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

October 29, 2004

• "Just Vote!" from the National Constituion Center offers a set of five lessons to encourage student involvement in the political process (Grades 9-12). Among the topics: what is a good law, the Constitution's role in evaluating laws, what is a good citizen, the history of suffrage, and skills required of an informed voter. (NCC) For more information go to: http://www.constitutioncenter.org/education/TeachingAids/JustVote!.shtml.

  October 22, 2004
  

• Brookings-Princeton Fall Election 2004 Series:

  - "Voter Mobilization and Turnout"
  Fourth in a series of roundtable discussions on the election being sponsored by the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. To be held on Friday, October 29, 10:00am, Falk Auditorium
  http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20041029.htm

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

• Audio Conference on Civic Engagement. The Forum for Youth Investment is pleased to announce the third installment in their Out-of-School Time Audio Conference series, to be held Thursday, October 28, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. (EST). In this discussion, they focus on civic engagement and what it looks like in the context of out-of-school time programs. They will discuss the engagement of young people of all ages as well as the valuable role that adult volunteers play during out-of-school time. National leaders will weigh in on a series of important questions, including: Is civic engagement a core skill? What does civic engagement during out-of-school time look like? Can service-learning bridge school and out-of-school contexts? What policy opportunities exist for strengthening civic engagement opportunities during out-of-school time?

  Guest speakers scheduled for this audio conference include:
  - Karen Pittman, the Forum for Youth Investment
  - Adrian Haugabrook, Citizen Schools University
  - Kenneth Holdsman, The National Service Learning Partnership based at the Academy for Educational Development
  - Shirley Sagawa, Sagawa/Jospin Consultants

  This opportunity is open and free to the public, however, space is limited! To register online for the Civic Engagement Audio Conference, call 303-928-3133 or go to:
  http://onsitepro.theconferencedepot.com/iccdocs/seminarDesc.shtml?id=215346&mode=cal&tz=EST

  October 20, 2004

• The Centre for Policy and Practice announces the Practioner's Conference on Civic Education to be held in New Orleans at the Hotel InterContinental, January 13th through 15th, 2005. They are also reminding of the proposal deadline of October 31, 2004 for workshops and roundtables. This interdisciplinary conference will draw together K-12 educators and counselors, university teacher educators, state coordinators and policy makers, school and university administrators and staff from youth-serving community based organizations. Work includes: service-learning, moral education, character education, democratic education, violence prevention and substance abuse prevention. All attendees are expected to register for the conference. The registration fee includes two lunches and two breakfasts as well as breaks. The registration fees are discounted for people who stay in the conference hotel.

  Potential workshop topics could examine general types of civic education like service-learning, character education, moral education or democratic education. They could also examine how to: develop student leadership, foster democratic classrooms, or work with specific student populations (class type, ages, etc.). Workshops could also focus on management issues like: involving volunteers, grant-writing, public relations or fostering partnerships with other agencies, schools or universities. For more information on the conference, including hotel information, travel information, registration information, presentation formats and to submit a proposal on-line, go to: http://www.civicedconf.org/practice.html.
  

  October 20, 2004
  

• Two Announcements from Education Week:

  - Election 2004. Education Week has continuing coverage of education developments in the 2004 campaign. Go to: http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/election-2004/index.html

  - Study Rekindles Debate on Value of After-School Programs. Researchers who drafted a hotly debated report last year have released further study results suggesting that such programs have little academic benefit. Go to: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/10/13/07afterschool.h24.html
  

  October 19, 2004

• Four announcements from the Brookings Institution:

  - Educating Citizens: International Perspectives on Civic Values and School
  Choice, by Patrick J. Wolf and Stephen Macedo, editors, with David J. Ferrero and
  Charles Venegoni.

  - "Is Voter Registration Up Everywhere in America?" a paper by Michael P.
  McDonald.

  - "Third Presidential Debate Analysis"an interview with Thomas E. Mann; The Diane Rehm Show (10/14/04)
  

  - "Second Presidential Debate Analysis"
  interview with Thomas E. Mann; The Diane Rehm Show (10/11/04)
  

  October 18, 2004
  

• 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. Also, the workshop proposal deadline in November 8. For more information go to: http://www.communityschools.org or contact lindsaym@iel.org.

