The Missouri Bar Citizenship Education Program kicked off the third and final year of the James Madison Legacy Project with a summer institute held June 26-29 at The Missouri Bar Center in Jefferson City. Thirty-six teachers attended the four-day event, where four scholars presented on various philosophical, historical and constitutional issues:
- Professor David Robertson of the University of Missouri-St. Louis talked about the Constitutional Convention and the issues surrounding it, including federalism and slavery.
- Charles Hinderliter with the St. Louis Regional Chamber spoke about the impact of philosophers like John Locke on the Founders and Framers, and about Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
- Professor Paul Litton of the University of Missouri School of Law spoke about the origins of the right of privacy and substantive and procedural due process.
- University of Missouri School of Law professor Rigel Oliveri spoke about the impact of the Bill of Rights and Civil War Amendments on 21st century issues.
The teachers will each receive a classroom set of We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution books and will be using them during the 2017-18 school year. They will gather Nov. 7-8 and Dec. 4 for additional professional development.
The Missouri Bar is the state coordinator for the James Madison Legacy Project, a three-year nationwide initiative of the Center for Civic Education that has (1) increased the number of highly effective teachers of high-need students through the professional development of 2,025 teachers, (2) increased the achievement of at least 202,500 students in attaining state standards in civics and government, (3) served the self-identified professional development needs of more than 500 participating schools with significant concentrations of high-need students throughout the United States, and (4) evaluated the relative effectiveness of the Center’s research-validated We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution professional development model online.
The project has focused on identifying cost-effective means of providing widely available professional development programs useful in enhancing the knowledge and skills required of teachers to promote high-need and other students’ attainment of state standards in civics and government.
The James Madison Legacy Project is made possible by a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Education through the Supporting Effective Educator Development program. The Missouri Bar Citizenship Education Program received a sub-grant from the Center for Civic Education for all three years of the program.
The Missouri Bar Citizenship Education Program, through the support of its members and with exceptional support from The Missouri Bar Foundation, provides extensive support for classroom learning about the law, the legal system and the courts. From lesson plans to teacher workshops, The Missouri Bar is committed to helping teachers throughout Missouri understand and explain the law.
