Pinellas County Schools

To promote the development of enlightened, responsible, and actively engaged citizens, The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and Pinellas County Schools hereby enter into a partnership to strengthen civic education in Pinellas County’s schools and throughout the state. The partnership agreement is subject to annual review by the District and by the Joint Center.

To fulfill the partnership, the Joint Center will:

• Provide professional development opportunities for Pinellas County civics teachers, including opportunities for college credit;
• Work with the District to assess student learning outcomes for selected civics classes;
• Provide opportunities for district schools to participate in innovative civics education curriculum development projects, including Cities in the Classroom;
• Work with the District to fund a civics resource teacher who will provide classroom assistance to Pinellas County civics teachers; and
• Work with the District to establish a teacher mentor program.

To fulfill the partnership, Pinellas County Schools will:

• Implement a district-wide, year-long middle school civics course beginning in the 2009-10 school year;
• Work with the Joint Center with the goal of strengthening civic education at all grade levels in Pinellas County Schools;
• Join with the Joint Center in implementing and assessing innovative applied civics curricula; including Cities in the Classroom and other curriculum projects that the District and the Joint Center deem to be beneficial to enhanced civic learning outcomes; and
• Work with the Joint Center to disseminate effective civic education practices to other districts throughout the state.