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SPECIAL
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Advocacy Statements Supporting Civic Education | |
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NACE Steering Committee Find out more -> NACE
Task Forces Fellowships and Grants Find out more -> Special
Focus Section (past issues):
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What's New in Civic Education and
Youth Civic Engagement Work .... (To
see previous What's New announcements go to: Archives) May
12, 2008 The
Brookings Institution announces the following: "The
Impact and Future of AmeriCorps" Date/Time:
Tuesday, May 13, 2008; 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Since
the launch of AmeriCorps in 1994, more than a half million Americans
have served in the program and helped support local nonprofits and
communities in activities across a range of issues, including education,
poverty alleviation and disaster support. On May 13, the Brookings
Institution and the Corporation for National and Community Service
(CNCS) will host a forum with leading policy and public service
experts about the role of AmeriCorps in helping to create future
public service leaders. As part of the briefing, CNCS will release
a new study that evaluates AmeriCorps' long-term impact on members.
The
program will feature remarks by U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and
a presentation of the new study results by Robert Grimm of CNCS.
Panelists include David Eisner of CNCS; Paul Light, New York University
and Brookings; Janet Murguia, Council of La Raza; and Roxanne Spillett,
Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Stephen Goldsmith of CNCS will
provide concluding remarks. Lael Brainard, vice president and director
of Global Economy and Development will provide introductory remarks
and Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne will moderate. After the program,
panelists will take audience questions. For
more go to: http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/0513_americorps.aspx?emc=lm&m=215464&l=67&v=29494 Email:
events@brookings.edu May
9, 2008 The
Center for Social and Emotional Education (CSEE) and the City University
of New York School of Professional Studies announce the 8th annual
summer institute "Promoting Safe and Civil Schools: Creating
the Foundation for Positive Youth Development and Student Achievement
in K-12 Education. The summer institute will be held on July 8-10,
2000 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, New York, NY. This
three day Institute is designed to support school teams and individuals
developing school climate improvement plans to promote safe and
civil schools that support positive youth development, democratic
school communities, student learning and achievement. The Institute
is organized around a process model of school climate improvement
based on measurement and focused change and the use of evidence-based
practices. Sessions will cover both the process model and the kinds
of practices that have been found to effectively promote safe and
civil schools. The
Institute will provide important research-based guidelines and resources
for school teams and individuals to reflect on current practice
and develop new plans to promote safe and civil schools, and to
measure and improve school climate. Research shows that when schools
engage in these processes over time, student achievement, civic
engagement and positive youth development significantly increase
and school violence decreases. For
more go to: Promoting
Safe and Civil Schools May
8, 2008 The
Pew Charitable Trust's Public Opinion announces the following: Party
Identification Among Young Voters Trends
in the opinions of America's youngest voters are often a barometer
of shifting political winds. And that appears to be the case in
2008. The current generation of young voters, who came of age during
the George W. Bush years, is leading the way in giving the Democrats
a wide advantage in party identification, just as the previous generation
of young people who grew up in the Reagan years -- Generation X
-- fueled the Republican surge of the mid-1990's. In
surveys conducted between October 2007 and March 2008, 58% of voters
under age 30 identified or leaned toward the Democratic Party, compared
with 33% who identified or leaned toward the GOP. The Democratic
Party's current lead in party identification among young voters
has more than doubled since the 2004 campaign, from 11 points to
25 points. In
fact, the Democrats' advantage among the young is now so broad-based
that younger men as well as younger women favor the Democrats over
the GOP -- making their age category the only one in the electorate
in which men are significantly more inclined to self-identify as
Democrats rather than as Republicans. While
more women voters in every age group affiliate with the Democratic
Party rather than the GOP, the gap is particularly striking among
young women voters; more than twice as many women voters under age
30 identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party as favor the
Republican Party (63% vs. 28%). Read
the full report Gen
Dems: The Party's Advantage Among Young Voters Widens on the
Pew Research Center Web site. Use the center's interactive tool
to track generational differences in party affiliation over time. By
Scott Keeter, Juliana Horowitz and Alec Tyson, April 28, 2008, The
Pew Research Center May
6, 2008 CIRCLE
announces the following: 1)
CIRCLE is Hiring: Lead Researcher Position Available CIRCLE
is hiring for the position of Lead Researcher. In July of 2008,
CIRCLE will become part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship
and Public Service at Tufts University which prepares students in
all fields of study for lifetimes of active citizenship, promotes
new knowledge in the field, and builds an enduring and broadly shared
ethos of citizenship and public service across Tufts University. The
CIRCLE Lead Researcher's responsibilities include serving as the
lead quantitative researcher on a range of CIRCLE research projects
that may include secondary data-analysis, literature reviews, field
experiments, and original surveys. Other areas of responsibility
include: -
Producing reports, fact sheets and press releases on timely and
relevant topics, often in close collaboration with CIRCLE colleagues; For
more information, click here http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=293 2)
276,000 Young Voters Participate in Pennsylvania Democratic Primary CIRCLE
estimates that at least 14 percent of eligible Pennsylvania citizens
under the age of 30 participated in the state's 2008 Democratic
primary. Young voters supported Democratic candidate Barack Obama.
In Pennsylvania, unlike other states, we can only estimate the level
of participation in the Democratic primary since there were no Republican
exit polls conducted. To
read more, click http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=286 May
5, 2008 Citizenship
Matters, released by the National Center on Learning and Citizenship
at Education Commission of the States, highlights the following: -
Oregon City Service-Learning Academy (OCSLA) is a district-initiated
charter high school that incorporates community service into its
academic program. This is a school with high academic standards,
and a curriculum and performance-based assessments that are aligned
with Oregon Academic Content Standards. District superintendent
Roger Rada explains that the school does "everything possible
to give students a sense of power over their own learning."
