What's New in Civic Education and Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (July/August 2006 Archive Section)

November 30, 2006

• The Brookings Institution announces the following transcript release::

  “Saving Democracy: A Plan for Real Representation in America ” held on November 14, 2006.
  
  To read the entire transcript go to: http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20061114.htm .

  November 29, 2006

• Voters, Ballets…Action

  “Americans voted for change.

  At least that's the seeming consensus emerging after the midterm elections.

  But in a broad, national way—and far wider than the tight margins reflected in the change in party control of the U.S. Congress—America voted not for change for change's sake but for action.

  In governors' races and in ballot questions coast to coast, voters cast their lot with getting things done—no matter what party at the helm. Voters called for state action on a raft of issues, often in response to the utter absence of the federal government on these very same issues.

  And they did so without the consistent adherence to ideology that seems to cement gridlock in Washington …” November 16, 2006, By Ami Liu and David Jackson, The Brookings Institution.

  November 28, 2006

• The Education Commission for the State's National Center for Learning and Citizenship has selected the second slate of its 100 District Leaders for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning Network. The network is comprised of district-level administrators and policymakers committed to advancing the civic mission of American education. For more go to: http://www.ecs.org/00CN3234

  November 27, 2006

• Chile 's Student Activists: A Course in Democracy

  Santiago, Chile – “When the Class of 2006 graduates in a few weeks, its members will look back at a year in which some of the most important lessons took place outside the classroom.

  In their black and white school uniforms, they launched what became known here as the "Penguin Revolution," filling the streets, calling for educational reforms, occupying school buildings and sparking a nationwide debate that was quickly labeled a milestone for the nation's young democracy.

  Extracurricular activities for student leaders this year meant negotiating with senior government officials. When they text-messaged friends, at times it was to organize rallies that attracted as many as 800,000 people. A few became nationally known public figures in their own right.

  "Graduation will be hard, and there are going to be a lot of emotions that come back from this year," said Karina Delfino, 17, who became one of the voices of the student movement during her senior year. "All the friends made, the difficulties and the successes -- this was one stage in life that has been good, but very tough. The only thing I can do now is to try to end this stage as best I can and get ready for whatever is next."

  That's the question many high school-age Chileans face, as the school year winds down with the approach of a Southern Hemisphere summer: How do they follow a year like this one?

  The students' actions turned them into the most powerful social movement since the strict military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet was replaced by democracy 16 years ago. They forced the government to increase education spending and -- more important for many of the protesters -- prompted it to reexamine the roots of an educational system flawed by vast inequalities between the country's rich and poor populations…” By Monte Reel, Nov. 25, 2006, The Washington Post.

  November 22, 2006

• The Forum for Youth Investment ( http://www.forumfyi.org ) has released “Quality Systems: Lessons from Early Efforts to Disseminate Youth POQ.” This paper co-authored by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation and the Forum for Youth Investment, reports on a project funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation to disseminate the Youth PQA and related services to several communities nationwide. Key goals of the project were to learn about how research-based practices get adopted in the field and to describe how networks around the country are approaching quality assessment and improvement. For more go to: http://www.forumfyi.org/Files/Lessons_Learned_FINAL.pdf

  November 21, 2006

• Crisis in Civics Education? Revival is Underway

  “If Todd Letimore ever thought the founding documents of the United States of America were simply pieces of history, he's long since left that notion behind.

  At the "Constitutional Convention" for Philadelphia 's new Constitution High School , Todd and the rest of the inaugural ninth-grade class argued passionately as they set up the school's government. ("The only stipulation was they could not vote me out of office," Principal Thomas Davidson says with a laugh.)

  His social studies class is like no class he's had before, Todd says. "We're actually interacting and learning - we actually get a chance to debate and say if we disagree, instead of just sitting there and writing all day."

  Part of a growing network of history-focused high schools around the country, it's just one of the creative initiatives under way to equip young people to engage more effectively in American democracy.

