What's New in Civic Education and Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (May 2004 Archive Section)

May 26, 2004

• The following items on youth voting has been added to The Pew Charitable Trust's website. If you are interested in receiving regular email alerts from Pew go to http://www.pewtrusts.com.

  - "A Briefing on Young Voters 2004: Motivating Younger People to Vote" In this newsletter, Bob Carpenter from American Viewpoint and Anna Greenberg from Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research present their insights from recent focus groups about how to reach two divergent groups of young people--connectors and on-the-verge voters. May 11, 2004, George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management

  - "Mock the Vote" College students are discouraged from voting by local election boards. May 7, 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine
  

  May 25, 2004

• The John Glenn Institute at The Ohio State University has named William Morgan, Research Scientist and Co-Director of the Center for Participation and Citizenship at Indiana University, as a John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning in the civic education/participation area. Morgan earned the distinction through a nationwide competition, the second of twenty-five that the Institute is hosting over three years. The new program, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, recognizes scholars from any discipline whose scholarship contributes to advancing the understanding of or adoption of service-learning in K-12 classrooms. Service-learning combines community service with academic instruction to engage students, improve academic achievement, and promote civic participation.
  
  
• As the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, many schools are still providing children with a "grossly unequal" education, a new 50-state analysis from the Education Trust finds. According to the analysis, achievement gaps in many states would shrink dramatically if poor and minority students were taught to the same levels of academic achievement as their counterparts in top-performing, "frontier" states. For more information go to: http://www.ecs.org/00CN1945.
  

  May 24, 2004

• The Fulbright Scholar Program for Faculty and Professionals is offering a lecturing or combined lecturing-research award in education, with a special interest in civic education, to Bosnia and Herzegovina for academic year 2005-06. For a description of the grant go to: http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2005/award/Edu5225.htm. This award offers a unique opportunity for specialists in civic education to assist in the development of new academic programs and in the preparation of new curricula as well as teach at the university level and conduct research in postwar Bosnia. Grantees also may be requested to provide in-service training to teachers. For general information about application requirements, visit the CIES Web site at http://www.cies.org. For more information about the Fulbright program in Bosnia, contact Senior Program Officer Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss at jskulte@cies.iie.org or by phone at (202) 686-6246. Application materials can be downloaded from the Web site or requested via e-mail to apprequest@cies.iie.org. The application deadline is August 1, 2004.

  May 21, 2004

• The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management has created a newsletter "A Briefing on Young Voters in 2004." In this issue Bob Carpenter from American Viewpoint and Anna Greenberg from Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research present their insights from recent focus groups about how to reach two divergent groups of young people--connectors and on-the-verge voters. For more information go to: http://www.pewtrusts.com/pdf/new_voters_brief_0504.pdf.

• The First Amendment School Project has announced the selection of five new schools. For more information and to read the full press release go to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development website at: http://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=2484.

  May 20, 2004

• The following papers prepared for the symposium,"Transforming Citizenship? Transnational Membership, Participation, and Governance," held at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, April 30, 2004 are available online at http://citizen.campbellinstitute.org. This symposium was co-sponsored by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, a research center of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, and Syracuse University's SPIRE Committee on Citizenship in a Globalizing World. The papers include:

  - Stephen Macedo, Dept. of Politics, Princeton University "What Self-Governing Peoples Owe to One Another: Universalism, Diversity, and The Law of Peoples"

  - Thomas Pogge, Dept. of Philosophy, Columbia University "What is Transnational Citizenship?"

  - Saskia Sassen, Dept. of Sociology, University of Chicago "The Repositioning of Citizenship: Toward New Types of Subjects and Spaces for Politics"

  - Yasemin Soysal, Dept. of Sociology, University of Essex "Postnational Citizenship: Reconfiguring the Familiar Terrain"
  

• The Journal of Political Science Education has issued a call for manuscripts. If you are interested in reviewing manuscripts for the journal contact mbreunin@truman.edu. Please send as an attachment your curriculum vitae and/or a list of areas in which you feel competent to review submitted manuscripts. If you would like to invite individuals interested in submitting textbook reviews (in any area of political science) or are interested in being asked to review a text to submit their names and areas of interest to bposler@mail.millikin.edu. Finally, if you would like to write a review of materials related to teaching technology (such as reviews of software, simulations, web based materials etc) please contact sws@iastate.edu.

  May 19, 2004

• The 3rd International Student Symposium will be held in Prague, Czech Republic on July 11-16, 2004. The symposium offers young people a unique educational opportunity to broaden their understanding of the world, while developing critical skills in the art of negotiation and communication. The students participate in numerous educational and social activities giving them a chance to debate and critique specific topics dealing with democracy, nationalism, military activities and European integration. The upcoming symposium will feature:

  - Zheela Noori (Afganistan) opening speaker
  - Distinguished international experts on global issues
  - Visits to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  - Visits to selected foreign embassies in Prague
  - United Nations Crisis Simulation and a mock NATO summit
  - "Speaking / Debate Workshops"

  Applications for the conference are accepted May 31, 2004. For more information about the application process and the conference, please contact critchlow@student-symposium.com or go to http://www.student-symposium.com.
  