Read more about this innovative school in this month's Guest Column. -
Maine Governor John Baldacci signed into law a bill (LD 2130) which
directs the Secretary of State to work with the Legislative Youth
Advisory Council in developing a program to distribute informational
literature about voting to public high schools. May
2 , 2008 Reminder:
National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation: Austin, Texas,
October 3-5. Proposals
are now being accepted for: -
Concurrent Workshops (unique, engaging sessions that highlight the
best the dialogue and deliberation community has to offer) -
Innovations (innovative projects/strategies that address some of
the biggest challenges and issues faced in the field; you will be
matched with other innovators with similar topics to organize joint
collaborative sessions at the conference) -
Networking Topics and Facilitators (topics you're really into, so
you can meet others who share your same interests during a fun,
structured networking session) For
more details about these three opportunities, and the forms for
submitting proposals and ideas are at www.thataway.org/events/.
The
deadline for submitting workshop proposals and innovations is Friday,
May 16th. The deadline for submitting networking topics and signing
up to facilitate topics is July 19th. A
Q&A-type conference call for people who have questions about
these opportunities is being held on Tuesday, May 6th at 11 am EST.
The long distance call-in number for both calls is 1-712-580-8020,
and the access code is 444839. Register
before May 16th to get the super-low early rate of only $300. Registration
details can be found at www.thataway.org/
April
30, 2008 Citizenship
Lesson From the Top: Chief of Federal Office Reaches Out to Immigrant
Teens "They
impressed him with their knowledge of President Bush's Cabinet and
ability to give numerous examples illustrating the U.S. system of
checks and balances. But it was their tough questions -- "Why
can't legal immigrants have the right to vote?" and "If
immigrants are so important, why are some being sent back out of
the country?" -- that really got Alfonso Aguilar's attention.
Aguilar,
chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship, met with 30 teenage immigrants
yesterday at Gaithersburg High School for a 90-minute civics lesson
and question-and-answer session in which the students took full
advantage of their right to hold their government officials accountable.
Aguilar's
appearance in Gaithersburg is part of the government's push to reach
out to the immigrant community and encourage its members to learn
English and embrace American political culture. The effort comes
as record numbers are applying for citizenship…" By Lori
Aratani, April 30, 2008, The Washington Post. April
29, 2008 Democrats
Registering In Record Numbers Raleigh,
N.C. - "They lined up shoulder to shoulder inside the gray
high-rise downtown, their politics as diverse as their backgrounds.
An ex-felon who needs health insurance, followed by a high school
student seeking empowerment, followed by a Marine Corps veteran
who wants to prevent his country from crumbling. Like
hundreds of others, their quests led them to the Wake County voter
services office this month to register as Democrats for the first
time. The line of newcomers that snaked across the checkered tile
floor was emblematic of those that have formed across the country
this year: black voters, young voters, lifelong Republicans switching
parties -- all registering in record numbers, and all aligning as
Democrats…" Eli Saslow, April 28, 2008, The Washington
Post. April
28, 2008 "Youth
and Politics: Strange Bedfellows? Comparative Perspectives on Political
Socialization" International
Conference, Bruges, 3-4 July 2008 Organized
by the 'Comparative Youth Survey' project Catholic University of
Leuven (Belgium) Are
young people still interested in politics? This question has been
posed again and again, not just in the political discourse but also
in the recent scholarly literature on political socialization. The
least one can say is that there are solid indications that something
is wrong with the relationship between young people and institutional
politics. In most advanced democracies electoral turnout is declining
sharply, especially among young voters. Political parties and social
movement organizations have a hard time trying to mobilize young
members. According to some accounts, young citizens are even responsible
for the bulk of the decline of social capital in Western societies. On
the other hand, there are also more optimistic assessments of the
political evolution among young people. While political participation
might be less appealing for adolescents, civic engagement is stable,
and may even be on the rise. Young citizens today seem to prefer
non-institutionalized forms of practicing politics. Skeptic observers,
however, would argue that these new forms of engagement tend to
be superficial and short-lived, while it remains to be seen whether
non-institutionalized forms of participation are indeed effective. Within
the current literature, lots of research questions remain open.