  Particularly with today's influx of immigrants, "it's important ... to provide some kind of unifying thread, so that students don't simply stay in their own ethnic enclaves ... but understand that there's a similarity among all groups and a shared knowledge of America's past," says Michael Serber, education coordinator at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York, a partner with Constitution High School. Improving history education is also a critical citizenship requirement, he says. "If you're going to deal with issues today, how can you not understand the issues from yesterday?"

  According to a recent report, the lack of knowledge about US history, politics, and economics among college students amounts to a "crisis." That alarm sounds periodically, and it's spurring a wide range of responses - some of which simply give better opportunities to students whose civic impulses already run deep. For example:

  - Legislation introduced recently in the US House and Senate would establish the nation's first Public Service Academy. Students at the college would have their education subsidized by the federal government in exchange for five years of service in government or nonprofit jobs after graduation. The idea came from former Teach for America participants Chris Myers Asch and Shawn Raymond…” by Stacy A. Teicher, 10/26/06, The Christian Science Monitor.

  November 20, 2006

• The Pew Charitable Trust announces the following:
  
  - Pew to Host Release of Electionline.org Analysis and Panel Discussion on Improving America's Elections: Invitation to Electionline.org briefing on November 29, 2006.
  
  - Youth Voter Turnout Sharply Up in 2006 Midterm Elections: Estimated Youth Voter Turnout Rate Rises to at Least 24%: CIRCLE finds that at least two million more young people vote than in 2002 midterm elections.
  
  - Young Voter Turnout Up for the Second Major Election in a Row: Young Voter Strategies' exit polling shows that young voter turnout was up by more than 2 million voters over 2002.
  

  November 17, 2006

• American Civic Engagement Survey Data Released
  
  The Center for Democracy and Civil Society has released the data from the U.S. "Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy" (CID) survey, conducted in the spring/summer of 2005, are now publicly available. The survey presents an unusually broad and deep picture of American civic engagement in comparative perspective. Among other themes, it includes a comprehensive set of questions on the composition and diversity of informal social networks, involvement in voluntary associations, democratic values, and tolerance. A subset of the survey was replicated from the European Social Survey (ESS), thus allowing for comparisons between the U.S. and 22 European countries.
  
  The U.S. CID survey was directed by Marc Morjé Howard (Georgetown University), with the assistance of associate directors James L. Gibson (Washington University in St. Louis) and Dietlind Stolle (McGill University).
  
  For more information on the survey, including instructions for downloading the data, see www.uscidsurvey.org . For more on the Center for Democracy and Civil Society (CDACS) at Georgetown University, see http://cdacs.georgetown.edu

  November 16, 2006

• The National Service-Learning Partnership would like to make you aware of the following funding opportunity available through the State Farm Youth Advisory Board:

  The State Farm® Youth Advisory Board has released its Request for Proposal in communities throughout the United States and portions of Canada . Young people, teachers, schools and districts, and community organizations who believe in the power of service-learning to promote academic achievement and address fundamental community problems don't want to miss this opportunity to secure grant funds of $25,000-$100,000 to support well-designed, student-led service-learning projects that structurally impact one of the four issues:

  - Disaster Preparedness
  - Driver Safety
  - Financial Responsibility
  - Access to Higher Education/Closing the Achievement Gap

  In the spirit of its commitment to education excellence, State Farm® created this extraordinary opportunity for young people and the service-learning field. The inaugural 30-member State Farm Youth Advisory Board, comprised of 30 students between the ages of 17-20, was established to design and administer a $5 million annual grant fund to support service-learning projects. Applicants may choose between one-and two-year grant options. The minimum grant amount is $25,000 per year and the maximum grant amount is $100,000 per year.

  ake advantage of this unprecedented opportunity today. Visit the State Farm Youth Advisory Board website to download the request for funding proposals now.

