Worked sample
CIV-01 · Track a bill through the process
Pick a real bill currently before a legislature (federal or state) and trace exactly where it is in the process — and what has to happen next for it to become law.
Capstone pathways · Civics & Public Process
A free civics capstone brief bank, grounded in real public sources
Students track a real bill through the legislative process, argue a real landmark case both ways, audit a real public budget line, or write testimony for a real open comment period — every claim sourced to a document the student can produce on request. No AI or tech background required. Free. No account.
The real-source rule
Every finished piece cites sources a reader can independently verify — the actual bill text, the actual opinion, the actual budget document. No invented bill numbers, quotes, or vote counts. An AI tool may optionally help a student summarize a long document during research; it never replaces the primary source.
How to run one
- Students choose the brief. You confirm the real bill, case, budget line, or comment opportunity is genuine and current before they proceed.
- Scheduled checkpoints. Score with the five questions below.
- Mentor is advisory — school-supervised, never one-to-one unsupervised.
Featured packet
Catalog (3 briefs on the page)
- CIV-02 · Argue a landmark case both ways
Take a real, decided case and write the strongest honest argument for each side — using only what the actual opinion and oral argument record support.
- CIV-03 · Audit a public budget line
Pick one line item in a real, publicly published government budget and explain what it actually funds, how it changed from the prior cycle, and what a resident would need to know to evaluate it.
- CIV-04 · Testimony that could be read into the record
Write public comment or testimony on a real, currently open matter — a pending bill, a public hearing, or an open comment period — built entirely on sources you can produce on request.
Five-dimension rubric
- R1 — Is one decision, one process stage, and one research question named?
- R2 — Could another student find and open every source cited, using only the citation given?
- R3 — Does the piece show how this decision actually moves through the real process?
- R4 — Are competing perspectives represented, and are gaps in the student's own research named?
- R5 — Could someone outside the class follow the piece in one sitting?