Is there indeed an all-out decline of social participation among
young people, or do we fail to understand the way a new generation
of citizens tries to make sense of current social trends? Do young
people still target political institutions if they want to bring
about social change? Can we still assume that civic education strengthens
the political socialization of adolescents, and if so, what kind
of educational practices are most successful? How do we take account
of the influence of new media like the internet and various forms
of do-it-yourself activism? These
are the questions that are central in this two day international
conference in the historical city of Bruges. The conference brings
together perspectives from political science, sociology, communication
studies, educational science and other disciplines. The conference
is centered on nine workshop sessions, assembling state of the art
scientific research, in Europe, America and Australia. The
Conference is organized by the 'Comparative Youth Survey' project,
at the Catholic University of Leuven, in co-operation with McGill
University (Montreal) and Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca,
Romania). The project is funded by the Flemish Fund for Scientific
Research and the University of Leuven Research Council. PROGRAM
(v. 07 04 2008) Bruges
(Belgium), 3-4 July 2008 Thursday
3rd July -
Constance Flanagan (Pennsylvania State University): Schools as Mini
Polities: Nurturing Democratic Dispositions and Social Trust -
Murray Print (University of Sydney): Can Civic Education build Youth
Engagement through the Informal School Curriculum? Dietlind
Stolle (McGill University, t.b.c.): Youth--the Losers of Social
Capital or the Winners in Diverse Societies? 12.00
- 13.00 Lunch Friday
4, July April
25, 2008 The
Public Education Network (PEN) weekly NewsBlast announces the following: "Youth
Award for Outstanding Activism in Environmental and Social Justice" For
more go to: http://www.broweryouthawards.org/article.php?list=type&type=12 "International
Youth Foundation YouthActionNet Fellows" For
more go to: http://youthactionnet.org/index.php?fuse=aboutfellowship April
23, 2008 National
Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation: Austin, Texas, October
3-5. This
conference brings together leaders and future leaders in public
engagement and conflict resolution to share resources and strategies,
build lasting relationships, increase the visibility and effectiveness
of their work, tackle challenges facing this emerging field, and
initiate collaborative projects. Proposals
are now being accepted for: -
Concurrent Workshops (unique, engaging sessions that highlight the
best the dialogue and deliberation community has to offer) -
Innovations (innovative projects/strategies that address some of
the biggest challenges and issues faced in the field; you will be
matched with other innovators with similar topics to organize joint
collaborative sessions at the conference) -
Networking Topics and Facilitators (topics you're really into, so
you can meet others who share your same interests during a fun,
structured networking session) For
more details about these three opportunities, and the forms for
submitting proposals and ideas are at www.thataway.org/events/.
The
deadline for submitting workshop proposals and innovations is Friday,
May 16th. The deadline for submitting networking topics and signing
up to facilitate topics is July 19th. A
Q&A-type conference call for people who have questions about
these opportunities is being held on Tuesday, May 6th at 11 am EST.
The long distance call-in number for both calls is 1-712-580-8020,
and the access code is 444839. Register
before May 16th to get the super-low early rate of only $300. Registration
details can be found at www.thataway.org/
April
22, 2008 Students
Who Receive A Better Education Are More Civically Engaged According
to new research from the Center for Information & Research on
Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), 79 percent of young voters
on Super Tuesday attended college. This is so remarkable because
half of Americans ages 18 through 29 have never even enrolled in
higher education. This gap also is prevalent in youth turnout rates
as 25 percent of eligible young voters with college experience voted
on Super Tuesday, compared to one in 14 eligible young voters with
no college experience. Meanwhile, students in higher-income school
districts are about twice as likely as those from average-income
districts to learn how laws are made and how Congress works. Instead
of making things more equal, school systems have exacerbated the
political inequality by providing more opportunities to learn about
politics to higher income students, white students and academically
successful students. For
more go to: http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=275 April
21, 2008 Call
for Emerging Scholars in Service-Learning Applications
are currently being accepted from emerging scholars in the K-12
service-learning field who wish to participate in the 2008 Emerging
Scholars in Service-Learning Works in Progress Seminar, to be held
June 15-17, 2008 at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. Eligibility Applicants
must currently have in progress a formal research paper or project
that advances the study of service-learning in K-12 education. The
research may be at any stage (e.g., building of the conceptual framework,
creating or testing measures, data collection, etc.), but the work
must already be underway. Regardless
of the stage of research being conducted, all applications must
be prepared to submit a written paper by May 30, 2008 that explains
in detail the nature and focus of the research being conducted.
This paper should be consistent with the type of paper presentations
that would be given at research-focused conferences. (For example,
an applicant may wish to present a paper on the application of particular
theories to an investigation s/he is planning to conduct. Another
applicant may wish to present a paper on study findings). Preference
will be given to applicants who have already submitted paper presentation
proposals to the International Service-Learning Research Conference
or another research-related gathering. Emerging Scholars who participated
in the 2007 Works in Progress Seminar are invited to apply to the
2008 Seminar, but must be prepared to discuss a new/different paper
than the one presented last year. Applications
must be accompanied by an official endorsement letter as follows: The
endorsement letter will verify your status as an emerging scholar
and endorse your participation in the seminar. Endorsements will
be submitted via e-mail to the selection committee. For
more information, please go to: http://cyc.brandeis.edu/seminar April
16, 2008 The
Public Education Network (PEN) weekly NewsBlast announces the following: "Do
Something Plum Youth Grants" Do
Something Plum Youth Grants are available to young people who submit
creative proposals to further the growth and success of their existing
community action project. Maximum
Award: $500. Eligibility: Applicant must be 25 or younger at the
time of application. Deadline:
Weekly For
more go to: http://www.dosomething.org/plum_youth_grant_application April
14, 2008 2008
Graduate Student Scholarships for the International Assocation for
Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement are available
for the Conference: Deadline May 2nd IARSLCE
will offer 10 scholarships of $500 for graduate students attending
the 2008 Research Conference. Please see the attached application
