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

November 30, 2004

• Groundbreaking research by high school students in five states has turned up troubling discrepancies in how urban students and teachers view their interactions with each other. The innovative What Kids Can Do organization supported high school students from Chicago, Houston, Oakland, Philadelphia and St. Louis as they designed and conducted in-depth research in their urban high schools, surveying more than 6,350 of their peers and 466 teachers. The students' insightful questions and accessible language elicited responses that may surprise traditional educators and policymakers, and suggest ways in which students can become actors in improving their schools. Survey questions covered topics including academic pressure, cheating, school safety, race relations, and tensions between teachers and students. In all five sites, student research teams presented their findings through workshhttp://www.whatkidscando.org/studentsasalliesintro.htmlops, retreats, and public "summit meetings." For more information go to:
  

  November 29, 2004

• The Center for Youth as Resources (CYAR) is pleased to sponsor the Civic Engagement Series (CES) in Washington, D.C. This initiative will be a series of presentations relating to some form of civic engagement, volunteerism, voting, national service, and other topics. All of the presentations will be held at the CYAR office (1717 K Street, 13th Floor) and open to the public.

  Each presentation will feature an expert on one of the topics listed above with an informal presentation lasting 20-30 minutes. Following each presentation, a discussion and Q and A period will take place for an additional 20-30 minutes.
  

  The first presentation held on December 1 at 11:00 a.m., features Tom Ehrlich a senior scholar at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching where his work focuses on enhancing moral and civic responsibility among undergraduates. Mr. Ehrlich is the past president of Indiana University. He also served from 1979 to 1981 as the first director of the International Development Cooperation Agency under President Carter and the first president of the Legal Services Corporation from 1975 to 1979. In addition, he is past chair of the American Association for Higher Education, Campus Compact, the Commission on National and Community Service, and the John W. Gardner Center at Stanford University. He is also a former board member of Bennett College. He now serves on the Boards of Mills College, the University of Pennsylvania, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Center for Civic Education, and the John W. Gardner Center.

  Mr. Ehrlich is the author or editor of ten books, most recently including Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility (2003) with colleagues at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, was a law clerk for Judge Learned Hand, and has received five honorary degrees. For more information, contact CYAR Director Shuan Butcher at (202) 261-4131 or sbutcher@cyar.org.
  

  November 24, 2004

• The 20th annual Educating for Citizenship Conference will be held on Friday, December 3, 2004 at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel in Lakewood, Colorado. It features a new civic education resources and an opportunity to collaborate with policy makers, legal experts, and other teachers to enhance four promising practices from the Civic Misson of the Schools report. Participants will return to schools prepared to:

  - Provide instruction in government, history, law, and democracy-more specifically, to provide opportunities for students to wrestle with larger issues, explore underlying principles, and learn how to participate in local government and civil society

  - Incorporate discussion of current local, state, national, and international issues into the classroom-particularly those issues that young people view as important in their lives.

  - Encourage student participation in simulated and authentic democratic processes
  and procedures-trials, legislative hearings, and diplomacy.
  - Provide opportunities for students to apply what is learned in the formal curriculum through service learning.
  

  November 23, 2004

• According to youth, what would make students care more about school? What would make them pay more attention to their teachers? You can find out on "The Way We See It," a video created by youth production teams from around the country. The program will air on PBS in January (hosted by John Merrow), but it's available now on DVD for the cost of shipping and handling. To request a copy, visit: http://www.listenup.org/education/

  November 22, 2004

• Just a reminder that complete nominations must be submitted by today for the Harris Wofford Awards, presented by Youth Service America and State Farm Companies Foundation, the Harris Wofford Awards recognize extraordinary achievements of an individual (5-25 years of age), institution, and media organization that actively contributes to "making service and service-learning the common expectation and common experience of every young person in America." Award winners from each category will be honored and presented with a commemorative award of recognition at the 15th Annual National Service-Learning Conference, March 17-19, 2005 in Long Beach, California during the State Farm Companies Foundation Awards Luncheon.

