enter
Correspondent
C
VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3
CENTER FOR CIVIC EDUCATION
Winter 2006
Students Display Their Civic Accomplishments
at the Ninth Annual
Project Citizen National Showcase in Seattle
T
he Ninth Annual Project Citizen
National Showcase was held August
16–20, 2005, during the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Annual Meeting
in Seattle. The event gave legislators, legislative staff, and other participants an
opportunity to see firsthand how We the
People: Project Citizen enables young
people to become civically engaged.
Project Citizen is an innovative civic
education program that promotes competent and responsible student participation
in state and local government. Young people work together during a class project or
as an extracurricular group to identify and
study a public policy issue. Students determine a problem to study, gather information about the problem, examine solutions,
develop their own public policy, and create
an action plan to influence government to
adopt their proposed public policy.
The Project Citizen national showcase provided a forum for students to
explain their public policy solutions to
an influential body of state legislators and
other public policymakers. Project Citizen
portfolios from students in 48 states and
the District of Columbia were displayed at
the national showcase. Topics included
ensuring that fire hydrants in a Michigan
community worked properly, preventing
teen suicide in New York, increasing
voter participation in Florida, solving
problems with an unsafe jail in Montana,
and expanding library resources in Oregon.
Larry Barish, Research Manager for the
continued on page 2
Student ambassadors to the Ninth Annual Project Citizen National Showcase from Maxson Middle School in Plainfield, New Jersey, with
(adults from left to right) Kathy Hand, Educational Consultant; Russian delegates Olga Chernenko, Program Manager of the Russian
American Center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky; Boris Vyborov, member of the Council of Peoples’ Deputies of the Kamchatka Region; and
Irina Untilova, Councilor of the Administration of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
M essage from the Center
Iraqi–American Partnership Works to Spread
Democracy throughout Iraqi Kurdistan
I
t was a “great teachable moment.”
James Adomanis, Executive Director of
the Maryland Center for Civic Education,
was in Iraqi Kurdistan in December 2003
when Saddam Hussein was captured. Adomanis took the opportunity to engage the
Iraqi civic education teachers he was training in a discussion about the idea of justice.
The Foundations of Democracy materials
in which they were being trained address
the concepts of Authority, Privacy, Responsibility, and Justice.
The 67 participants from five governorates in Iraqi Kurdistan were the first
Iraqis to be trained in Foundations of
Democracy and We the People: Project
Citizen. Since then, more than 6,000 Iraqi
teachers have been trained in the two programs. Textbooks for Foundations of
Democracy have been translated into four
languages used in Iraqi Kurdistan—Kurdish,
Arabic, Turkoman, and Syriac. The English versions of the We the People: The
Citizen & the Constitution and Foundations of Democracy texts are being used
in universities to teach English.
The Iraqi Kurdistan–American civic education partnership began in 2002 when
Adomanis was introduced to Kurdish
Minister of Human Rights Mohammed
Ihsan through a mutual friend who knew
of Adomanis’s involvement in the Civitas
Students Display Their
Civic Accomplishments
at the Ninth Annual
Project Citizen National
Showcase in Seattle
Superior, Exceptional, Outstanding, or
Honorable Mention. Because of the
high quality of student work this year,
all portfolios reached one of the top
three categories.
State Senator Hillman Frazier of Mississippi commented that Project Citizen confirmed his belief that “we have some of the
continued from page 1
Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau,
said he was “extremely impressed by the
sophistication of the presentations.”
Legislators and staffers were invited
to evaluate the work done by each
class. Three evaluators gave ratings to
each portfolio, which were then
assigned an achievement category of
Matheson Junior High School student
ambassadors with teacher Brian Beal and
chaperone Lisa Beal. The Magna, Utah,
students’ portfolio, “We Need a Marquee,”
was awarded the Exceptional achievement
level during the We the People: Project
Citizen national showcase.
TWO
International Programs. The next year,
the Kurdish Regional Government Ministry of Education began its five-year
initiative to introduce the Center’s
Foundations of Democracy and Project
Citizen programs in five Kurdish governorates. Adomanis has worked closely with
Abdul-Aziz Taib, Minister of Education for
the Kurdistan Regional Government, and
continued on page 5
A teacher in Arbil in Iraqi
Kurdistan presents his
group’s We the People:
Project Citizen portfolio
during a teacher training
in August 2005. The educators learned how to use
the Center’s Foundations
of Democracy and
Project Citizen
methodologies to teach
their students the basic
principles of democracy.
brightest students in the world. They will get
involved in civic issues when given a chance.”
