What's New in Civic Education and Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (January 200 Archive Section)

January 30, 2008


President Clinton Announces Expansion of Clinton Global Initiative to College Campuses through CGI U

CGI U will Engage College Students in Service and Mobilize Young Leaders to Take Action for Global Problem Solving

New York, NY - Former President Bill Clinton has announced that the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) will expand its work to college and university campuses through CGI U, a youth-focused meeting that will bring together students, academics, and social, political, and cultural leaders to discuss pressing issues and ways to bring about global action to solve them. The Inaugural Meeting of CGI U will take place March 14-16, 2008, at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Students who wish to attend the meeting can apply online through www.cgiu.org. There is no cost to attend CGI U and some travel assistance is available.

Similar to the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meetings held each year in New York City, CGI U will inform and motivate a new generation of young people to act on urgent challenges focusing on the following areas: energy & climate change, global health, poverty alleviation, and peace & human rights. At this meeting, CGI U will:

- Identify, cultivate, and engage college students to make tangible commitments to tackle global issues;
- Challenge universities to organize research and service-oriented commitments in targeted areas;
- Introduce and promote CGI's work and mission to a new, younger audience; and
- Connect students, organizations, and university administrators around the world with others working on similar issues.

"Today's college students have an unprecedented capacity to make a difference, both in their communities and half a world away," said President Clinton. "They also have incredible enthusiasm, optimism, passion to learn and a desire to help others. The CGI model is about collective action to make a difference, and it works because people who care come together not just to talk, but to form partnerships to bring about change. It's a model that we know works and by offering it to college students I hope CGI U will give them a new outlet to tackle problems and foster social change." For more go to: Clinton initiative


January 29, 2008


Reminder: Wondertime Magazine and The Walt Disney Company are looking for stories about teaching young children the joys of volunteering. They are asking that volunteers share their story of what they and their little one have learned from an experience. Maximum Award: $5,000 to winner's favorite charity. Eligibility: adults (parent, caregiver, or early childhood educator) volunteering with a child aged eight and younger. Deadline: February 29, 2008.

For more go to: http://wondertime.go.com/contest/littlest-volunteers/index.html


January 28, 2008


Marital Status and Civic Engagement

A new CIRCLE Fact Sheet explores marriage rates among young people, ages 15-25, and the civic engagement of young people based on marital status.

Marriage among young people ages 18 to 25 is less frequent than 35 years ago. In 2006, only 15.4 percent of 18-25 year old U.S. residents were married compared to 44.4 percent in 1970.

One important finding in research on civic involvement has been the important link between marriage and civic engagement. For adults, those who are married are often more likely to vote or volunteer than those who are single. Among young people, similar patterns are present, but important exceptions include volunteering, voting, and protesting.

Download the Fact Sheet at: http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=253

To sign up for the monthly CIRCLE e-updates go to: http://www.civicyouth.org


January 25, 2008


Community Engagement: Carnegie Foundation

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has announced the
call for applications for the 2008 Community Engagement Classification
process. The deadline for declaring intent to apply is March 1, 2008. The
call is on the foundation's website, which also offers information about the
classification process and documentation framework.

For more information go to: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications/sub.asp?key=1213&subkey=2215.

January 24, 2008


2008 Ehrlich Award Nominations

Each year Campus Compact honors a faculty member for exemplary leadership in advancing the civic learning of students, including public scholarship, building campus commitment to service-learning and civic engagement, and fostering reciprocal community partnerships.

Online nominations for the 2008 Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning can now be submitted at http://www.compact.org/awards/ehrlich. Nominations must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on March 21, 2008. One award of $2,000 will be granted to a faculty member. from a Campus Compact member institution. Five to ten finalists will also be selected and recognized.

Nomination materials, eligibility requirements, and selection criteria are all available online at http://www.compact.org/awards/ ehrlich. For more information contact awards2008@compact.org (and include "Ehrlich Award" in the subject line) or call 401-867-3950.


January 23, 2008


Media Use Among Young People

As media technology changes, and new venues are available for news, where young people and adults obtain news continues to change.

In 2006, young people (and adults) demonstrated a preference for everyday news and information consumption from magazines (42.9 percent). Following behind magazines were television news (22.1 percent), radio (17.7 percent), newspapers (16.2 percent), and Internet (15.0 percent). This is a departure from 2002, when no one news and information medium was preferred.

A CIRCLE Fact Sheet "Media Use Among Young People in 2006" describes the basic pattern of media use among young people and adults in 2006 and 2002. Additionally, it explores the demographics of young media users by medium.

Download the Fact Sheet at: http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=254

To sign up for the monthly CIRCLE e-updates go to: http://www.civicyouth.org


January 22, 2008


Public Service and Remembrance in Honor of King

"On a holiday when she could have gone shopping or hung out at home, Tanya Brown chose to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday by volunteering at the District's largest homeless shelter.

She didn't go alone; she made sure to bring along her daughters, 12-year-old twins. They joined dozens of volunteers yesterday painting, cleaning and ministering to the needy at the Center for Creative Non-Violence, at 2nd and D streets NW.

