, but my current search on county guidance for reopening school does not mention how to anticipate and plan for the mental health effects on our children upon reopening and beyond: 

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https://www.montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/28390/Montco-School-Guidance-Final 

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I hope more mental health specific guidance may be forthcoming, but until then, it is increasingly important for our school board to be proactive.

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Some initial thoughts as to relevant initiatives that might be used to address these needs include:

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1. Focus on early detection and intervention for mental health issues, particularly in those students at risk. This will involve working closely with parents who have witnessed first hand the effect of the pandemic on their children and encouraging easily accessible and open communication with the school district administration, teachers, and guidance counselors. It is important to adopt a proactive approach to any inkling of a concern on mental health. Furthermore, any stigma surrounding accessing mental health resources should be actively dispelled. An initiative can be implemented such as an automated text messaging mental health check-in (for students, parents, and teachers) to remind everyone of early warning signs for which to be monitoring. Such a system can be monitored by appropriately trained mental health experts, with appropriate resources at their fingertips. Multiple language versions could be provided, and other modes of communication should allow inclusivity (phone, app, email, written). Establish a comprehensive behavioral health leadership team to educate leaders, parents, and students to destigmatize mental health issues. This team will oversee this screening process, direct appropriate resources, and incorporate family feedback.  

2. Emphasize a supportive community, with a particular focus on the peer community. The pandemic is a traumatic event, and we may have handled it slightly differently, but the fundamental shared experience should be unifying rather than dividing. Some families and students elected to use virtual only learning for the entire pandemic, while others chose to return to school when the option was available. Both choices are valid and should not lead to any lingering sentiments of resentment or exclusion if one group’s experience was different than another’s. Furthermore, honest, judgment-free conversations as to how we all coped differently would improve the overall mental health of the community. Investments should be made to ensure a safe time and place for these discussions, with properly trained facilitators. If necessary, counselors and other support staff should be trained if needed to lead such efforts.

3. It should be acknowledged that the “return to normal” may itself cause stress. For example, for students who may have fallen behind academically, the pressure to “accelerate” and “catch up” may lead to anxieties and resentments for having fallen behind. $130 billion of the $1.9 trillion of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1319/text) is slated for schools and reopening efforts, of which 20% must be directed to programs to help counteract "learning loss" from students who missed school during the pandemic. Undue pressure to accelerate too quickly should be avoided. In addition to increasing peer and non-peer tutoring opportunities and enhanced summer school programs, a similar check-in system focused on identifying families in need of additional learning resources can be initiated. For issues related to delayed or missed developmental milestones as a result of the pandemic, the appropriate access to developmental and behavioral psychologists should be available and easily utilized when appropriate. Our special needs students especially deserve increased attention in this effort with funding appropriately earmarked for them.

4. Availability and accessibility of resources is key, and an initiative to optimize communication will be a good investment. This involves translator services, written language versions of all communications, more flexible hours of availability for appointments with counselors and support staff, and increased and ready use of telephone and video consultations. Websites should be streamlined and made more easy to navigate.

5. An initiative to organize community building events at all school levels, when safe, to celebrate our collective accomplishments, mourn those we have lost, but also look forward with periodic updates as to the progress and challenges we face. I believe a strong sense of community can help us all manage the challenges ahead. 

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Given racial justice concerns that have been highlighted over the past year, what measures should be taken in the schools to foster tolerance and understanding?

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Fostering tolerance and understanding amongst our students should be as equally important a goal as achieving academic and extra-curricular excellence. Worldwide, national, and local events have highlighted the impact of intolerance on community members and underrepresented groups not limited to race. Importantly, efforts to foster tolerance and understanding should not only be focused on the unique issues facing the Lower Moreland demographic, but also to prepare our students to be true global citizens as they enter adulthood, where they will encounter any number of groups to which they may never have had exposure. This is the nature of our evolving society, and an excellent public school system can and should produce students who value diversity and are comfortable interacting with marginalized populations. 

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The DEI initiatives at LMTSD are the beginning of hopefully a permanent component of the curriculum offered to students (more class offerings that speak to the experiences of ethnic groups, their histories, and their contributions), extra-curricular activities (cultural appreciation and sharing amongst peers to foster mutual appreciation of diversity, shared activism, learning of new skills and the arts), and community education opportunities (bias training, DEI book circles, bystander training). Students should be encouraged to initiate programs utilizing the resources and training received through participation in the DVCEE (Delaware Valley Consortium for Excellence and Equity) and the Montgomery County (CPESA) Cultural Proficiency and Equity Student Ambassadors Program. Participation and enrollment in these area programs are insufficient and useless if the learnings brought back to Lower Moreland by participating students and faculty are not given the opportunity to be funded, developed, implemented, and offered to the student body in all three school buildings. 

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I think it is vitally important that as much as possible, these programs should be initiated and perpetuated by students, and to do so will require sufficient faculty financial support for their time and effort. In addition, the faculty and all members of the administration should receive enhanced implicit bias and DEI training. A more diverse faculty should also be actively recruited as much as possible, with any hired BIPOC faculty not being burdened or expected to take on the mantle of any DEI initiatives. More diverse hiring can potentially be accomplished through outreach to local universities, targeted marketing of job openings, and ensuring current hiring practices are free of implicit bias towards BIPOC applicants.

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Family and community involvement are integral to these efforts. If there is any resistance to proposed initiatives, a respectful and honest discussion needs to take place as to why there are concerns. Any concerns need to be addressed directly, as any effort to address intolerance will not be effective if felt to be unilateral. It is only through a goal of achieving partnerships that lasting efforts to combat intolerance will be effective.

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