Non-profit leaders and educators discussed how the United States can strengthen its civics education.
Many Americans lack a strong understanding of the Constitution, experts say at D.C. event
Civics teachers agree: Students need training in gathering and distributing news
Journalism education: It's not just for journalists, anymore.That could've been the headline on a newly released study from our friends at Tufts University, whose research continues cementing the connection between healthy news-consumption habits and participatory citizenship.In a report just posted by Tufts' Civic Youth project, researcher Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg finds almost unanimous agreement among high school civics educators that, to be well-prepared for adult life, students need the ability to gather and produce credible information -- the skill set we're accustomed to calling "journalism."Encouragingly, the vast majority of survey respondents said they commonly assign reading news articles as part of civics curriculum.
Civic education scholars agree: School administrators need a thicker skin for discussion of social and political issues
When school censors prevent students from discussing controversial issues, it's not just harmful to journalism -- it's harmful to citizenship.
Two new reports on civic engagement in schools identify a central role for scholastic journalism skills
Youth will need digital media literacy skills to critically engage with all the information (and misinformation) they can now find online, to seek out a range of perspectives, and to be thoughtful about the content they circulate and create.That's among the big-picture takeaways from a groundbreaking new study, "All Together Now: Collaboration and Innovation for Youth Engagement," just released by Tufts University as the product of the nation's leading scholars in civic education.The Oct.
Center for Rights petitions Prince George’s County Public Schools over copyright policy
The Center for Rights sent a petition signed by nearly 2,000 to the Prince George’s County Public Schools Board of Education today, asking the district to abandon a draft copyright policy that would have declared students’ and teachers’ works to be property of the district.Evan Greer, Campaign Manager at the Center for Rights, said the group hopes the district will publicly denounce the policy, which district officials last week said was on hold indefinitely. The Center for Rights is an organization that helps raise awareness about individual's rights and how to defend them.“What we don’t want is for people to take their eyes off this issue and for them to push it through and for students and teachers to suffer because people thought it was a done deal,” Greer said.
How students covered the 2012 election
If you missed it yesterday -- and there was kind of a lot going on -- the SPLC highlighted some of the best election coverage being done by high school and college journalists this year.
One Generation Under Hazelwood: A 25-Year Retrospective
An entire generation of students has now grown up in an environment in which free speech in school is limited.This January will mark the 25th anniversary of the Hazelwood School District v.
“Fault Lines” study identifies link between lack of civic education and low participation in voting, volunteering
Yet another national study, this one by Educational Testing Service, is giving failing grades to the way schools prepare young people to participate in civic life."Fault Lines in Our Democracy," issued Wednesday by the Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit, diagnoses a "disconnect" between what students are taught about American government and what they retain, and concludes that students need not just more lectures about civics but more opportunities for hands-on participation in civic activities.
O’Connor civics commission draws a road map toward freedom of expression. Will schools follow it?
Students learn best when they're allowed to discuss controversial issues important to their lives, and when they are made participants in the governance of their schools.These are not the bumper-sticker slogans of civil-liberties activists.
Study shows students more supportive of free speech at school than teachers
A national survey of teachers and students released today offers a mixed bag for civic education and free expression advocates.The survey of about 12,000 students and 900 teachers from 50 high schools across the country was conducted earlier this year with funding from the Knight Foundation.