"I wanted my girls to understand how important it is to serve the community," said Brown, 40, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant who lives on Capitol Hill. "I wanted them to know how privileged they are. We talk about it, but you need to see it."

From volunteering to church-sponsored discussions, from the synchronized ringing of bells to film screenings, a broad and diverse spectrum of the Washington region found myriad ways yesterday to commemorate the late civil rights leader's 79th birthday..." By Paul Schwartzman and William Wan, January 22, 2008, The Washington Post.

January 18, 2008


The Forum for Youth Investment (http://www.forumfyi.org) has kicked off a publication series on children's cabinets and councils, which are typically made up of heads of government agencies and child- and youth-serving programs who meet regularly to set and monitor common goals, outcomes and plans for services/programs for children.

- State Children's Cabinets and Councils: Getting Results for Children and Youth
This paper delves into the "why" question: why children's cabinets and councils are important, and why and how the way they work is consistent with the Forum's assumptions about change. To view the full paper, visit:
http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/State_Childrens_Cabinets_Getting_Results.pdf

- 2008 State Children's Cabinets and Councils Directory
The directory provides at-a-glance overviews of existing cabinets and councils. To view the directory, visit: http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/CC_Directory.PDF

- State Children's Cabinets and Councils Capitol Hill Forum
In December, the American Youth Policy Forum and the Forum for Youth Investment co-hosted a lunchtime forum on Capitol Hill to launch the publication series and convene stakeholders to examine Children's Cabinets and Councils. Speakers from Kentucky, Ohio and Maryland shared their first-hand experiences with this sort of collaboration. Materials from the forum are online. To view a brief on the forum, visit: http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/AYPF_Forum_Brief.pdf

January 17, 2008


Reminder: The Miller Center Fellowship is a competitive program for individuals completing their dissertations on American politics, foreign policy and world politics, or the impact of global affairs on the United States. It provides up to eight $20,000 grants to support one year of research and writing and pairs each fellow with a senior scholar as fellowship "mentor." Applicants must be either 1) a Ph.D. candidate who is expecting to complete his or her dissertation by the conclusion of the fellowship year; or 2) an independent scholar working on a book. Residence is strongly encouraged but not required; however, each fellow is expected to participate in conferences at the Miller Center in fall 2008 and May 2009. All applications must be postmarked by February 1, 2008; applicants will be notified of the selection committee's decision in April 2008.

Inquiries should be directed to Chi Lam, ckl2q@virginia.edu or 434-924-4694, or Anne Mulligan, acm8k@virginia.edu or 434-243-8726. For more information and to download the application, visit http://www.millercenter.org/academic/gage/fellowship. Send two copies of your application materials to Miller Center National Fellowship Program, Miller Center of Public Affairs, 2201 Old Ivy Rd, P.O. Box 400406, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4406.


January 16, 2008


Congressional Research Awards Announcement

DEADLINE: All proposals must be received no later than February 1, 2008.

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. A total of up to $30,000 will be available in 2008. Awards range from a few hundred dollars to $3,500.

The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students who have successfully defended their dissertation prospectus to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research.

The awards program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two or more individuals are eligible. No institutional overhead or indirect costs may be claimed against a Congressional Research Award.

There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible for showing the relationship between their work and the awards program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. Applications which exceed the page limit and incomplete applications will NOT be forwarded to the screening committee for consideration.

All application materials must be received on or before February 1, 2008. Awards will be announced in March 2008. Complete information about eligibility and application procedures may be found at The Center's Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm. Frank Mackaman is the program officer -- mailto:fmackaman@dirksencenter.org

January 14, 2008


CIRCLE E-UPDATE
SPECIAL UPDATE JAN 2008

Youth Turnout Up in Early Presidential Contests

Youth turnout increased dramatically in both the 2008 IA caucuses and the NH primary according to preliminary analysis of entrance/exit poll results and initial vote tallies by CIRCLE.

In Iowa, the youth turnout rate more than tripled and rose to 13 percent in 2008 from 4 percent in 2004 and 3 percent in 2000. Youth supported both winners-Senator Barack Obama (D) and Governor Mike Huckabee (R)-by the largest margins of any age group.

The youth turnout rate in NH rose sharply to 43 percent in 2008 compared to 18 percent in 2004 and 28 percent in 2000. Young people increased their turnout more than the older age group. The youth turnout rate increased by 15 percentage points over 2000 while the turnout rate for those ages 30 and above increased by only six percentage points.

For estimates of youth turnout in IA and NH as well as analysis of IA entrance polls visit http://www.civicyouth.org.


January 11, 2008


Reminder: General registration for the 5th Annual APSA Teaching and Learning Conference will close on January 15. The Conference will be held in San Jose, California on February 22-24, 2008.

The Conference provides a forum for scholars to:
- Share innovative teaching and learning models
- Discuss broad themes of political science education
- Enrich professional development

For information on the conference go to: http://www.apsanet.org/tlc2008/.
To register go to: http://apsanet.org/section_347.cfm.

January 9, 2008


Now available: New "Quick Facts" at CIRCLE (http://www.civicyouth.org)

Civic Education
- All 50 states and the District of the Columbia (D.C.) have a requirement to teach material or offer at least one course in civics and/or government. However, few standards cover skills and dispositions as well as knowledge.