  October 15, 2004

• Service-Learning Advances announces the following resources and tools:

  - Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Presents educators with an opportunity to teach youth in the U.S how to become better global citizens. The month-long campaign involves youth learning about the needs of children worldwide, followed by an effort to raise funds for these children. Materials that supplement Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF -- including lesson plans, videos, posters, worksheets, and an overview of service-learning -- help educators connect the campaign to their current educational efforts.

  - Free Service-Learning Toolbox. The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory offers a service-learning toolbox, a guide consisting of checklists and worksheets to help educators plan and implement service-learning programs. The guide addresses issues divided into four key areas: preparation, action, formal evaluation, and online resources.
  

  - Free Service-Learning Online Course. A free online course, created by the California State University, Chico, helps facilitate the practice of service-learning. The course includes an overview of service-learning, a structure for service-learning integration, and tools for curriculum assessment. Although the course is specially designed for K-12 student teachers, anyone interested in learning about, or teaching, service-learning is invited to use this resource.

  For more information on resources go to: http://www.service-learningpartnership.org/publications/sla_resources.cfm
  

  October 14, 2004

• No Vote Left Behind.Org is a newly formed nonprofit founded by teachers dedicated to empowering children to educate their families, neighbors, and friends about getting registered to vote and participating in democracy. The organization is dedicated to educating children and empowering the disenfranchised voters of the United States of America to get registered, get informed, and make their voices heard by participating in the democratic process and voting.

  They will provide free lesson plans and children's books for teachers. As an organization founded by educators, the immediate goal is to provide K-6 teachers with free classroom lessons that get students excited about the democratic process while teaching the civic responsibility of voting. Eventually offer will extend into a K-12 program. For more information go to: http://www.novoteleftbehind.org.
  

  October 13, 2004
  

• Brookings-Princeton Fall Election 2004 Series "The 2004 Presidential Elections: How Much Do Issues Influence the Vote?" On Friday, October 15, two days after the final presidential debate, the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs will convene a panel discussion to assess the effects of policy issues on the outcome of elections. The event is the third in a series of roundtable discussions on the election being sponsored by Brookings and Princeton. For more information go to:

  October 12, 2004

• Growing Voters and Election 2004 offers a free set of materials for any teacher who would like to use them -- grades 1-12. This last month running up to the Presidential election is a great opportunity to engage schoolkids, from 1st graders to high school seniors, in the significance of our political process and to literally cultivate voters for future elections. Whether it's in English, Math, Social Studies, or Art class any interested teacher can incorporate election activities as the content for skills they need to teach in the next month - writing, debate, research, analysis, presentation, probabilities, graphing, prediction, graphic arts, e-publishing, etc. Electing our President shouldn't be boring or ignored.

  This curriculum project was developed over the summer with teachers from around the country studying in a Master's Degree program at Lesley Univesity's School of Education to promote the use of the November election in their classrooms. The wide range of election activities for teachers to use are now available through either the University's home page http://www.lesley.edu (follow the link) which has a story and press release on the election curriculum project, or go directly to the materials at http://www.lesley.edu/election04.
  

  October 11, 2004

• REMINDER: The Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development (ALO), in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), due date for a special project to conduct quantitative research and analysis related to USAID's democracy and governance programs is October 12, 2004. There will be one 10-month award of up to $300,000.

  The aim of the project is to enhance the state of the art of democracy and governance assistance and provide new data and insights to academics, democracy implementers, and donors. It is anticipated that this research and analysis will help USAID determine whether, how and under what circumstances there is a relationship between democracy programs and various aspects of political change in targeted countries, and provide data useful for subsequent in-depth country and activity-level comparisons that will follow. The research should provide the foundation for a sustainable data set on USAID and other donor democracy and governance programming and quantitative country measures related to development. Go to: http://www.aascu.org/alo.
  

  October 8, 2004

• Service-Learning Advances announces the following funding and award opportunities:

  Youth Leaders for Literacy. The National Education Association (NEA) and Youth Service America will award $500 grants for youth-initiated community service projects promoting literacy. Youth and young adults (age 21 or younger) can apply individually or in groups. Projects should begin on NEA's Read Across America Day in March and end no earlier than Youth Service America's National Youth Service Day in April. Deadline: October 22, 2004.
  

  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Grants. These grants seek recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a day of service by encouraging Americans to unite on this day in providing service to their communities. The Corporation of National and Community Service will award three to five grants of at least $100,000 to eligible applicants. These grantees will in turn subgrant to local organizations or fund separate events to plan and implement at least 10 service activities on January 17, 2005. Deadline: October 12, 2004.
  