  November 19, 2004

• National Conference on Citizenship will be held in Washington, DC on December 3, 2004.
  This year's conference will feature top leaders in the field, who will focus on national efforts to strengthen citizenship -- through American history and civics education, volunteering, voting, joining civic organizations, and other activities to make us more active, engaged citizens. The conference features renowned speakers, the chance to network with others from around the country, and the announcement of exciting new initiatives from several major organizations. To register online to http://www.ncoc.net/join.html. For questions or more information, contact Laura Feldman, conference coordinator, at lfeldman@ncoc.net.
  

  November 18, 2004

• Healthy Learning Environments. Healthy, properly nourished students who feel safe are better able to concentrate on their work, attend school on a regular basis, and perform well in class and on tests. Despite such research findings, however, discussions about improving student achievement often occur separately from discussions about schools' roles in addressing health and safety concerns. Federal, state, and local policies are being formulated to address each concern, yet policymakers frequently fail to consider intersecting student health and achievement as they develop school improvement policies. Although academic achievement is a key mission for schools, it is not the only goal. Public schools also prepare students to be healthy, productive, civic and moral citizens with an appreciation for a range of knowledge and dispositions, including culture and the arts. By including such knowledge and skills as well as a supportive environment, schools help students develop physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Those that satisfy these basic needs find it easier to help students improve their behavior, attitudes, and achievement.
  

  November 17, 2004

• The National Council for the Social Studies is holding its Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland from November 19-21, 2004. The title of this year's conference is "Democracy and Diversity: Social Studies in Action." For more information on this conference go to the National Council for the Social Studies website at http//:www.ncss.org.

  November 16, 2004

• The Brookings Institution announces the following:
  
  - "Post-Election Conference: Voting Issues & Campaign Finance Recap"
  A panel of experts will discuss the campaign finance developments in the 2004 election, presidential public funding and the reform agenda for the next Congress. To be held on Wednesday, November 17, 9:00am, Mt. Vernon Room at the St. Regis Hotel
  

  - Brookings Institution/Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Discussion
  "How the Faithful Voted: Political Alignments and the Religious Divide in the 2004 Elections"
  Participants in this discussion, sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Brookings Institution, will discuss what the election's outcome says about the religious and cultural divide in the American electorate; how Bush captured the Catholic vote; the growing political clout of evangelicals; and whether religion helps explain how Latinos and African Americans voted. To be held on Wednesday, November 17, 3:00pm, Falk Auditorium
  

  November 15, 2004
• Service-Learning Advances, the National Service-Learning Partnership's e-newsletter, announces the following for advocacy and policy:

  The Government Seeks Your Input on Future of Service-Learning
  The Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) recently invited the public to share its views on issues related to Learn and Serve America, the only federal program solely dedicated to supporting and expanding service-learning in schools and communities. The Corporation wants to know what you think about the future of its service-learning initiatives and how their efforts for students, communities, and institutions can be maximized. The public is also invited to review the Notice Inviting Preliminary Informal Public Input in Advance of Learn and Serve America Program Changes, which appeared in the Federal Register on October 12, 2004.

  Service-learning advocates are making their voices heard. Several organizations are developing a collective written response to the federal government as well as preparing letters for use by private citizens and individual organizations. Email the Partnership's Advocacy Committee at nslp@aed.org if you'd like to learn more about how you can participate in this process.
  http://www.service-learningpartnership.org/publications/sla_advocacy.cfm

  November 12, 2004
  

• CiviConnections 2005 teacher grant application is now available. The teacher grant program is funded by the federal Corporation for National and Community Service and National Council for the Social Studies. From 2003-2006, CiviConnections will involve more than 297 teachers and 7,425 3rd-12th grade students nationwide in linking local history inquiry with community service-learning activities. A team of three teachers can apply for a $7,500 grant to cover their costs for attending a summer workshop, implementing the program during the fall of 2005, and attending the 2005 NCSS Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

  Requirements for the application include the following: 1) apply in a team of three teachers from grades 3-12 in the same public school district, 2) be members of National Council for the Social Studies (or agree to join if your application is accepted), 3) partner with at least one local community agency, 4) involve at least 25 students per teacher in at least 20 hours of service each (this may include a variety of activities including community interviews, advocacy activities in the classroom, service with individuals in the community, creation of the public display, and attendance at the culminating community celebration), 5) attend one 3-day summer 2005 workshop and the 2005 NCSS Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri (all funding for the workshop and conference is to be paid from the $7,500 grant), 6) implement the program during the Fall of 2005, and 7) comply with grant evaluation and reporting procedures.