  May 18 , 2004

• The Centre for Policy and Practice announces a call for papers for the Conference on Civic Education Research to be held in Reno Nevada, Hilton Hotel, September 26-28, 2004. This interdisciplinary conference will draw together researchers with a common interest in civic education. This research would include work on service-learning, moral education, character education, democratic education, policy research, and studies of the citizens' civic capacity and skills. The conference will draw faculty from around the United States as well as from around the world, including faculty from the fields of education, political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, criminology, public policy, evaluation, as well as practitioners and policy makers interested in research and best practices. The deadline to submit proposals is 6/15/04.

  Also, a separate Practitioners' Conference on Civic Education will be offered in New Orleans, from January 13-15, 2005. For more information go to: http://www.civicedconf.org/practice.html.

  For more information on the conference, including hotel information, travel information, registration information, presentation formats and to submit a proposal on-line, please go to the website: http://www.civicedconf.org/research.html
  

  May 17 , 2004

• The Amizade Global Service-Learning Center at the University of Pittsburgh is seeking applications for Summer 2005 Global Service-Learning Facilitator positions. Service-learning facilitators cooperate with academic instructors to integrate essential service-learning components on Amizade Center courses, which take place on four continents and in many disciplines. Facilitator positions integrate serious professional development in this emerging, intellectually exciting field with summer employment and travel opportunities.

  Applications must be postmarked by July 2, 2004. For more information go to: http://www.globalservicelearning.org/Faculty/Application.html or contact servicelearning@amizade.org.
  

  May 14 , 2004

• Just a reminder May 14 is the deadline to submit proposals to the Institute for Global Education & Service Learning for the Atlantic Regional Service Learning Conference, scheduled for October 28 - 29, 2004 at The Wyndham Franklin Plaza in Philadelphia, PA. This year's conference theme is "Service-Learning as a Vehicle for Community Change." For more information go to: http://www.igesl.org/Atlantic_SLConference.htm.
  
  
• The Alliance for Representative Democracy's Campaign to Promote Civic Education at the Center for Civic Education has shared a sampling of legislative updates:

  - Kentucky has passed a law establishing a Civic Education Review Commission under the Secretary of State was signed by Governor Fletcher on April 7, 2004. This legislation was introduced by Congressional Conference Delegates Rep.Tanya Pullin and Sen. Jack Westwood Kentucky Facilitator Deb Williamson and her Delegation worked closely with the Secretary of State and the Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement at Northern Kentucky University on this.

  - Utah has passed HB22, sponsored by Congressional Conference Delegate Rep. La Var Christensen was signed by the governor on March 19. It provides legislative recognition that Civic and Character Education are fundamental elements of the public education system's core mission and constitutional responsibility and shall be taught in connection with regular school work.

  - Georgia, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska have held State Summits modeled on the Congressional Conference. A number of states are planning State Summits for later this year-a great opportunity for your local affiliates to get involved. These states include: Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Washington. Many other delegations are exploring the idea of holding their own State Summit.

  For more information about the Campaign to Promote Civic Education and other resources go to: http://www.representativedemocracy.org.
  

  May 12, 2004

• The Global Service Institute of the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis announces a new grant cycle for the Civic Service Small Research Grants Program focusing on civic service or long-term, intensive volunteerism. Examples of civic service programs include the Nigerian National Youth Service program, the United States' AmeriCorps, and Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. The primary objectives of GSI are to build a global knowledge base and understanding of civic service.

  GSI will award up to six research grants with budget amounts ranging from $US 10,000 to $U.S. 25,000 for up to 2 years. Dissertation research proposals with budgets up to $U.S. 15,000 will also be considered. Initial inquiry letters are due by Friday, June 4, 2004. To see the full announcement go to: Civic Service Small Research Grants Program. You can also go to:http://gwbweb.wustl.edu/csd/gsi/ or contact Carlos Benitez at cab2@wustl.edu.
  

  May 11 , 2004

• The 2004 National CyberConvention Project invites classes from all U.S states to join in tracking candidates, issues and polls, culminating in state-by-state predictions of who will win our national elections in November 2004. Each participating class will study the candidates, issues and polling trends in their state for the 2004 presidential and congressional races, using print, broadcast and Web-based media.

  Each week your class will be emailed a topic to research; topics covered will include candidates, issues and media literacy. You will submit your weekly findings to the National CyberConvention website, sharing the concerns and likely voting patterns of your home state. Data will be posted on our site to allow classes to analyze trends state by state and nationally. Some of the weekly topics include: Rollcall of States from across the Nation; Presidential and Senatorial Candidates, Congressional Candidates; Defense; Economy and an opportunity to view and compare election predictions and results online.