for more info, or go to www.researchslce.org - and scroll down in
the "news" column to find the announcement. Registration
costs $300 for grad students and covers all but one meal during
the conference. For
more go to: IARSLCE
Graduate Student Scholarships April
11, 2008 Project
Citizen's Summer Institutes The
Center for Civic Education is accepting applications for Project
Citizen regional institutes for the summer of 2008. These professional
development institutes are open to middle-grade and high school
teachers and community youth group leaders. The institutes prepare
teachers to use Project Citizen in their educational or organizational
setting. Interactive instructional sessions are conducted by master
teachers, university scholars, and public policy experts. To
learn more and to get an application, visit Project Citizen's Professional
Development Page at: http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=project_citizen_regional_institutes. April
10, 2008 CIRCLE
(http://www.civicyouth.org) shares the following: The
Case Foundation has announced the Top 20 finalists for its Make
It Your Own (MIYO) Awards, an innovative grants program that calls
on people to join together to create innovative ideas and solutions
that can lay the groundwork for long-term social change in their
communities. The Top 20 finalists will each receive $10,000 to make
their community dreams come true. The
Case Foundation is now inviting everyone to come online and vote
for the top four awardees. These Final Four will receive an additional
$25,000 to realize their dreams and implement their project. To
vote for the final four finalists, visit http://miyo.casefoundation.org/vote. CIRCLE
has been involved throughout the MIYO planning process and encourages
you to vote by April 22, 2008. As
a special bonus, if the four projects you choose become the Final
Four, you could receive $2,500 for your favorite charity. April
9, 2008 Reminder:
Deadline approaching (April 30) for Green Works! Service Learning
Projects" Project
Learning Tree GreenWorks! offers grants to implement community action
and service-learning projects. GreenWorks! projects should address
an environmental issue and involve students from pre-school to high
school in hands-on community action. Maximum
Award: $5,000. Eligibility: applicant must have received training
in PLT; youth must implement the project; project must integrate
student learning and community service; project must include at
least one community partner, such as a local organization or business;
project must acquire 50% matching funds. For
more go to: http://www.plt.org/cms/pages/21_22_18.html April
7, 2008 The
National Archives invites K-16 educators, librarians, media specialists,
and museum educators to participate in one of seven sessions of
Primarily Teaching, during the summer institute for teachers, this
year. This workshop provides a varied program of lectures, demonstrations,
analysis of documents, independent research, and group work that
introduces teachers to the holdings and organization of the National
Archives. Participants will learn how to do research in historical
records, create classroom material from records, and present documents
in ways that sharpen students' skills and enthusiasm for history,
social studies, and the humanities. Each participant selects and
prepares to research a specific topic, searches the topic in the
records of the National Archives, and develops a teaching unit that
can be presented in his or her own classroom. Presented by staff
of the National Archives and Records Administration at the following
locations: -
The National Archives in Washington, DC, June 24 - July 3, 2008
For
more information and application materials go to: http://www.archives.gov/education/primarily-teaching/ April
4, 2008 Reminder:
Congress in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education
program now in its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen
Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange
of ideas and information on teaching about Congress. The Center
will join with the new Institute for Principled Leadership in Public
Service in conducting the workshop. Congress
in the Classroom is designed for high school or middle school teachers
who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or
social studies. Forty teachers will be selected in 2008 to take
part in the program. Selection will be determined by The Center.
All online applications must be received by no later than April
15, 2008. Individuals will be notified of their acceptance status
by April 30, 2008. In
addition to sessions dealing with Congress, the 2008 program will
pay special attention to the upcoming congressional and presidential
elections. The workshop consists of two types of sessions: those
that focus on recent research and scholarship about Congress or
elections (and don't always have an immediate application in the
classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach students about
Congress or elections. The
workshop will be held Monday, July 21 - Thursday, July 24, at the
Hotel Pere Marquette -- http://www.hotelperemarquette.com/
-- Peoria, Illinois. The
program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education for
up to 22 Continuing Education Units. The program also is endorsed
by the National Council for the Social Studies. The
Center pays for three nights lodging at the headquarters hotel (providing
a single room for each participant), workshop materials, local transportation,
all but three meals, and presenter honoraria and expenses. The Center
spends between $25,000 and $30,000 to host the program each year.
Take
a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm
-- to see what participants say about the program. If
you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom®
2008 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found
at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm. April
3, 2008 Dr.
Shelley H. Billig, Vice President of RMC Research Corporation, and
Robert Shumer, Ph.D, will present "Research: Conducting Research
Right So You Can Write and Publish" as a pre-conference session
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 8:30am at the 11th annual Continuums
of Service Conference. The co-presenters have extensive experience
in research, service-learning, and education. Designing
research in the fields of service-learning and community engagement
is a challenge. Covered in this session are models of service-learning
research using several theoretical and methodological approaches.
Activities are provided to help participants use those models to
decide how to design and implement rigorous research. Participants
will leave the session with a better sense of the types of research
needed to advance the field, how to develop good qualitative, quantitative,
and mixed methods research designs, how to analyze data appropriately,
and how and where they might publish the results. For
more information on this session visit http://www.wacampuscompact.org/conference/sessions.shtml#designing April
1, 2008 The
Public Education Network's Online NewsBlast announces the following: -
"Community Organizing Linked to Increased Student Achievement" For
more go to: http://www.annenberginstitute.org/pdf/OrganizedCommunities.pdf March
31, 2008 An
article on youth vote from yesterday's Washington Post: By
Catherine Rampell Just
before every presidential campaign of the past few decades, the
media have heralded The Year That Young People Will Actually Vote.