  For further information about CiviConnections or the application process, contact civiconnections@ncss.org.
  

  November 11, 2004

• Mel Dubnick has announced the following regarding volunteers for to assume the management of the APSA listserv:

  For those who do not know the history of the list, it began as an offshoot of an APSA Task Force on Civic Education -- a body that has since been transformed and reconfigured into a Civic Education Committee. The list had emerged as a free-standing function with just over 500 subscribers, and I have attempted to maintain it as best I could over the years with announcements and other posts relevant to the topic.

  As you might have noticed, the list has been rather 'quiet' in recent weeks. By way of explanation, this summer I decided that it was time to reduce my list serv duties (I also manage another list, H-Pubadmin) and I suggested to APSA that we find someone to assume the duties of list manager.

  APSA has me to post a call for volunteers who might be interested in assuming the list's management duties on a day-to-day basis.

  Desirable qualifications for the new manager include:
  - An interest in civic education broadly defined;
  - A willingness to manage and monitor the list on a daily basis to assure the list's integrity and minimize potential misuse or abuse of the list subscription base;
  - An ability and willingness to work closely with APSA's Committee on Civic Education, with APSA staff, with the new Conference on Teaching and Learning, and with APSA's civic education website;
  - On the 'technical side', a familiarity with list serv operations, and particularly the operations of H-Net (which provides the server space for the list; see http://www.h-net.org/). The individual should be prepared to qualify as an H-Net list manager (see http://www.h-net.org/lists/nominations/editor.cgi). [Note that APSA is in the midst of rebuilding its web site around a content management system that at some point in the future may give the organization the capacity to handle the list independent of H-NET. Thus the new manager might be asked down the road to help us put that migration into place.]

  Interested individuals should submit email a short statement of their interest and availability directly to: Michael Brintnall, Executive Director of APSA, at brintnall@apsanet.org.
  

  November 10, 2004

• The CivicMind Award for November 2004 recognizes the American Judicature Society's National Jury Center. Click on the following for more information on Workshops and Legal Cases. If you have nominations for CivicMind Awards contact TheCivicMind@aol.com.

  November 9, 2004

• An American Forum: Young People Take on the Election will be presented at American University's School of Communication on Tuesday, November 9, from 8:00-9:00 p.m. in the Ward Circle Building, Room 1 at American University. Panelists include:

  - Randy Brinson, Founder and Chairman, Redeem the Vote
  - Adrienne Maree Brown, Author and Program Director, League of Young Voters
  - Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
  - Ian Rowe, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs MTV, Choose or Lose

  The moderator is Jane Hall, Professor, School of Communication. Parking available in the Nebraska Lot. For more information, contact the School of Communication
  at 202-885-2074 or visit the website at http://www.soc.american.edu. An American Forum is produced in cooperation with WAMU, 88.5 FM and will be carried live.

  November 8, 2004
  

• The latest online edition of Citizenship Matters from the National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC) at the Education Commission of the States (ECS) is now available. This bimonthly newsletter focuses on ECS' work in improving citizenship education in our nation's schools. Among its contents are the following:

  - Sheldon Berman, superintendent of schools in Hudson, Massachusetts, and ECS' National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC) executive board member, discusses the appropriate role of civic education in the elementary grades.

  - Washington and Kentucky each recently held statewide meetings focused on civic education. Three Washington legislators and members of the Washington State Alliance for Representative Democracy sponsored a Planning Meeting on Civic Education.
  

  - Several articles on civic engagement appear in the fall 2004 issue of Campus Compact Reader, including Caryn McTighe Musil's Peer Review article "Educating for Citizenship" and David Cooper's Chronicle of Higher Education article "Education for Democracy: A Conversation in Two Keys."
  
