Programs

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

An 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 Citizen

Project 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 Program

The 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 Program

A 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.