Louisiana State Senate Counsel Jerry Jones
said, “It is always a great pleasure to see how
education can include ways to benefit communities and can stress the importance of
participation in the public policy process.”
Teacher Monte Schulz and his students
continued on page 3
The Center for Civic Education is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan educational
organization. The mission of the Center
is to promote an enlightened and
responsible citizenry committed to
democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in
the United States and other countries.
To attain this goal, the Center develops
and implements civic education programs for public and private schools at
the elementary and secondary levels,
cooperating with educators and scholars in the social sciences, the humanities, and the law. The Center offers
curricular materials, leadership training,
teacher education, and research and
evaluation for national and international civic education programs.
Maxson Middle School students converse with a delegate to the National Conference of State
Legislatures’ Annual Meeting during the We the People: Project Citizen national showcase.
The students’ Project Citizen portfolio, “The Plainfield Curfew Policy,” was awarded the
Superior achievement level.
Center Correspondent is published three
times a year by the Center for Civic
Education to disseminate information
about and to encourage participation
in programs primarily funded by
federal grants and contracts.
Executive Director
Charles N. Quigley
General Editor
Tam Taylor
Editor
Mark Gage
Direct inquiries to
Center for Civic Education
5145 Douglas Fir Road
Calabasas, CA 91302-1440
Phone: (818) 591-9321
Fax: (818) 591-9330
Email: [email protected]
Washington Office:
Center for Civic Education
1743 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009-1108
Phone: (202) 861-8800
Fax: (202) 861-8811
Email: [email protected]
from Mercer Island Middle School in
Seattle demonstrated the simulated legislative hearing component of Project Citizen
to a large audience during a concurrent
session. The simulated legislative hearing
is the culminating activity for most
Project Citizen participants.
Students from Louisiana, Michigan,
New Jersey, Utah, and Wyoming took part
in the Project Citizen student ambassador
program during the national showcase.
The student ambassadors had the opportunity to share their portfolios and what
they had learned about affecting public
policy with state representatives and other
national showcase attendees.
Washington State Representative Dave
Upthegrove participated in the Center’s
Project Citizen concurrent session.
Upthegrove spoke about the importance of
citizens’ engaging with their legislators to
express their interests and concerns and
the responsibility of legislators to solicit
ideas and listen to their constituents.
Upthegrove’s work with the We the People
Programs has helped to reduce cynicism
about legislators among Washington’s
young people.
Delegates from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky,
Russia, attended the national showcase.
The delegates participate in a Civitas
International Programs partnership
with schools in Washington state and
Alaska. The Russian delegates were Pavel
Sobol, Director of CIVITAS Eastern
Russia; Olga Chernenko, Program Manager at the Russian American Center in
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky; Boris Vyborov,
a member of the Council of Peoples’
Deputies of the Kamchatka Region;
and Irina Untilova, Councilor of the
Administration
of
PetropavlovskKamchatsky. The Russian delegation
investigated methods for implementing
a Russian legislators’ back to school
program similar to the program developed by the National Conference of
State Legislatures (NCSL).
The national showcase was an example
of what the Center for Civic Education and
the NCSL are working jointly to achieve.
The Center and NCSL cosponsor Project
Citizen to help young people in classrooms
and youth organizations gain the competence, capacity, and commitment necessary
to take an informed, responsible role in the
civic life of their communities.
The achievement levels rewarded to
each participating school and a list of
portfolio topics are available on the
Center’s website at www.civiced.org.