  
  - In the University of Virginia Center for Politics' report, "Politics: The Missing Link of Responsible Civic Education," authors Kenneth S. Stroupe Jr. and Larry J. Sabato discuss findings from a survey of over 2,000 students. The study looked at the structure of civic education in the United States and offers suggestions for building a culture of civic engagement.
  

  - NCLC recently released a paper titled, "Developing Citizenship Competencies from Kindergarten Through Grade 12: A Background Paper for Policymakers and Educators," authored by Judith Torney-Purta, senior advisor to NCLC and professor of human development at the University of Maryland, and Susan Vermeer, NCLC policy analyst/project director. The paper urges policymakers to include the "strands" of civic knowledge, cognitive and participative thinking skills, and dispositions into state civics and social studies standards.
  

  - On December 4-6, 2004, over 350 state legislators, chief state school officers, state and local boards of education members, representatives of civic engagement organizations, and civic learning professionals will gather in Washington, D.C., for the second Congressional Conference on Civic Education. It is hosted by four congressional leaders and sponsored by the Alliance for Representative Democracy. This is the second of five conferences that focus on the need to restore the essential civic mission of schools. ECS NCLC Executive Director Terry Pickeral will provide a keynote address on emerging state policy trends in civic learning. For more information on the conference, contact Ted McConnell, Center for Civic Education at mcconnell@civiced.org.

  - The Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse supports the service-learning community in higher education, kindergarten through grade 12, community-based initiatives and tribal programs, as well as all others interested in strengthening schools and communities using service-learning techniques and methodologies.
  
  If you have information you would like to share in future issues of Citizenship Matters? Contact Susan Vermeer at svermeer@ecs.org.
  

  November 4, 2004

• Below are a few of the items on youth voting recently 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.

  10/16/2004 - Changing Times, Issues Drive Young People Toward the Polls: An article from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
  

  10/19/2004 - Effort to Register More Young Maine Voters Surpasses Goal: An article from MainToday.com.
  

  10/19/2004 - Hip-hop's Influence Expected at Polls: An article from the Miami Herald.
  

  10/19/2004 - Legion of Young Voters Force to be Unsure Of: An article from DailyPress.com.
  

  10/25/2004 - The Youth Vote: An article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
  

  November 3, 2004
  

• Reminder: The Coalition for Community Schools' 4th National Forum, "Community Schools: The Time is Now!" will be held March 9-11, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. Join school administrators, teachers, elected officials, youth development professionals, community-based organizations, family support providers, health and human services providers, faith-based organizations, parents, youth and others at this forum to share best practices, new ideas and community school strategies that have been successful around the country. The workshop PROPOSAL DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 8. For more information go to: http://www.communityschools.org or contact lindsaym@iel.org.

  November 2, 2004
  

• Brookings-Princeton Fall Election 2004 Series:

  Now available: "The 2004 Presidential Elections: How Much Do Issues Influence the Vote?" held on Friday, October 15. Transcripts are at: http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/index.htm.

  See the Calendar at: http://www.brookings.edu/calendar/200410.htm

  November 1, 2004
  

• The recent publication of The State Education Standard, the journal of the National Association of State Boards of Education, theme is "Schools and Citizenship: Going Beyond Government 101." Included are the following featured articles:

  - Strengthening Representative Democracy, by U.S. Senator Tom Daschle
  

  - What Needs to be Done to Ensure a Proper Civic Education?, by Charles N. Quigley
  

  - Citizenship Education: From State Policy to Student Achievement, by Terry Pickeral
  

  - What Does it Mean to be an American Citizen?, by the Honorable Lee H. Hamilton
  

  - Civic Education: Meeting the Challenge, by Jan Goehring and Nicole Moore
  

  - State Policy Approaches and Recommendations to Support Effective Citizenship, by Peter Levine, Robert Palaich, Judith Torney-Purta, and Susan Vermeer
  

  - A View from a State Superintendent, by Suellen Reed
  

  - From Policy to Practice: First Amendment Schools are Laboratories of Demcracy, by Molly McCloskey and Sam Chaltain