April 2025

*** Please Note: Priority will be given to applications received by May 7th.**

The Implementation Lead will serve a critical role for the Civics & History Inquiry Partnership’s 8th grade civics support program, DKP Launch, by helping cohort schools and districts be successful at their implementation of Civic Engagement in Our Democracy. This role will work both independently and as a part of a close-knit team with shared goals and desired outcomes. This role is one of several Implementation Lead roles supporting implementation of Civic Engagement in Our Democracy.

Background

The Democratic Knowledge Project (DKP) began as Dr. Danielle Allen’s research lab at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, transitioning with her in 2015 to Harvard University at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. The lab focused on three key areas: (1) the Declaration of Independence, the American founding, and American political thought and institutions; (2) the impact of new media and digital technologies on youth civic development; and (3) assessment in the humanities and liberal arts, specifically assessment for civic learning. Over time, the DKP began to develop resources for teachers, leading to a co-design practice with educators for curricular and professional learning design and development. The DKP co-designed a year-long 8th grade civics curriculum (Civic Engagement in Our Democracy) in partnership with Massachusetts educators, available since 2023 as a free and open access resource on a virtual curriculum platform. The curriculum is aligned to the MA History and Social Studies Framework and to national best practices for high quality K-12 history and civics learning through the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap. The MA Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education recognized Civic Engagement in Our Democracy as the most highly rated out of comprehensive curricula they selected (from 100 reviewed) for 8th grade civics.

In 2024, with generous support from the One8 Foundation, the DKP began a new chapter in its organizational development, starting an implementation support arm, DKP Launch, within Dr. Allen’s 501 c3 non-profit, Partners in Democracy Education (PiD-E), the education wing of Partners in Democracy Group. PiD Group champions holistic, ambitious, and strategic agendas for change — leading to sustained progress for democracy. K-12 civic education, through PiD-E’s Civics & History Inquiry Partnership (CHIP), is the foundational layer to that progress to sustaining a healthy constitutional democracy. CHIP oversees projects like DKP Launch and Investigating History Magnify. DKP Launch continues to also work in close partnership with the arm of the DKP team at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, DKP Learn, that is dedicated to research and design.

With support from the One8 Foundation, DKP Launch is offering a three-year structured support program MA public schools to adopt Civic Engagement in Our Democracy through professional learning opportunities, implementation resources, on-the-ground context-specific implementation support, and community and network building opportunities.

Role and Responsibilities

Implementation support for schools:

• Proactively monitor and offer professional learning and consulting to a caseload of Massachusetts schools
• Support collaboration in grantee schools to ensure effective implementation of Civic Engagement in Our Democracy and completion of grant requirements
• Strategically plan and deliver effective in-person and virtual consultative support to administrators, champions, and educators like planning meetings, class observations and debriefings, etc.
• Regularly monitor implementation data to prioritize and plan for proactive outreach to and support for partners not on target for hitting grant objectives
• Work directly with teachers and school and district leader champions to improve civic education
• Consult with school administrators to maximize the impact of the partnership
• Strategize with school/district administrators around teacher implementation team culture-building and data analytics

School and educator relationship development and maintenance:

• With implementation team, identify model teachers to encourage educators to represent DKP Launch speak at events/conferences
• Identify and meet with school/educator prospects that are considering joining a future implementation cohort, including recruitment activities and events, application reviews and interviews