Non-College Youth
- In 2006, there were an estimated 16.2 million 18-25 year old American residents who had no college experience. This constituted roughly 50 percent of the estimated total of 32.1 million 18-25 year old residents in America.

Volunteering
- Wyoming, Utah, and Wisconsin had the highest youth volunteer rates in 2005.

Trends by Race/Ethnicity/Gender
- Although young Latinos are generally not as civically engaged as other racial/ethnic groups, in 2006 25% said that they had participated in a protest-more than twice the proportion of any other racial/ethnic group.

Sign-up for the monthly CIRCLE e-updates at http://www.civicyouth.org

January 8, 2008


The Knight Foundation, First Amendment Center to Sponsor Exclusive New Leadership Academy for K-12 Principals (Washington, D.C. - July 7-11, 2008)

This is an opportunity to become part of the inaugural class of Five Freedoms Leadership Fellows, a select group of K-12 public and independent school leaders committed to providing a more equitable, collaborative and transformational type of school leadership -- and to cultivating the 21st Century skills young people need to be responsible members of a free society.

During the five-day Leadership Academy and beyond, Fellows will work together to achieve the following:

- Link theories of leadership with daily practice
- Transform school cultures in ways that support meaningful student voice and shared decision-making
- Develop individual and organizational capacities for improving student and faculty motivation
- Work collaboratively to address real-life challenges, from First Amendment conflicts to community engagement strategies
- Inspire specific policy changes that reflect a commitment to First Amendment principles
- Identify a discrete set of leadership skills to cultivate, both individually and schoolwide, in order to effect meaningful, systemic change


Go to: Leadership Academy to read the announcement. Or, to learn more about the Academy in the interim, submit a letter of inquiry today to fellows@fivefreedoms.org.


January 7, 2008


Citizenship Matters, released by the National Center on Learning and Citizenship at Education Commission of the States, highlights the following:

What is described as the largest gathering of youths and practitioners from the service-learning movement takes place April 9-12, 2008 in Minneapolis at the 19th Annual National Service-Learning Conference. Early bird registration deadline is December 3, 2007. Complete conference information is on the National Youth Leadership Council's Web site.
https://programs.regweb.com/metro/NYLC2008/index.cfm?page=registrationinfo


January 4, 2008


Less is More: Young People Who Watch Less TV are More Civically Involved

U.S. youth between the ages of 15 and 25 who watch less TV are more likely to be involved in civic engagement activities like voting and volunteering.

A new CIRCLE Fact Sheet shows that in nineteen different civic activities young people who watch TV less than two hours a day participate in more civic activities than their peers who watch between two and four hours a day and those who watch four or more hours a day. Most notably light TV viewers are more likely to be involved in solving community problems (23.9 percent), raise money for a charity (30.9 percent) and be active members of a group (21.3 percent).

On the other hand, the heavy TV watchers (8 percent) are more likely to donate money to a candidate or party than light TV viewers (4.4 percent) and the moderate group (6.8 percent). It may be that those who watch more television see more campaign advertisements, prompting them to donate. A fact sheet showing all the findings concerning television consumption and civic engagement among youth ages 15 to 25 can be found at http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=255.

To sign up for the monthly CIRCLE e-updates go to: http://www.civicyouth.org


January 3, 2008


General registration for the 5th Annual APSA Teaching and Learning Conference will close on January 15. The Conference will be held in San Jose, California on February 22-24, 2008.

Keynote Speaker is Dr. Luis R. Fraga, the University of Washington, addressing "The Responsibilities of Leadership: Political Science Education for the 21st Century."

The Conference provides a forum for scholars to:
- Share innovative teaching and learning models
- Discuss broad themes of political science education
- Enrich professional development

General registration through January 15, 2008 is $ 240 (member) or $ 325 (non-member)

For information on the conference go to: http://www.apsanet.org/tlc2008/.
To register go to: http://apsanet.org/section_347.cfm


January 2, 2008


National Initiative Seeks to Build Cadre of Community-Engaged Faculty

Faculty for the Engaged Campus, a national initiative of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health in partnership with the University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, aims to strengthen community-engaged career paths in the academy by developing innovative competency-based models of faculty development, facilitating peer review and dissemination of products of community-engaged scholarship, and supporting community-engaged faculty through the promotion and tenure process.

This month the initiative will issue a "call for applications" to select teams from twenty diverse colleges and universities to participate in a faculty development charrette* from May 28-30, 2008 in Chapel Hill, NC. At least four of the teams attending will subsequently be awarded two-year grants to implement and evaluate their designs. The initiative is also developing an online clearinghouse for peer review and dissemination of products of CES that are in forms other than journal articles, and a searchable online database of CES mentors and peer reviewers.

The initiative, supported by a three grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) in the U.S. Department of Education, builds on the work of the FIPSE-funded Community-Engaged Scholarship for Health Collaborative of health professional schools that has been working to build capacity for community engaged scholarship (CES) on their campuses and among their peers nationally (Details at http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/healthcollab.html).