Yet each of those years turned out to be a youth turnoff. The last
time more than half of 18-to-24-year-olds voted in a federal election
was 1968. The
hubbub is instigated every election cycle by the youth voter mobilization
movement, led by Rock the Vote and Declare Yourself. These nonpartisan
groups generally try to make voting more palatable in practice and
principle: They make voter registration more convenient, and they
try to make casting a ballot sound fashionably subversive. Both
strategies have failed. This year, though, youth turnout is doing
a turnabout, if numbers from the primaries are any indication. And
it's because where Rock the Vote has gone wrong, Barack Obama has
gone very, very right. Well-meaning
groups for years have held voter registration drives through concerts,
schools, Web sites and cellphones. They have pushed motor voter-type
laws -- contending that the inconvenience of voter registration
discourages otherwise politically gung-ho young'uns. But with the
exception of Election Day registration, removing barriers to registration
generally results not in an increase in youth turnout but, rather,
in a decline in the proportion of those registered who vote. Many
groups concentrate on marketing voting to youths. Through public
service announcements, celebrity endorsements and thugged-out streetwear,
they present voting with a subtext of rebelliousness. Early 20th-century
efforts to motivate voters portrayed casting a ballot as a selfless,
communal act, a sort of fealty to the state and to one's countrymen;
today's youth-oriented efforts tend to present voting as self-interested
and adversarial, a demonstration of rebellion against those running
the state and against one's overbearing, parent-like compatriots.
The ads frequently remind youngsters that voting is an avenue for
"complaining"; a recurring theme is negation and destruction
of the oppressive status quo. Some ads reference censorship of young
voices, depicting youths with their mouths duct-taped shut. Some
memorable ones involve "desecrations" of national symbols
(remember Madonna's 1990 sexed-up American flag ad?). More recent
commercials feature performers crooning angry lyrics to such iconic
American tunes as " My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Maybe
organizers latched on to rebellious imagery because youths often
seek to partake in activities restricted to adults, such as smoking
and drinking. Rebelliousness is the presumed idiom of youth, and
perhaps memories of the 1960s give organizers hope that youthful
insubordination can once again be made politically productive. (This
may explain why youth-vote ads try to resurrect political villains
such as the draft.) But it's hard to imagine a 16-year-old using
a fake ID to sneak into a polling booth. And treating voting as
a way to rise up against "the system" clearly hasn't worked.
Voting
is inherently an act of obedience, an endorsement of the system.
One cannot damn The Man by voting for him. The paradox of "voter
rebellion," if that's what is being advocated, can be made
real only by abstaining. Because of this disconnect between the
rhetoric and the act of voting, in the years since Rock the Vote
launched in 1990, it and other campaigns haven't had any appreciable
effect on youth turnout; in fact, in years when youth turnout rose,
non-youth turnout grew by similar amounts. Until
this year. Research from CIRCLE has found that primary turnout among
18-to-29-year-olds has greatly increased this year compared with
2000, with proportional increases generally greater than those for
over-30 voters. In Maryland, youth turnout grew to 15 percent from
11 percent, while the over-30 turnout inched up to 29 percent from
28 percent. (Good comparison figures for Virginia and the District
are not available.) In many states, such as Missouri and Tennessee,
youth turnout tripled or even quadrupled. The difference is not
a change in Rock the Vote's tactics; the difference is the junior
senator from Illinois. Here's
my pet theory on why Obama energizes young voters. Other efforts
to increase youth turnout have emphasized destruction of the status
quo, but because they are "nonpartisan" they can't promote
any alternative to root for. In contrast, Obama has given youths
a team to join. In making his appeal to young people -- and few
politicians have so directly and repeatedly addressed youth issues,
such as college tuition -- he uses the first-person plural. Just
as he preaches racial unity, so too does he seem to advocate age-based
reconciliation, rather than a generational culture war young people
know they can't win. Obama
emphasizes that political engagement is about being part of something
bigger than oneself, not rebelling against that something bigger.
He does not try to make voting individualistic, retaliatory or "bad-ass."
Voting, like political engagement, is what it is: decent and well-mannered.
Obama may portray himself as an outsider, but he wants to change
things the old-fashioned way -- through idealism and authenticity,
not rock-and-roll and cynicism. In other words, he's made voting
hip by being square. March
28, 2008 The
National Service-Learning Conference Online Advanced Registration
Extended Online
registration has been extended through April 1, 2008, midnight CST.
This means you can still save $100 off onsite registration. This
extended registration is available online only. To register go to:
NSLC
Online Registration. To
view the full schedule of events go to: NSLC
Conference schedule. March
26, 2008 Congress
in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education program
now in its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional
Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information
on teaching about Congress. The Center will join with the new Institute
for Principled Leadership in Public Service in conducting the workshop.
Congress
in the Classroom is designed for high school or middle school teachers
who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or
social studies. Forty teachers will be selected in 2008 to take
part in the program. Selection will be determined by The Center.
All online applications must be received by no later than April
15, 2008. Individuals will be notified of their acceptance status
by April 30, 2008. In
addition to sessions dealing with Congress, the 2008 program will
pay special attention to the upcoming congressional and presidential
elections. The workshop consists of two types of sessions: those
that focus on recent research and scholarship about Congress or
elections (and don't always have an immediate application in the
classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach students about
Congress or elections. The
workshop will be held Monday, July 21 - Thursday, July 24, at the
Hotel Pere Marquette -- http://www.hotelperemarquette.com/
-- Peoria, Illinois. The
program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education for
up to 22 Continuing Education Units. The program also is endorsed
by the National Council for the Social Studies. Participants
are responsible for (1) a non-refundable $135 registration fee (required
to confirm acceptance after notice of selection) and (2) transportation
to and from Peoria, Illinois. Many school districts will pay all
or a portion of these costs. The
Center pays for three nights lodging at the headquarters hotel (providing
a single room for each participant), workshop materials, local transportation,
all but three meals, and presenter honoraria and expenses. The Center
spends between $25,000 and $30,000 to host the program each year.