For more information on Project
Citizen, contact Michael Fischer at the
Center ([email protected]) ■
THREE
WE THE PEOPLE: PROJECT CITIZEN
2005 NATIONAL SHOWCASE
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Russellville Middle School, Russellville, Arkansas
Zimmerly Elementary School, Socorro, New Mexico
Sierra Vista Elementary School, Norco, California
P.S. 122, Mamie Fay School, Long Island City,
New York
Green Valley Elementary School, Denver, Colorado
La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls,
Honolulu, Hawaii
Orofino Junior High, Orofino, Idaho
Cane Creek Middle School, Fletcher,
North Carolina
Southmoor Middle School, Columbus, Ohio
Perkins Bass Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois
Union Eighth Grade Center,
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
A. B. Combs Elementary, Combs, Kentucky
Chehalem Valley Middle School, Newberg, Oregon
Livaudais Middle School, Terrytown, Louisiana
Ritter Elementary School, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Quabbin Regional Middle School,
Barre, Massachusetts
John F. Deering Middle School,
West Warwick, Rhode Island
Noble Middle School, Detroit, Michigan
Johnson County Middle School,
Mountain City, Tennessee
W. J. Quarles Elementary School,
Long Beach, Mississippi
Beckendorf Intermediate School, Tomball, Texas
Monforton School, Bozeman, Montana
Twinfield Union School, Plainfield, Vermont
Maxson Middle School, Plainfield, New Jersey
Touchet School, Touchet, Washington
Youth for Justice Highlights
Juvenile Justice Programs
T
he second Youth for Justice Juvenile
Justice Practitioners Project Citizen
Institute was held in May 2005. Teams of
two teachers from juvenile justice sites in
eleven geographically diverse states
attended the institute and developed plans
for implementing the program. The Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice
funded the institute.
Various juvenile justice institutions
have adopted changes in policies related to
early release, recreation, and offender
phone access as a result of students’ We the
People: Project Citizen proposals. “The
FOUR
administration kept shooting down the
kids’ ideas. However, the class would not
give up, and ultimately they effected a
change in policy,” said Ken Raga, a teacher
at Star Academy juvenile correctional facility in Custer, South Dakota.
Other topics addressed by students in
juvenile justice settings included the lack of
opportunity to work toward an Associate in
Arts degree while incarcerated, the failure
to provide transitional and prerelease programs for reentry, gang conflicts within the
facility, the absence of music education, the
denial of financial aid to students convicted
of drug offenses, and youth homelessness in
Denver, Colorado (see News from the
States on page 13).
Teachers reported numerous positive
interactions between juvenile offenders and
legislators, judges, and other community
members during the Project Citizen
process. In a letter to all judges and magistrates in Rhode Island, Family Court Chief
Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. wrote, “the
young men who participated in this intellectual and practical exercise demonstrated
an ability to collaborate, to gather facts, and
to compare and analyze that surpasses even
the most optimistic expectations.” ■
Iraqi–American
Partnership Works to
Spread Democracy
throughout Iraqi
Kurdistan
continued from page 2
Sabah Aram, Coordinator of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Civic Education Program, to implement both
programs.
The Ministry of Education began introducing Foundations of Democracy in
grades 3–6 and then implemented the program in middle schools and high schools.
Most recently, educators have been trained
at the university level to implement Foundations of Democracy in their K–12 classrooms. The program will eventually be used
throughout Iraqi Kurdistan at all elementary and secondary levels.
In August 2004, a master teacher training was held in Annapolis, Maryland, that
involved five teachers from the Kurdish Ministry of Education, five from the Ministry of
Human Rights, and two administrators.
More recently, teacher-training sessions
have been conducted in July 2005 in
Duhok and in August 2005 in Arbil. The
two five-day sessions were designed to
enhance civic education in Iraqi Kurdistan
and used Foundations of Democracy and
Project Citizen methodology. A total of
450 teachers participated and each took
part in presenting a Project Citizen portfolio.
Training for the two programs now
focuses on building a cadre of master teachers. “On my last visit, all of the five-day
instruction was conducted by 18 Kurdish
master teachers,” said Adomanis. “My
role has changed to mentor and guest
lecturer now.”
Adomanis’s expertise in civic education
methodology has given him numerous
opportunities to help Iraqis facilitate democratic processes. On July 15, 2005, he participated in the student-run youth
leadership camp for middle school, high
school, and university students. He also
served as an expert advisor at a July 12
meeting of 20 civil engineers at the Duhok
Engineering Society, where participants discussed the proposed Iraqi constitution.
Kurdish civic education efforts have
benefited from the expertise of other international civic educators. A delegation from
Shivan Othman, English teacher and interpreter, speaks to a gathering of Iraqi civil engineers on July 12, 2005, in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan. The engineers debated the proposed
Iraqi constitution during a meeting of the Duhok Engineering Society. James Adomanis,
Executive Director of the Maryland Center for Civic Education, served as an expert advisor
during the meeting.