  As a culminating event, each class will cast their delegate votes online a week prior to the national elections predicting the outcome of the vote on election day.

  For more information or to register go to: http://surfaquarium.com/NCC/register.htm.
  

  May 11, 2004

• With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University has established the John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning. During 2004-2005, the Institute will recognize ten scholars whose scholarship efforts contribute to advancing the understanding of or adoption of service-learning, with specific emphasis on K-12 education. Areas of emphasis for 2004-2005 include: curriculum connections, social justice issues and education, school and community partnerships, student development, critical issues and priorities, math/science, learning theory, and educational policy and reform. Selection as a Scholar carries an honorarium of $1000; recipients are also recognized as a John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning. Upcoming areas of emphasis include: 1) curriculum connections and 2) social justice issues and education, with applications due on June 18, 2004. For more information on the call for scholars and application process go to: http://www.glenninstitute.org/glenn/scholars_index.asp. For more information about the John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning, contact Kathleen Hill, Project Coordinator at 614/292-4545 or hill.358@osu.edu.

  May 10 , 2004

• The Institute for Educational Leadership's flagship program, the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP), is accepting applications for a ten-month in-service professional development program designed to prepare mid-level leaders in public and private organizations to exercise greater responsibility in creating and implementing sound public policy in education and related fields. EPFP participants hold full-time positions in diverse organizations at the local, state, and national levels. The program currently operates in sites in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington, DC - and a New Jersey site will open in the fall of 2004. The application deadline is August 2004. For more information go to: http://www.iel.org/programs/epfp.html.

  May 7 , 2004

• The Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP) is a 10-month, in-service leadership development program located in Washington, D.C. The program combines events of national scope with activities specific in state sites across the country to provide a rich professional development experience for approximately 200 Fellows each year. The program is designed to prepare mid-level leaders in public and private organizations to exercise greater responsibility in creating and implementing sound public policy in education and related fields. EPFP participants hold full-time positions in diverse organizations at the local, state, and national levels. The program currently operates in sites in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington, DC - a New Jersey site will open in the fall of 2004. Application deadline for EPFP is August 2004. For more information go to: http://www.iel.org/programs/epfp.html.

  May 6 , 2004

• CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK AND THE KNIGHT FOUNDATION FUND NEW CAMPAIGN TO PUT CIVIC EDUCATION BACK IN THE SCHOOLS. "The national effort to renew and elevate civic education in America's schools receives new momentum today through support from a pair of respected national funders. Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Hodding Carter III, President and CEO of the Knight Foundation, today each announced grants of $1 million to support the newly-launched Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools….
  
  …The core purpose of the Campaign is to change policy and practice at the state, local, and national levels so that considerably larger numbers of students have rigorous civic education experiences in their K-12 education. The Campaign will undertake a major advocacy effort directed to state and national policy-makers designed to implement key recommendations in the Civic Mission of Schools report (http://www.civicmissionofschools.org)…

  …Much of the Campaign's work will be accomplished through grants to state-level coalitions expected to be formed by interested educational, nonprofit, governmental, business, media and philanthropic groups. The Campaign expects to make grants in two categories - up to six large grants of $150,000, and up to 15 smaller grants of $20,000 - to state-based coalitions for a two-year period. The request for proposals for these grants was announced on May 1, 2004. For further information about the RFP process, please contact cms@excelgov.org; May 5, 2004, The Council for Excellence in Governance.

  To read the entire announcement go to: http://www.excelgov.org/displayContent.asp?NewsItemID=5198&Keyword=mReleases
  

  May 5 , 2004

• New Issue by Issue: "Youth-Centered School Reform". This section of Issue by Issue allows readers to explore the issue of youth-centered school reform - do a quick scan or explore in depth. Putting young people at the center of the puzzle of education reform lends new clarity and new directions to improvement efforts - with implications for all of the other pieces of the puzzle. A youth-centered view offers a powerful response to the realities facing schools, and a route to genuine educational change. It acknowledges that young people are the central actors in the education process. It allows us to build on what we know about how young people learn and grow. It keeps the focus where it should be - on those doing the learning - and forces conversations on structural and policy issues to demonstrate their impact on the bottom line.

  Issue by Issue offers a unique viewpoint of current issues in the allied youth fields. Whether you would like to explore an idea in depth or briefly scan the information, Issue by Issue is a valuable tool for quickly getting a "big picture" understanding of a topic. Other topics covered in Issue by Issue are Program Quality, Learning In School and Out, and Youth Policy. You can find Issue by Issue at http://www.forumforyouthinvestment.org/issues/issuebyissue.htm.
  

  May 3, 2004

• The Civic Mind has announced its award for the National Issues Forums and other updates:

  - National Issues Forums
  A network of nonpartisan, locally sponsored public forums in which participants discuss public
  policy issues facing Americans locally and nationally.

  - Topic Directory: Deliberative Democracy
  Resources for initiating, conducting, and moderating community-based, informed, and civil
  dialogue about public issues.