In returning to the classroom, schools are at a crossroads and uniquely positioned to recreate and reinvent themselves. The current issues of equity, social-emotional sensitivity, curriculum reform, civic involvement, public health policy and environmental infrastructure are opportunities to build more responsive schools with students better…

Universities are indispensable for a free and prosperous society. Their mission depends on a campus culture of free expression and intellectual diversity. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) seeks to hold American colleges and universities accountable to their missions. ACTA now provides a blueprint to help higher education regain…

The IEA's International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) investigates the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a range of countries in the second decade of the 21st century. ICCS 2016 is the second cycle of a study initiated in 2009. The ICCS 2016 user guide describes the content and format of…

Ten years have passed since New York's highest court ruled in the landmark school-funding and educational-rights case, "Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) v. State of New York," that the state was violating students' constitutional right to the "opportunity for a sound basic education" and ordered significant reforms of the…

Governing public schools is one of the most important responsibilities a citizen can undertake. School board members work on behalf of all the families in their community, with fellow board members and with other community partners, to ensure that each student has equal and ample opportunities to reach his or her greatest potential. This guide…

With more than one million students dropping out of high school each year, Grad Nation is specifically designed to offer solutions and tools for every size community and presents a compelling case for all sectors of society to get involved. The guidebook is part of the Alliance's Dropout Prevention Campaign. The guide brings together the nation's…

Outlines three areas to consider before launching a citizen committee program and then provides three steps that should be followed if established committees are to be successful. (Author/IRT)

This pack aims to provide materials to help all those involved in youth volunteering and post-16 citizenship education to ensure that there are some citizenship learning outcomes from these valuable experiences. The pack has been produced by the Post-16 Citizenship Support Programme to help the integration of citizenship education into post-16…

Provision of citizenship education in post-16 education and training organisations can provide enormous benefits for the learner, for the organisation and for society as a whole. However, all commentators agree that leaders and citizenship coordinators in education and training organisations have the greatest impact upon the effectiveness of that…

Criteria for implementation of school volunteer programs include (1) effective incentives, (2) resources, and (3) political and administrative feasibility. Alternatives for state action include (1) maintaining current state policy, (2) providing leadership by endorsement and mandate, and (3) enacting legislation to provide incentives for…

Explores the concept of democracy and considers how different "democracies" demand different actions from educators in relation to schooling and society at large. Offers modest starting points for participating in democratic action. (RS)

Citizenship is an important part of the development of young people. By enabling them to learn about their rights and responsibilities, to understand how society works, and develop knowledge and understanding of social and political issues, citizenship prepares them for dealing with the challenges they face in life. Through citizenship, young…

This handbook outlines a variety of the strategies that the Salem Public School District in Oregon used to actively involve citizens in governing their school system through community schools. Emphasis is placed on successes, failures, and principles of the community-based problem-solving and decision-making activities which the Salem School…

Giving young people a voice builds their confidence, self-esteem and motivation and encourages them to develop an interest in current events. It helps them to develop and express their own opinions while listening to others, and to appreciate the importance of researching topics unfamiliar to them. It is an important way of developing their…

This discussion paper examines the training citizen groups need in order to confront a wide variety of industries and types of pollution. Section I of the paper focuses on the interaction of three groups: (1) industry: this group includes distributors of environmental pollutants as well as manufactures of pollution control equipment; (2)…