SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:-

The department of elementary and secondary education shall develop one or more civic education model curriculum units to align with the history and social science curriculum framework and shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics: (i) the function and composition of the branches of local, state and federal government; (ii) the roles and responsibilities of a citizen in a democracy; (iii) current events and evaluating news sources; and (iv) community-based action and service learning projects. The model curriculum unit or units shall include an experiential or practical unit, which may be offered as an extra-curricular or out-of-school activity. The model curriculum unit or units shall be developed not later than July 1, 2018. The department shall develop an evaluation process to assess the curriculum, pedagogy and teaching materials during the piloting of a course, unit, or program established through a civic education model curriculum unit. All public school districts shall implement the civic education model curriculum unit or units by no later than the 2019-2020 academic year.