Take
a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm
-- to see what participants say about the program. If
you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom®
2008 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found
at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm. March
25, 2008 The
Public Education Network's Online NewsBlast announces the following: -
"ESA Grants for Youth Programs" The
ESA Foundation is dedicated to supporting geographically diverse
projects and programs that benefit American youth of all races and
denominations and make a difference in the quality of their life,
health and welfare. The Foundation seeks to harness the collective
power of the interactive entertainment industry to create positive
social impact in our communities, and supports. Maximum
Award: varies. -
"Green Works! Service Learning Projects" Project
Learning Tree GreenWorks! offers grants to implement community action
and service- March
24, 2008 Reminder:
Partnerships in Character Education Program (Federal Register: Under
this program Federal grants support design and implementation of
character education programs that can be integrated into classroom
instruction, that are consistent with State academic content standards.
Such programs may be carried out in conjunction with other educational
reform efforts, and must take into consideration the views of parents,
students, students with disabilities (including those with mental
or physical disabilities), and other members of the community, including
members of private, nonprofit organizations or entities, including
faith-based organizations and community organizations. Additional
information is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2008-1/022108b.html
March
21, 2008 CIRCLE
now provides a new feature: "Youth
Turnout in the Primary Campaign" Youth
turnout has been much higher in the 2008 primaries than in recent
years. In some states youth turnout has tripled or quadrupled. More
than three million young Americans voted on Super Tuesday. For information
ongoing information from the states and results for Super Tuesday
go to: http://www.civicyouth.org/. March
19, 2008 The
Center for Civic Education announces the following: National
Academy for Civics and Government: Political and Constitutional
Theory for Citizens, to be held in Occidental College, Los Angeles,
CA on July 7 - August 2, 2008 Applications
will be accepted until March 14. This
three-week NEH Summer Institute for educators from public and private
high schools, middle schools, and upper elementary schools will
provide twenty-five Americans and up to five international educators
the opportunity to engage in serious study and seminar-style discussion
of basic issues of political theory and the values and principles
of American constitutional democracy. For
more information contact: Natale Fuller at fuller@civiced.org. March
18, 2008 The
Public Education Network's Online NewsBlast announces the following: -
"Captain Planet Foundation Grants for Youth" Captain
Planet Foundation Education Grants fund and support hands-on environmental
projects for children and youths that encourage innovative programs
and empower children and youth around the world to work individually
and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods
and communities. Maximum
Award: $2,500. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations. -
"The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes" The
Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes seeks nominations for its 2008
awards. The Barron Prize honors young people ages 8 to 18 who have
made a significant positive difference to people and our planet.
The award hopes to support their service work or higher education.
Maximum
award: $2,000. March
14, 2008 Partnerships
in Character Education Program (Federal Register: Purpose
of Program: Under this program we support Federal grants to design
and implement character education programs that can be integrated
into classroom instruction, that are consistent with State academic
content standards. Such programs may be carried out in conjunction
with other educational reform efforts, and must take into consideration
the views of parents, students, students with disabilities (including
those with mental or physical disabilities), and other members of
the community, including members of private, nonprofit organizations
or entities, including faith-based organizations and community organizations.
Applications
Available: February 21, 2008. Eligible
Applicants: (a)(1) An SEA in partnership with one or more LEAs;
or (2) An SEA in partnership with one or more LEAs and nonprofit
organizations or entities, including faith-based and community organizations,
and an Institute of Higher Education (IHE); and (b)(1) An LEA or
consortium of LEAs; or (2) An LEA in partnership with one or more
nonprofit organizations or entities, including faith-based and community
organizations, and an IHE. Charter
schools that are considered LEAs under State law are also eligible
to apply. Participation by Private School Children and Teachers:
Each eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall
provide, to the extent feasible and appropriate, for the participation
of programs and activities under this section of students and teachers
in private elementary and secondary schools. Estimated
Available Funds: $1,106,865. Estimated
Range of Awards: For State educational agencies (SEAs), $500,000-$750,000.
For local educational agencies (LEAs), $250,000-$500,000. We anticipate
that applicants who request funding at the higher end of these ranges
would respond to the competitive preference priority to implement
experimental or quasi-experimental designs. Estimated
Average Size of Awards: For SEAs, $600,000 for each 12-month budget
period. For LEAs, $350,000 for each 12-month budget period. Estimated
Number of Awards: 2. Additional
Information: Applicable regulations, priorities, and other information
are available in the Federal Register notice. Additional
information is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2008-1/022108b.html
March
13, 2008 Citizenship
Matters, released by the National Center on Learning and Citizenship
at Education Commission of the States, highlights the following: -
NCLC was one of 15 finalist nominees for the 2007 Carl Bertelsmann
Prize. The Prize is awarded by the Bertelsmann Foundation in Germany
and encourages innovative solutions to social problems. Of the programs
originally identified, 68 fulfilled the criteria set out for potential
prizewinners. In the course of its international search efforts,
which included 12 countries, the prize committee identified a number
of policy initiatives and strategies which are geared toward increasing
civic engagement among children and adolescents, and which also
provide opportunities for them to get involved in their communities.
