The Center for Civic Education joins the nation and the world in mourning the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Senator Kennedy was not only a strong advocate for education in general but for civic education in particular. He was a firm believer that a strong democracy needs informed, engaged, and enlightened citizens and served as a member of the National Bicentennial Commission on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, which provided funding to initiate the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program. He supported the Education for Democracy Act, which funds the Center’s We the People Programs, the School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program, and the Civitas International Programs, as well as programs of other organizations. His commitment to education for democracy was not a recent passion but spanned many decades of public service and greatly assisted our work. In 1988 the Center recruited him to participate in a film by the Disney Channel on the importance of teachers to our democracy, and in that same year we invited him to be the keynote speaker at the awards banquet for the first We the People academic competition. Most recently, he joined with Senator Lamar Alexander to support the Improving the Teaching and Learning of American History and Civics Act of 2009 (S. 659). The legislation reauthorizes the Education for Democracy Act programs and other civic education programs. It also amends the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to conduct more frequent academic assessments of U.S. history and civics. We were honored some years ago when he accepted the Center’s Civitas Award for his outstanding contributions to civic education. While appreciating his rich legacy, we will sorely miss his leadership in improving the conditions that allow constitutional democracy to flourish around the world.

 In 2006, the Center for Civic Education, the Center on Congress at Indiana University, and the National Education Association launched the American Civic Education Teacher Awards (ACETA), designed to recognize educators who have demonstrated a special expertise in teaching about the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Congress, and public policy. Each year the ACETA program selects and showcases three teachers who have done exemplary work in preparing young people to become informed and engaged citizens. These honorees are full-time, K–12 classroom teachers, serving in public or private schools. ACETA recipients receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in an educational program that includes observing committee hearings in Congress, meeting members of Congress and other key officials, and visiting sites such as the National Archives and the U.S. Supreme Court. The teachers are also honored during an awards ceremony at a major civic education conference. The 2010 ACETA application is now available. Teachers can submit their applications to one of the three sponsoring organizations. Applications are due February 16, 2010. 2006 ACETA Recipients The inaugural class of ACETA winners was Christopher Cavanaugh of Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Ind.; Galelyn McElroy of Central High School Magnet Career Academy in Louisville, Ky.; and Donna Paoletti Phillips of Robert Frost Middle School in Rockville, Md. 2006 News Release 2006 Video 2007 ACETA Recipients The winners of the 2007 ACETA awards were Mary Ellen Daneels of Community High School in West Chicago, Ill., Barbara Simpson Ector of Cleveland Middle School in Cleveland, Tenn., and Kevin Fox of Arcadia High School in Arcadia, Calif. 2007 News Release 2007 Video 2008 ACETA Recipients In 2008, the ACETA program recognized Sally Broughton of Monforton School in Bozeman, Mont.; Cheryl Cook-Kallio of Irvington High School in Fremont, Calif.; and Julie Kuhnhein of Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Ky. 2008 News Release 2008 Video 2009 ACETA Recipients Teachers from South Carolina, Virginia, and Wyoming were selected for the 2009 ACETA honors. The recipients were: Nate Breen of Cheyenne Central High School in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Sarah Ann Richardson Turpin of Clemson Elementary School in Clemson, S.C.; and Gregory Walsh of Falls Church High School in Fairfax County, Va. 2009 News Release

The Center for Civic Education’s School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program is a curriculum, training, and research program that provides students with opportunities to engage in high quality civic education and group participation exercises. The program is designed to improve students’ civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It provides training opportunities for teacher participants that support the curriculum and emphasize critical thinking, cooperative learning, group problem-solving, and performance-based assessment. It also provides research and evaluation of changes in students’ civic knowledge and attitudes as they relate to tolerance for the ideas of others; civic responsibility; authority and the law; and social and political institutions.

Current Sites

Programs

We the People: The Citizen and the ConstitutionAn instructional program on the history and principles of American constitutional democracy for elementary, middle, and high school students. The program is based on curricular materials developed by the Center and acclaimed by leading educators. Simulated congressional hearings, excellent for performance assessment, are built into the curriculum. At the high school level, classes may choose to enter a competition structured as a simulated hearing where their knowledge of the Constitution is tested. The program is funded by the United States Department of Education by act of Congress. Several studies by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Professor Richard Brody, Stanford University, indicate that students who used the curriculum “significantly outperformed comparison students” on every topic studied. Program participants can maintain contact with the Center and with one another through the We the People Alumni Network.