  For more funding and awards go to: http://www.service-learningpartnership.org/publications/sla_funding.cfm
  

  October 7, 2004

• CALL FOR SCHOLARS DEADLINE: The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University recognizes scholars whose scholarship contributes to advancing the understanding of or adoption of service-learning, with specific emphasis on K-12 education. Areas of emphasis for the upcoming November 12, 2004 John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning application deadline include the following:

  1) Critical Issues and Priorities: Seeking research-based and significant conceptual papers that expand our understanding of critical issues and priorities affecting the implementation and/or sustainability of service-learning in K-12 education.

  2) 2004 International Conference on Service-Learning Research: Recognition of scholarship excellence among conference presenters. This is an open paper topic but should have a bearing on the understanding and adoption of service-learning in K-12 education.

  Applicants should submit a copy of their curriculum vitae and a copy of a single paper upon which the selection review will be based. We encourage submittal of papers that are new scholarship and welcome papers that may appear in other sources (reprint permission required). Submissions should not exceed 40 pages of double-spaced, typewritten copy including references, tables, and figures. Content and style should be of a high quality appropriate for publication in a professional journal (American Psychological Association 5th edition style manual guidelines preferred).

  Selection as a Scholar will carry an honorarium of $1000; recipients will also be recognized as a John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning. Scholar selections will be featured on the Institute's website and publicized on a national level with specific attention focused on papers submitted as part of the selection process. Each paper will generate up to four different 1-2 page advisories tailored to relevant groups and in formats that are immediately accessible to teachers, the media, policy makers, or grant makers.

  Go to: for information on application submission and additional details regarding the John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning.
  

  October 6, 2004
  

• Campus Compact Higher Education Leaders to Launch Civic Learning Campaign. "More than 100 college and university presidents, chancellors, trustees and legislators from across the country will gather Oct. 5-6, 2004, at the Carmel Valley Ranch to launch The Campaign for Civic Learning in College. Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, former director of Peace Corps under President Clinton, and current chairman of the board of Campus Compact, will host the event with Peter Smith, president of the California State University, Monterey Bay and a former legislator from Vermont. Former congressman Leon Panetta, Rep. Doug Hart, R-Mich., John Laird, Democratic member of the California State Assembly, and others will address the need to strengthen the citizenship skills and practices of college students, such as voting, civic dialogue and community service…" October 1, 2004, Ascribe Newswire.
  
  
• 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.

  09/26/2004 - Lost Generation: Why do Young Voters Stay Away From the Ballot Box?: An article from the Metro West Daily News.
  

  09/27/2004 - At 25 Million Strong, Young Adults Coaxed to Flex at the Polls: An article from the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
  

  09/26/2004 - Economy, War Propel Young Adults to Go to Polls: An article from the Lansing State Journal.
  
  09/24/2004 - Politicians Storm Michigan Campuses to Get Out Vote: An article from the Detroit News.
  
  09/24/2004 - Politicians Urge Students to Vote, Become Involved: An article from the Iowa State Daily.
  

  09/26/2004 - Voter Registration on the Rise: An article from the Coloradoan.
  

  09/30/2004 - Young People More Engaged, More Uncertain; Debates More Important to Young Voters: A poll about young people's engagement in the upcoming presidential election.
  

  09/30/2004 - Young Voters Submit More Than 5,000 Questions to Presidential Youth Debate: A press release about young people's involvement in a youth debate
  

  October 5, 2004

• No Kidding: This May Be the Year For a Youthful Turnout. "The late senator Jennings Randolph, the Democrat from West Virginia who championed the right of 18-year-olds to vote for more than 30 years in the House and the Senate, was once asked whether he was worried that young people would shake up the status quo. "Differences do not alarm me," he said. "It is only when people are indifferent that I have great concern." Randolph worked tirelessly to engage young people in the political process and finally, in 1971, secured passage of the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18… The youth vote is finding its voice again. The movement to engage young people politically has learned from a decade of trial-and-error efforts. It has capitalized on an unusually close and important presidential race to become a force of unprecedented size and sophistication, led by a network of experienced, committed advocates who have been able to attract big money and media attention to their cause. It still faces the formidable tasks of convincing a population estranged from politics that voting is worthwhile, and persuading politicians to pay attention to an unpredictable segment of the electorate and its largely ignored issues…" By Jane Eisner, October 3, 2004, The Washington Post.
  
