1. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
All City Council High School Delegates Discussion on BOE Student Results Policy R-3
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

2. “Citizenship” Status Quo in OUSD high schools
Citizenship expectations and norms are based on individual teachers.
Each teacher is a judge of each individual student’s behavior.
A student is labeled “good” or “bad”, graded on a scale of A-F
Citizenship grade is often based on attendance.
Citizenship grade often measures resistance or conformity to classroom norms and content (not developed in collaboration with students).
Citizenship grade often punishes or rewards student opinions, silence or conflict.
Citizenship grading is inconsistent and unfair; sometimes academic grade is lowered for “citizenship” issues
“Citizenship” is not taught or developed in students, but expected individual behavior
First, we defined the status quo around citizenship in our high schools. We asked ourselves what does citizenship currently mean? Teachers currently have the power to decide if we are good or bad citizens. This is often based on attendance, resistance, conflict, opinions, or how conformist a student is to the rules and their surroundings. Some teachers choose to lower academic grade for “citizenship” issues. Citizenship status quo values and measures conformity, assimilation, or silence. The status quo around citizenship must be eliminated. If we are trying to produce good human beings, we need to place the responsibility on both the individual student and the school to develop citizenship. Currently, citizenship is not taught or developed in students. Citizenship status quo is something that is expected, but not developed and nurtured.

3. Social Responsibility ACC working definition
Having the self-discipline and the self-determination to take responsibility for ourselves and others:
Students are conscious of, and exercise, their rights and responsibilities
Students organize themselves to change unfair policies and rules.
Students show empathy, and feel obligated to consider the well-being of our community, respect others, and the area around them.
Students are pro-active about a problem or issue
The new notion of citizenship should be defined as social responsibility.
Being socially responsible means having the self-discipline and self-determination to take responsibility for ourselves and others. It is an ethical and moral obligation. It means believing that we determine our own destiny and can control our own future.
Social Responsibility means going above and beyond “following the rules”, that students are conscious of and exercise their rights and responsibilities. It also means that students organize themselves to change unfair policies and rules. Social Responsibility means we consider and act on behalf of the greater good and well being of the community- in our case our school community. It means being responsible not just for our own behavior but the actions of others. Being socially responsible means being proactive about a problem, and finding solutions.
**Most importantly, social responsibility is something that is developed, not something that is inherent, or something we are born with.**

4. Student Empowerment
Meaningful student involvement is the process of engaging students as partners in every facet of school change for the purpose of strengthening their commitment to education, community, and democracy.
-Adam Fletcher
Guide to Meaningful Youth Involvement
Social responsibility is a result of student empowerment. We see Student Empowerment as the development process and method that involves the school adults and individual students, to arrive to Social Responsibility. Student Empowerment requires adults and students to work together. (Read definition)

5. Student Empowerment Social Responsibility
Students must learn social responsibility
Students must feel like they belong in school, and
Students must be supported to be socially responsible.
Student empowerment places the responsibility on the students and adults, to INSPIRE & DEVELOP:
Self-Discipline
Self-Determination
Student empowerment requires youth-adult partnerships for students to be meaningfully engaged.
As students not all of us are born empowered or supported to be empowered. Students must learn what social responsibility looks like, feel like they belong in school, and supported to be socially responsible. This process/practice is called student empowerment. A Student Empowerment approach produces self-disciplined, self-determined, socially responsible young adults. Student empowerment requires youth-adult partnership for students to be meaningfully engaged.

6. So, in clarifying what we mean: Social Responsibility is something that is developed.
1. The development process is called Student Empowerment, where adults support the development of students, and meaningfully engage students as partners, share power and decisions, and students learn about social responsibility through a structured leadership class.
2. Through the Student Empowerment process, students develop self-discipline and self-determination.
As students develop self-discipline and self-determination, they begin to show social responsibility. Concretely, they show resiliency and violence prevention skills, multiracial understanding, academic engagement, leadership skills, and civic engagement. These skills are the most important measures of social responsibility. These are the skills important to us as ACC.
Then, students become more empowered, have more discipline, more determination, become more socially responsible at greater level. Their skills and motivation only get stronger and stronger.

7. Social Responsibility 5 Key Indicators
Through Student Empowerment methods, students will demonstrate skills and behaviors in 5 key indicators of Social Responsibility:
Resiliency/Violence Prevention
Multi-racial Understanding
Academic Engagement
Leadership Skills
Civic Engagement
Through a Student Leadership Course
ACC is re-defining “citizenship” as Social Responsibility. Through Student Empowerment methods, we believe we will develop Social Responsibility, under 5 Key Indicators: Resiliency and Violence Prevention, Multiracial Understanding, Academic Engagement, Leadership Skills, and Civic Engagement. Our MSE Leadership classes are structured to produce these results, as they were developed using the MSE student empowerment standards. And, these standards were developed in collaboration with students and community partners. Students will learn social responsibility and develop in these 5 areas, through a leadership class. We are advocating that by the time a student graduates from OUSD they take a leadership class, where they have the structured opportunity to develop resiliency/violence prevention skills, multiracial understanding, leadership skills, civic engagement, and strengthen their commitment to academics.