For
more go to: http://www.ecs.org/00CM1038 -
The Education Commission of the States, through the National Center
for Learning and Citizenship, designed and facilitated the Mississippi
Teen Summit on dropout prevention titled Destination Graduation,
January 15, 2008 in Jackson, Mississippi. For more go to: http://www.ecs.org/00CM1039 March
12, 2008 The
Public Education Network (PEN) weekly NewsBlast announces the following: "Motorola
Lincoln Grants" March
11, 2008 Reminder:
Tulane University's Center for Public Service and the International
Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement
is proud to invite you to the Eighth International Research Conference
on Service-learning and Community Engagement. The 2008 conference
will be held October 25th to 28th at the Marriott Hotel at the Convention
Center in New Orleans, LA. The
theme of the conference is The Scholarship of Engagement: Dimensions
of Reciprocal Partnerships. This conference will explore the variety
of partnerships that flourish in educational institutions and their
communities through service-learning courses, community-based research
projects, and student-led multi-curricular activities. The contributions
of a variety of research approaches in building and sustaining such
partnerships will be emphasized. The conference brings together
scholars and practitioners to discuss research topics in the study
of service-learning and community engagement. Conference
information and Call for Proposal forms are available online at
www.researchslce.org/2008conference.html.
To be considered, all proposals must be received via electronic
submission by 11:59 p.m. (Central Time) Wednesday, March 19, 2008.
Incomplete proposal submission will not be reviewed. All proposals
will be evaluated by at least two reviewers. Notifications of acceptance
will be sent by May 30, 2008. If
you have any questions, please contact the conference staff at slce2008@tulane.edu. March
10, 2008 Full-Service
Community Schools Program (Federal Register: February 15, 2008 [CFDA#
84.215J]) Purpose
of Program: The Fund for Improvement of Education (FIE), which is
authorized by section 5411 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), supports nationally significant
programs to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education
at the State and local levels and help all children meet challenging
academic content and achievement standards. The Full-Service Community
Schools (FSCS) program, which is authorized by FIE, encourages coordination
of educational, developmental, family, health, and other services
through partnerships between (1) public elementary and secondary
schools and (2) community-based organizations and public or private
entities. This collaboration will provide comprehensive educational,
social, and health services for students, families, and communities.
Applications
Available: February 15, 2008. Eligible
Applicants: Eligible applicants under this competition are consortia
consisting of a local educational agency and one or more community-based
organizations, non-profit organizations, or other public or private
entities. Consortia must comply with the provisions governing group
applications in 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129 of EDGAR. Estimated
Available Funds: $4,912,650. Additional
Information: Applicable regulations, priorities, and other information
are available in the Federal Register notice. Additional information
is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2008-1/021508c.html
March
5, 2008 The
NCLC is hosting an administration academy during the Annual National
Service-Learning Conference. District and school leaders will explore
ways service-learning contributes to students' academic achievement
and civic, social and career development. Check
the conference Web site for more details on the Administrator Academy
and to register for the conference. Go to: https://programs.regweb.com/metro/NYLC2008/index.cfm?page=registrationinfo March
4, 2008 Get
Students Excited about Elections The
site also offers hands-on tools and templates for students, faculty,
and community service staff as well as information on other nonpartisan
democracy initiatives. See
http://www.compact.org/vote?r=members March
3, 2008 The
Public Education Network (PEN) weekly NewsBlast announces the following: "Making
Sure Children Know Their History" Those
who have no knowledge of history miss out on the inspiration that
comes from the past, writes Marian Wright Edelman for the Children's
Defense Fund. These sentiments echo that of Dr. Carter Woodson,
who founded Negro History Week in 1926 to give inspiration to other
African Americans. Dr. Woodson saw the week as vital to ensuring
everyone knew the great African American achievements because many
people, including some African American history professors, couldn't
name the myriad of contributions that community had made to history.
Wright Edelman writes the list of great African Americans is numerous
and children should learn their stories and be given the tools and
motivation to emulate their actions. In addition, children should
be taught as much as possible about the heroes in their own families.
This is so important because family stories often provide the most
memorable inspiration of all, as they bring history alive and reinforce
the idea that anyone can make a difference. When looking back at
historical accomplishments, people must be reminded of how much
unfinished business there is and thus be motivated to write the
next chapter. For
more go to: http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=7161.0&dlv_id=10021&JServSessionIdr004=nthwpjj695.app13a
To
read a colorful online version of the NewsBlast with a larger typeface,
go to: February
28, 2008 CIRCLE
is Moving to Tufts University CIRCLE
is moving to Tufts! During the summer of 2008, CIRCLE will become
part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public
Service at Tufts University (http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/).
An ideal home for our organization, Tisch College is committed to
active citizenship at Tufts, in the surrounding communities, and
in the nation and the world. Working with colleagues at Tufts and
partners at other institutions, we will help to build an innovative,
ambitious, and rigorous research program that will influence scholarship
and practice and thereby help to renew democracy. We
are deeply grateful to the University of Maryland, which has been
our home since we were founded in 2001. A great land-grant state
university, Maryland recognizes its civic mission and has built
important programs and initiatives to educate its own students in
active citizenship, to engage with its surrounding communities,
and to study and support civic engagement. To
learn more about our move, click here: http://www.civicyouth.org/?p=272 February
27, 2008 Get
Out the Vote! Second Edition now available. The
Brookings Institutions announces the second edition of Get Out the
Vote by David Green and Alan Gerber is now available. The
first edition broke ground by introducing a new scientific approach
to the challenge of voter mobilization and profoundly influenced
how campaigns operate. In this expanded and updated edition, the
authors incorporate data from more than one hundred new studies,
which shed new light on the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of
various campaign tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, e-mail,
direct mail, and telephone calls. Two new chapters focus on the
effectiveness of mass media campaigns and events such as candidate
forums and Election Day festivals. Available in time for the core
of the 2008 presidential campaign, this practical guide on voter
mobilization is sure to be an important resource for consultants,
candidates, and grassroots organizations February
25, 2008 International
Association for Research on Service-learning and Community Engagement
(IARSLCE) There
are only four weeks left to submit proposals for the Eighth International
Research Conference on Service-learning and Community Engagement
in New Orleans. Conference
information and Call for Proposal forms are available online at
www.researchslce.org/2008conference.html.