We the People: Project CitizenProject Citizen is an interdisciplinary civic education program for middle, secondary, and post-secondary students, youth organizations, and adult groups. It is designed to develop interest in public policymaking as well as the ability to participate competently and responsibly in state and local government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy

The project is administered by the Center in cooperation with the National Conference of State Legislatures. An evaluation conducted in 2006-07 by RMC Research Corporation (Denver, CO) found that: “Students who participated in Project Citizen increased in civic development, including their levels of civic knowledge, civic discourse skills, and public policy problem solving skills.”

School Violence Prevention Demonstration ProgramThe Center’s School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program is a curriculum, training, and research program that provides students with opportunities to engage in high quality civic education and group participation exercises. The program is designed to improve students’ civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It provides training opportunities for teacher participants that support the curriculum and emphasize critical thinking, cooperative learning, group problem-solving, and performance-based assessment. It also provides research and evaluation of changes in students’ civic knowledge and attitudes as they relate to tolerance for the ideas of others; civic responsibility; authority and the law; and social and political institutions.

Civitas: An International Civic Education Exchange ProgramA cooperative project of a consortium of civic education organizations in the United States and other participating nations. The program is administered by the Center for Civic Education and funded through a grant from the United States Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, in cooperation with the United States Department of State and its affiliated offices throughout the world. The program provides for a series of exchanges among leaders in civic education in the United States and emerging and established democracies worldwide.

Representative Democracy in America: Voices of the People
Representative Democracy in America: Voices of the People is a new national project designed to reinvigorate and educate Americans on the critical relationship between government and the people it serves. The project Introduces citizens, particularly young people, to the representatives, Institutions, and processes that serve to realize the goal of a government of, by, and for the people.

Campaign to Promote Civic Education
In keeping with its mission of promoting an enlightened, competent, and responsible citizenry, the Center is conducting a national campaign with two vital objectives. The first of these is to affirm the civic mission of the schools and the second is to influence states and school districts to devote sustained and systematic attention to civic education from kindergarten through the twelfth grade.

Initiatives

The Native American Initiative
The Native American Initiative is part of the School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program. The Native American Initiative is an outreach effort developed from the School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program. During the school year, training sessions are provided for the teachers at the individual sites to support the teaching of the curricular materials.

Civic Education aims at imparting the knowledge and skills that we need for effective participation in the community, government, and politics.

ISCV Programs and Online Discussion Guides

• Youth Civic Education Project-An ISCV program in Philadelphia that is developing new ways of helping young people tackle the issues and problems that face them in their neighborhoods. The “YouthRap” pledge and artwork was developed by students in the Cooke and Marshall Middle Schools, in the Logan section of Philadelphia.
• Building Community in the American Tradition-A discussion guide for use by neighborhood leaders and activists that applies principles of the Preamble to the Constitution to the problem of building community in America today.
• Social Contract Project Discussion Guide A discussion guide for neighborhood leaders and activists to develop social contracts with government and the private sector for broad-based neighborhood improvement.
• Civic Ideals and Modern Institutions-A study guide that examines how we can work to fulfill America’s historic ideals through existing institutions.

Civic Literacy: ISCV Publications

• On Teaching Democratic Ideals,, Ed Schwartz– An article that discusses how to use civic values as a framework for examing political issues in America.
• The Case for Political Education, Ed Schwartz-An article that calls for a fundamental reconstruction of civic education in America.
• NetActivism: How Citizens Use the Internet, Ed Schwartz, Published in 1996, NetActivism still provides sound guidance in how citizens can use email lists and the web to participate in the democratic process. The book is available through the Institute for the Study of Civic Values

Civic and Political Education Online

Adult Civic and Political Education

• National Constitution Center
• Neighborhood Leadership Programs
• National Endowment for the Humanities American History Grants
• NEH State Humanities Councils
• Study Circles: Background Information
• Industrial Areas Foundation
• Highland Research and Education Center
• Midwest Academy
• Dirksen Congressional Center

K-12 Civic Education

• National Standards for Civics and Government
• Civnet: Comprehensive Resources for K-12 Civic Education
• Center for Civic Education
• You the People-Creative Use of the Constitution
• National Service Learning Partnership
• National Council for the Social Studies
• Social Studies Teachers Online Resources
• Florida Civic Ed.
• Public Education Network Newsblast