8. Resiliency and Violence Prevention Measures
Reduced # of suspensions; school-wide data
Number of students trained as Conflict Mediators; school-wide data
Individual student surveys, end of year:
“As a result of my participation in Leadership/Conflict Resolution”:
I have more positive self esteem
I give up less easily when faced with a problem
I try to use conflict resolution skills to resolve my conflicts with others
I would tell an adult at my school if a fight was about to happen
Some schools already expect and support students to develop social responsibility. We asked other students what their school currently does to capture or document Social Responsibility indicators. The measures for the 5 indicators will measure beliefs and attitudes, skills, and behaviors.
Under Resiliency and Violence Prevention, schools collect school wide data, but not individual data. We can use the # of suspensions to measure how well a school is developing violence prevention skills is the student body. On an individual basis, we can survey students at the end of the year with the following questions: (read survey questions)

9. Multiracial Understanding Measures
# of students enrolled in Ethnic Studies course; school wide data
# of students participating in Ethnic Studies workshops
Individual student surveys, end of year:
“As a result of my participation in Leadership/Conflict Resolution”:
I feel more proud of my culture and my people
I feel a greater sense of unity with people from other cultural/ethnic groups
I want to learn more about my cultural/ethnic group
I want to learn more about other cultural/ethnic groups
I try not to stereotype other people/groups
I confront my friends when they stereotype other people/groups
I confront my family members when they stereotype other people/groups
I have a good understanding of my cultural/ethnic history
I have a good understanding of the histories of other cultural/ethnic groups
Most students didn’t know if their school or teachers collected evidence of multiracial understanding, but believed it was important to do so. Under this measure, a school could document the number of students enrolled in Ethnic Studies courses, and/or the number of students participating in Ethnic Studies workshops. At the end of the year, the school could collect individual student surveys that asked these questions: (read questions)
This data is actually already collected by Youth Together at Skyline, YES, Castlemont, and Fremont, for their student participants only.

10. Academic Engagement Measures
Quantitative, school-wide data:
GPAs, Graduation Rates, Senior UC/CSU Eligibility
Individual student surveys, end of year:
“Leadership/Conflict Resolution has helped me”:
Go to school
Attend more of my classes
Be an active participant in my classes
Do my homework
Raise my GPA
Get tutoring and other help when I need it
Get motivated to attend college
Get more involved in school activities or clubs in my school or community
Academic engagement data is already collected at most schools. We can look at Attendance, GPAs, Graduation Rates and Seniors’ UC/CSU eligibility.
We can also look at how students self-report improvement in their academic engagement, by asking these questions on the end of year survey: (read questions)

11. Leadership Measures Individual student surveys, end of year:
“As a result of my participation in Leadership/Conflict Resolution”:
I see my student leader role as bringing together other youth to make change
I’ve seen how youth can address and stop unjust policies and practices at my school
I believe lasting change comes from youth being involved
I believe I can influence people in positions of power
I know how to outreach and recruit youth and adults to get them involved in my school
Leadership, this is another indicator where most students didn’t know if their school or teachers collected evidence, but believed it was important to do so. At the end of the year, the school can collect individual student surveys that ask these questions: (read questions)

12. Leadership Measures (survey questions continued)
I try to influence my peers in positive ways
I try to deal with my problems in positive ways
I speak up for what I believe in, in front of my peers, even when it may not be a popular opinion
I confront my peers when they do something that is not respectful
I follow through on my commitments to others
I try to think for myself instead of just relying on what people tell me to believe
When an injustice occurs I try to do something about it

13. Civic Engagement Measures
# of seniors registered to vote, mail cards during senior year
Senior Project: add community/action project component, where in addition to writing their senior thesis paper, they can work alone or form a group with similar topic/interest, and develop action proposal, may include internship for 40 hours. Internship or project can be completed anytime during 9-12 grades.
Individual student surveys, end of year:
“As a result of my participation in Leadership/Conflict Resolution”:
I feel proud of my school community
I play a bigger role in my school community working to maintain or create positive change
I’m interested in a future career that gives back to youth and the community
I spend time serving my school community in positive ways
I know my rights as a student
I know how to take action if I’m treated unfairly
I know how to develop my own analysis of an issue
Under civic engagement, again students were not sure what their school did to collect evidence, but thought it was important to do so. Having seniors complete and mail their voter registration cards is one way to show they want to be civically engaged. For the senior projects, we can add a community/action project requirement, like at Met West. Where in addition to writing their senior thesis paper, they can intern somewhere or work on an action project that gives back to the community, in their area of interest. During the senior exhibition, students could present their paper, and present their portfolio/showcase their internship.
We can also ask these questions at the end of year report: (read questions)

14. Conclusion
ACC recommends that citizenship be re-defined to mean social responsibility.
ACC recommends that student empowerment standards be used to develop social responsibility, through a Leadership Class.
ACC recommends that 5 Key Indicators be used to measure social responsibility.
ACC recommends that evidence of measures include an action project component in the Senior Project requirement, similar to MetWest senior project and internship.