  
• Service-Learning Advances announces the following: http://www.service-learningpartnership.org

  - The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools is looking for high-quality examples of civic-related service-learning. Your submissions will publicize your work and help improve civic learning in public schools. The Campaign encourages a broad understanding of civic learning, including service-learning practices preparing students for civic participation. For more information and to submit your practice, go to http://www.civicmissionofschools.org/submissions.html

  - Service-Learning Federal Funding Update. In July, the House Appropriations Committee recommended a $3 million cut to Learn and Serve America and voted to make $40 million available to support service-learning at the state and local levels. Service-learning fared slightly better in the Senate. On September 21, members of the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to provide $43 million for Learn and Serve America. This is the same level of funding Learn and Serve America has received since 1993. Seasoned congressional staff members argue that maintaining the same level of funding is a legislative victory since several programs were cut or eliminated in such a tough fiscal climate. Both bills must now be considered on the floor of both the House and Senate before representatives from the House and Senate meet in conference to determine an amount on which they both can agree.

  - U.S House Launches New Caucus to Support National Service. A new bipartisan coalition of members of the U.S. House of Representatives was launched on Tuesday, September 14. The National Service Congressional Caucus is co-chaired by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT), Harold Ford (D-TN), Tom Osborne (R-NE), and David Price (D-NC). The mission of the caucus is to move national service forward as part of the nation's domestic agenda by broadening and deepening existing bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the Senior Corps. Through these service initiatives, citizens of all ages work to improve their communities and country. The National Service-Learning Partnership is working with other national service and service-learning advocates to inspire and recruit other members of the House of Representatives to join the caucus. Email nslp@aed.org to learn how to invite your member of the House of Representatives to join the National Service Congressional Caucus.
  

  October 4, 2004
• TEACHERS URGED TO BRING 2004 ELECTION INTO THE CLASSROOM
  A new web-based resource for teachers will help bring the 2004 elections into classrooms nationwide. "Growing Voters and Election 2004: Complete Materials for Teachers, Grades 1-12," includes free downloadable lesson plans, activities, websites, rubrics and more. Any teacher can access the curriculum online. Teachers will find a broad range of original, ready-to-use lesson plans and activity-based curricular materials designed to help them integrate the 2004 election immediately into their classrooms. Units include one in which students mount a "Civic Lemonade Stand," another in which they research and produce Why Vote pamphlets and set up voter information/registration tables in their communities, and others in which students learn graphing skills by plotting poll results. The Growing Voters curriculum was developed and compiled by classroom teachers from around the country under the direction of Lesley University Professor Jo-Anne Hart. All of the materials are organized around essential questions, accompanied by well-developed rubrics and aligned to national standards. The units can be used in parts or as a whole and are designed to foster collaboration within and between classes, grades, schools, districts and states. In addition to the lesson plans, the site also contains a list of links to free, fully vetted web-based resources that teachers and students will find valuable in teaching and learning about the 2004 election. The technology required for these lessons and activities is fairly basic: Internet access, and basic Microsoft Office tools such as Word, PowerPoint and spreadsheets. For more information go to: http://www.lesley.edu/election04/.
  
  
• NETDAY SPEAK UP DAY FOR STUDENTS 2004: REGISTER NOW
  Help your students' voices be heard by joining this online event where students across the country speak out about using technology and the Internet. NetDay, a national non-profit organization, is launching a revised survey with an exciting goal to collect input from 500,000 students on the issues that matter to them and to you. Schools can register starting September 23. The survey will be open for student input from October 11-29. For more information go to: http://www.netday.org/.
  

  October 1, 2004

• New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate. "George W. Bush and John Kerry have agreed to participate in an online debate in the last weeks of the campaign, taking previously un-asked questions directly from young voters. The New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate will allow young voters to propose questions and then vote on which questions the candidates have to answer…Young voters are being asked to submit questions online at http://www.newvotersproject.org. After thirteen days of submitting questions, young Americans will vote online for the top 12 questions to be answered by George W. Bush and John Kerry….The New Voters Project, a project of the State PIRGs and The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, is the largest grassroots youth voter mobilization campaign in history." For more information go to: http://www.newvotersproject.org.