The College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards published by the National Council for the Social Studies advocates the need for students not just to acquire and produce knowledge, but also to live a life of active engagement in the workings of our democracy. Dimension Four of the C3 Framework articulates this goal as "taking informed action." Informed action gives students an authentic platform to practice literacy skills as they address real world issues through the use of interdisciplinary content, aptitudes, and evidence, developing partnerships with institutions in their community as they work for improvement and sustainability. Students move from being "thermometers," taking the temperature of their environment, to "thermostats" that can alter the climate of their community. Many schools do a wonderful job of helping students become involved in civil society through community service projects. However, informed action is explicitly tied to the curriculum; it is a natural extension and application of the information and aptitudes being explored in the classroom. Best practices engage student voice in choosing, planning, and implementing the endeavor with meaningful reflection yet many social studies teachers struggle as they work to assess informed action. How is civic engagement measured? How is growth in personal efficacy evaluated? This article proposes three possible ways social studies teachers can begin to answer those questions about their students: (1) Start with a Good Question that Compels Learning; (2) Empower Student Voice, Student Choice; and (3) Build Administrative and Community Support. Resources for taking informed action are provided as is a rubric for a letter to a public official, and some informed action ideas. Informed action projects can be the truest measurement of how students can apply the knowledge, skills and dispositions that they have practiced in class. Because they are the culmination of the inquiry cycle, these projects are thoroughly embedded in both the content and process of student learning, and are an exercise that enhances and consolidates student learning, rather than taking time out to measure it.