  November 14, 2006

• From the Public Education Network (PEN):

  "The Forgotten History of Immigration"
  
  We have forgotten -- indeed, if we ever really acknowledged -- the immigrant's contributions to American schools, a rich and vibrant history lost in the passage of time and the din of contemporary debates over immigration reform. From curriculum improvements, to the introduction of the trade school, to new ways to financially support public schools, the immigrant has helped propel some of the most significant and enduring changes in the last century in American public schools and in state and federal education policy, many of the changes made out of necessity. Immigrant children at the dawn of the 20th century transformed the institution in less than a generation, writes William Celis. They helped inspire, among other improvements, the permanent residency of school nurses and health clinics, the creation of enhanced civics classes, and free English classes. Innovations at the time, these services are now so standard in American schools that no one living today can remember an age without them. More recently, immigrant groups, civil rights organizations, and other groups have successfully pushed for history textbooks and multicultural curricula that offer, for starters, a wider framing of American history and the contributions of immigrants, an understanding that can only help in our shrinking world. The great irony, of course, is that immigrants today are flocking to the United States not only for jobs; they're also coming for another prize: free education in public schools that many Americans now consider too poor, too bereft of quality, to send their own children to. But even over issues of school quality, Americans can thank the immigrant for the continuing efforts to improve public spending on education. Supporting immigrants' rights and their access to schools and other services is not a popular stand. But in the nascent years of the 21st century, we would be well served in harnessing once again the raw energy and sheer numbers of immigrants to inspire more substantive changes in schools, using their presence, for example, to promote the idea that a good American citizen is, in fact, a citizen of the world, and to send strong messages to children that multilingualism is a meaningful pursuit.
  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2006/10/04/06celis.h26.html

  November 13, 2006

• "Youth Movement at the Polls"

  Early returns form Tuesday's elections show that young people were particularly inspired to cast ballots, a result that drew cheers from voter activist.

  Two million more people under the age of 30 voted in the midterm elections than in 2002, according to Maryland 's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

  Twenty-four percent of those 18 to 29 who were eligible voted, the center concluded, up from 20 percent in 2002. The increase is the largest ever among young voters for midterm elections, and it dwarfed the 1 percent rise among the electorate overall from 2002 to 2006.

  Turnout more than doubled in 36 precincts where nonpartisan young-voter groups focused their get-out-the-vote efforts. “It's a pretty strong statement,” said Heather Smith, director of Young Voter Strategies.

  Smith's nonpartisan group, based at George Washington University , delivered grants to organizations that registered 5000,000 voters this year. The groups found that peer-to-peer efforts, rather than telephone calls or mail, are particularly successful in getting young people to vote.

  Exit poll data from the elections suggested that the increase in youth turnout aided Democrats in capturing control of Congress. In House races, young people formed the most supportive age groups, with 61 percent voting Democratic.

  In 2004, young-voter turnout substantially increased, and the 18-to-29 aged groups strongly supported the presidential candidacy of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.). This year's findings have raised hopes among Democrats that this is a voting bloc poised to vote for their party for years to come.

  “We're very excited about this,” said Jane Fleming, executive director of the Young Democrats for America, adding that 2008 “will be the real test.” By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Peter Slevin, 11/12/2006, The Washington Post.

  November 9, 2006

• The Public Education Network (PEN) announces the following:

  - NetAid Global Action Awards for Service Learning and Leadership

  NetAid Global Action Awards honor high school students in the U.S. who have organized and led a project that has impacted people in poor countries, or raised awareness about global poverty in their own communities. The awards celebrate young people who have shown great leadership in areas such as preventing HIV/AIDS, alleviating hunger, and improving access to education. Maximum Award: $5,000 for college expenses or for a charitable cause of their choice. Eligibility: students attending a U.S. high school during the 2005-2006 academic school year. Deadline: November 30, 2006. For more go to: http://www.netaid.org/global_action_awards

  November 8, 2006

• CIRCLE E-UPDATE
  

  - CIRCLE Releases 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Report
  
  The 2006 National Civic and Political Health Survey (CPHS) challenges conventional wisdom and shows that young people are working in many ways to improve their communities and the nation by volunteering, voting, protesting, and raising money for charity and political candidates. In addition, African-American and Asian-American youth are the most engaged. But, the findings also show that a large group of young people are completely disconnected from civic life.
  