To be considered, all proposals must be received via electronic
submission by 11:59 p.m. (Central Time) Wednesday, March 19, 2008.
Incomplete proposal submissions will not be reviewed. All proposals
will be evaluated by at least two reviewers, and notifications of
acceptance will be sent by May 30, 2008. Also,
check out the conference website to view newly posted information
on pre-conference sessions and presenters. Information on the Pre-Conference
Service Activity and the Plenary Speakers will be available shortly.
If
you have any questions, please contact the conference staff at slce2008@tulane.edu. Tulane
University's Center for Public Service February
22, 2008 Global
Citizenship Education: Philosophy, Theory and Pedagogy Michael
A. Peters, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Alan
Britton, University of Glasgow, UK and Harry Blee, University of
Glasgow, UK (Eds.) The
essays in this edited collection argue that global citizenship education
realistically must be set against the imperfections of our contemporary
political realities. As a form of education it must actively engage
in a critically informed way with a set of complex inherited historical
issues that emerge out of a colonial past and the savage globalization
which often perpetuates unequal power relations or cause new inequalities.
The essays in the book explore these issues and the emergent world
ideologies of globalism, as well as present territorial conflicts,
ethnic, tribal and nationalist rivalries, problems of increasing
international migration and asylum, growing regional imbalances
and increasing world inequalities. Contributors to this collection,
each on their own way, argues that global citizenship education
needs to project new values, to reality test and debate the language,
concepts and theories of global citizenship and the proto-world
institutions that seek to give expression to nascent aspirations
for international forms of social justice and citizen participation
in world government. . Global citizenship education does not name
the moment of global citizenship or even its emergence so much as
the hope of a form of order where the rights of the individual and
of cultural groups, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity or creed,
are observed, preserved and protected by all governments in order
to become the basis of citizen participation in new global spaces
that we might be tempted to call global civil society. February
20, 2008 The
Dirksen Center announces: The
Civil Rights Documentation Project (http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/index.htm) The
landmark civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s has attracted
considerable scholarly attention, deservedly so. Much of the analysis
of this legislation has centered on the social and cultural conditions
that gave birth to such laws as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As
valuable as the emphasis on the civil rights movement has been,
an equally vital chapter has been neglected - the story of the legislative
process itself. The Civil Rights Documentation Project provides
a fuller accounting of law-making based on the unique archival resources
housed at The Dirksen Congressional Center (http://www.dirksencenter.org)
including the collection of then-Senate Minority Leader Everett
McKinley Dirksen (R-IL), widely credited with securing the passage
of the bills. Intended
to serve the needs of teachers and students, The Civil Rights Documentation
Project demonstrates that Congress is capable of converting big
ideas into powerful law, that citizen engagement is essential to
that process, and that the public policies produced forty years
ago continue to influence our lives. The
project takes the form of an interactive, Web-based presentation
with links to more than 100 digitized historical materials and other
Internet-based resources about civil rights legislation created
by museums, historical societies, and government agencies. The hope
is to provide resources teachers can use to create lesson plans
and materials to supplement their teaching of the legislative process,
of recent American history, and of the civil rights movement, among
other social studies topics. Take
a look and please contact Frank Mackaman at mailto:fmackaman@dirksencenter.org
if you have any ideas or comments about this resource. February
19, 2008 Citizenship
Matters, released by the National Center on Learning and Citizenship
at Education Commission of the States, highlights the following: -
In a culture where a school's performance is defined by students'
standardized test scores, civic education has been overshadowed.
Yet new empirical research by the Consortium on Chicago School Research
at the University of Chicago shows that what happens in the classroom
is vitally important in developing civically committed young people
- far more important than the backgrounds or extracurricular activities
of students. Educating for Democracy: Lessons from Chicago is a
new report/working paper by Joe Kahne and Susan Sporte. For more
go to: http://www.ecs.org/00CM1035 February
18, 2008 The
Journal for Civic Commitment The
Journal for Civic Commitment is a twice-yearly, online journal dedicated
to service learning and civic engagement The Community College National
Center for Community Engagement announces the 10th Issue of the
Journal for Civic Commitment. Go to: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/other/engagement/Journal
to view this issue or go to the home page at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/other/engagement
and click on the Journal for Civic Commitment button on the left
side of the screen. Articles
for possible publication in the fall issue of The Journal for Civic
Commitment are currently being accepted. The deadline for submission
for the Fall 2008 issue is July 31st. For guidelines go to: http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/engagement/Journal.
If
you have questions email the journal's editor, Gary Daynes at gdaynes@westminstercollege.edu. February
15, 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 Service-Learning Conference. Complete
conference information is on the National Youth Leadership Council's
Web site. For more go to: http://www.ecs.org/00CM1042 NCLC
is hosting an Administrator Academy during the conference. District
and school leaders will explore ways service-learning contributes
to students' academic achievement and civic, social and career development.
Check the conference Web site for more details on the Administrator
Academy and to register for the conference. For more go to:
http://www.ecs.org/00CM1050 February
14, 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 Submit
a letter of inquiry to fellows@fivefreedoms.org. February
12, 2008 Marital
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