  Highlights from the survey include:
  - more than 36 percent of young people aged 15 to 25 volunteered;

  - nearly 20 percent have been involved with solving community problems; and

  - almost a quarter had raised money for charity.
  
  Overall, 1,700 young people ages 15 to 25 were surveyed along with 550 adults ages 26 and older. The survey includes over-samples of young Latinos, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans. The questionnaire for this survey largely replicates one designed by Scott Keeter, Cliff Zukin, Molly Andolina, and Krista Jenkins fielded in 2002.  Funding was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
  
  For more information, click here: http://www.civicyouth.org/research/products/youth_index_2006.htm
  
  
  - Four New CIRCLE Fact Sheets on Civic Engagement and Higher Education

  CIRCLE has recently published several detailed fact sheets that update, refine, and in some respects complicate, our knowledge of the links between college education and civic engagement. The release of these new CIRCLE fact sheets is in conjunction with Campus Compact's 20th Anniversary celebration. Click below for more information: http://www.civicyouth.org/research/areas/higher_ed.htm
  
  
  - Exploring the Link Between Math and Civic Engagement - New exploratory research by CIRCLE grantees Roderick Watts and Omar Guessous of Georgia State University investigates the link between math and civic engagement. The research is based on an evaluation of the Young People's Project (YPP) - a national program that recruits, trains, and deploys high school and college Math Literacy Workers for mentoring middle and elementary school students. To download their CIRCLE Working Paper click http://www.civicyouth.org/research/areas/civic_know.htm
  

  The October edition of CIRCLE's quarterly newsletter can be downloaded from http://www.civicyouth.org.  Included in this issue are articles about CIRCLE's comprehensive survey of youth civic engagement,  quick facts about young voters in the 2006 midterm elections, findings from an extensive evaluation of the Kids Voting USA program, and more.
  
  If you would like to receive a hard copy of CIRCLE's newsletter, please send an email to Dionne Williams at dwillia8@umd.edu with your address.
  

  November 7, 2006

• Young Va. Voters Go High Tech, Show Very High Tolerance: Taylor Elementary Is First in Arlington to Vote Electronically

  “At one Arlington County polling station yesterday, electronic voting was introduced, and it came off like a dream. Turnout was close to 100 percent. All votes were counted. There were no paper receipts -- none were needed -- and no demands for a recount.

  That could have been because the voters were 11 and younger.

  Yesterday, Taylor Elementary School became the first in Arlington to switch from paper ballots to electronic voting for student council elections. A small room was set up as the polling station, with four laptop computers and wall extensions to keep the voting private, as 575 students lined up to do their civic duty.

  "Is it fun? Is it fun?" asked a breathless Alisha Hiskey, 9, as her fellow fourth-graders filed out. Most nodded that it was…” By Tara Bahrampour, 11/07/06, The Washington Post.

  
  
• America 's Crisis of Confidence: Survey Finds Doubts About Leaders, and Nation's Safety

  "Here's something to think about when you cast your vote today: A new study shows that Americans have lost faith in the people who lead their federal, state and local governments, and in businesses, churches and schools. And they are afraid to fly.

  "America is in trouble," reads the introduction to the 2006 National Leadership Index, sponsored by U.S. News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. According to the report, nearly three-quarters of Americans think that the nation faces a "leadership crisis."

  This is the survey's second year, and it has been downhill all the way, said Todd Pittinsky, the center's research director. "Most groups are following the general trend of having low confidence and, if anything, having that confidence slip further."

  The only leaders who earn more than a smidgen of Americans' confidence, the researchers say, are those in the military and medical fields. (Confidence in the media didn't slip, but it was in the sewer already.)

  "We could have asked about grandmothers," Pittinsky said. "Maybe we could have had more confidence in grandmothers."

  The researchers hope the survey will "contribute to our ongoing civic dialogue -- deepening our understanding of ourselves and the pressing need for effective, responsible democratic leadership…" By Elizabeth Williamson, 11/07/06, The Washington Post.
  
  
• The League of Women's Voter Education Fund announces VOTE411.org. At this site you can find information on voting across the country including: election information, ballot measures, candidate information, polling place details and more. Go to http://www.vote411.org

• The Forum for Youth Investment announced the following regarding youth development:

  “On October 9th and 10th, the Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth (CCFY) in collaboration with the New Mexico Community Foundation and the Forum for Youth Investment hosted an institute on youth engagement to explore strategies for community foundations to engage young people as individuals, citizens, resources, and key constituents in their communities, particularly in program and policy decision-making. CCFY brought seven community foundation teams from across the country and one Canadian foundation to New Mexico to share strategies on how they involve young people in their work and to learn from the New Mexico Community Foundation (NMCF) about how they are engaging youth at every level of systems change work in NMCF's “Youth Initiative.” Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the “Youth Initiative” is a five year process that is building capacity within New Mexico through the development of a statewide infrastructure to support positive youth development. The Forum's participation as a co-sponsor of the Institute was made possible as part of a grant from the Surdna Foundation to strengthen the capacity of traditional youth and community organizations to engage youth.”

  To read this article and more go to: http://www.forumfyi.org

  November 6, 2006

• The Ion Ratiu Democracy Lecture will be held on November 30, 2006 from 4:30 – 6:00 pm at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington , D.C.

  Lecture Title: ‘Are There Democracy Lessons Arabs can Learn from Eastern Europe ?' 

  Featuring the Recipient of the 2006 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award, Saad El-Din
  Ibrahim Introduction by: Ambassador Joseph B. Gildenhorn and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed.
  
  Reception to follow. Open to the public. R.S.V.P at IonRatiu-Lecture@wilsoncenter.org  

  November 2, 2006

• The following election reform articles have been added to the Pew Charitable Trust's Advancing Policy Solutions website:

  10/24/2006 - Nonpartisan Research Group Finds Potential for Trouble at Polls: New machines, procedures and close races could add up to a difficult Election Day in November 2006. Read more at: http://www.pewtrusts.org/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?content_item_id=3699&content_type_id=7&issue_name=Election%20reform&issue=45&page=7&WT.mc_id=10/30/2006
  
  10/24/2006 - Election Preview 2006: What's Changed, What Hasn't and Why: Report finds the November 7, 2006 election has the possibility—if not certainty—of problems at polls nationwide. Read more at: http://www.pewtrusts.org/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?content_item_id=3700&content_type_id=8&issue_name=Election%20reform&issue=45&page=8&WT.mc_id=10/30/2006

  November 1, 2006

• CIRCLE announces the following:

  - Kids Voting Research Shows Lasting Impact of Civic Education
  
  Kids Voting USA (KVUSA) is a curriculum that helps several million students to study and discuss politics and issues and then participate in mock elections.
  
  An ongoing evaluation by Michael McDevitt of the University of Colorado and Spiro Kiousis of the University of Florida has provided important evidence about civic learning, thanks to their rigorous, quasi-experimental research design. The evaluators compared students exposed to Kids Voting with similar students not in the program. The latest product of their research is a CIRCLE Working Paper (#49) "Experiments in Political Socialization: Kids Voting USA as a Model for Civic Education Reform."  The paper can be download from: http://www.civicyouth.org/research/areas/hs_civic.htm
  

  - Effective Youth GOTV Tactics for Campaigns and Advocates Revealed
  

  CIRCLE and Young Voter Strategies have collaborated to create a booklet on how to turn out young voters. The booklet compiles research on get-out-the-vote efforts, with information about the cost of each effort in producing an additional young voter. Canvassing, phone calls, and direct-mail are the methods outlined in the booklet.  To download the booklet click here: http://www.civicyouth.org/quick/youth_voting.htm