Iraqi Kurdistan visited Sarajevo, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, September 16–23, 2005, to
learn from Civitas Bosnia’s experience in
implementing Project Citizen.
Delegates met with Rahela Dzidic and
the staff of the Civitas Bosnia program.
Adomanis and Sabah led the delegation.
Middle school English teacher and interpreter Shivan Othman and Supervisor
Abdullah Mustafa represented the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of
Education.
Sabah said, “Before we came to Bosnia
and Herzegovina we believed that the
Foundations of Democracy curriculum
might be too foreign for our students, especially the younger ones. After seeing firsthand what a difference this curriculum
makes in the socialization of young students
and how it helps them develop a better
understanding of others and themselves, I
was impressed how they observe critically.
I can see that the earlier we start, the
better chances for the future of our
youth we have.”
Financing for implementation of the
two programs has come exclusively from
the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Education, which has spent
$447,000 on all civic education programs
in the country, according to Adomanis.
Funding is a source of concern for the
government’s plans, however. “Right now
they have more teachers trained than they
have materials,” said Adomanis. Some of
the books that have been translated cannot
be printed because the Ministry of Education is not able to supply the needed funds.
Another problem has been finding
enough qualified translators to fill the needs
of a population that has five principal languages, including two Kurdish dialects.
“The people in Duhok speak a different
dialect than the people in Arbil and they’re
only three hours apart,” said Adomanis.
One solution has been to procure the Arabic translation of We the People: Project Citizen from Arab Civitas, based in Amman,
Jordan. The Arabic version of the text is
easier for translators to work with than the
English version.
Despite the challenges of implementing
the programs, Adomanis describes the
effect of Foundations of Democracy and
Project Citizen on Iraqi Kurds as having
been “tremendous.” The Kurdish Ministry
of Education, Adomanis said, “is dedicated
one hundred percent to the principles of
civic education. Because they have a fiveyear plan in effect and are discussing moving into another governorate, I feel that
these programs in Kurdistan will be around
for a long time and could be a showcase for
the rest of Iraq.” ■
FIVE
S
chool Violence Prevention Demonstration Program
Students and Communities
Nationwide Benefit from
Violence Prevention Program
T
he School Violence Prevention
Demonstration Program integrates
three of the Center’s curricular programs—
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, We the People: Project Citizen,
and Foundations of Democracy—to
accomplish its goal of improving students’
civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Violence Prevention Program students continue to affect their schools and local
communities through class projects and culminating activities.
Project Citizen is generally implemented at the upper elementary or middle
school level. However, students in Patty
Helms’s third-grade class at Isabelle Jackson
Elementary in Elk Grove, California,
demonstrated that younger students can use
the program successfully. They tackled the
problem of their school’s lack of a policy
regarding physical education equipment.
The students discovered that equipment
was often missing or broken. As a result,
physical education classes could not be conducted properly. After interviewing fellow
students, teachers, and administrators,
students developed a school-wide policy to
hold classes accountable for the physical
education equipment they use. The policy
is being implemented during the 2005–06
school year.
In Orlando, Florida, Ernest Lebree’s
class at Windy Ridge School participated in
classroom We the People hearings in front
of an audience of parents and school staff.
Students displayed their knowledge of a
variety of constitutional issues, including
due process and how it affects their lives
both at home and at school.
At Ritter Elementary School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, students created original songs and skits based on the
Foundations of Democracy concepts of
Authority, Privacy, Responsibility, and Justice as part of their Violence Prevention
Program culminating activities. The First
Lady of Pennsylvania, Judge Marjorie O.
Rendell, visited the students on May 11.
Rendell had been impressed with the Ritter
students’ “Ritter Against Litter” Project
Citizen portfolio presentation at the Second
Annual Congressional Conference on Civic
School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program
students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary in Elk Grove,
California, with their Project Citizen portfolio. The
third-grade students developed a policy for physical
education equipment that is being implemented
during the 2005–06 school year.
SIX
Education in December 2004. After viewing
Ritter’s culminating activity presentations,
Rendell said, “I’m overwhelmed. I’ll try to
replicate Allentown’s program in other
schools.”
The Violence Prevention Program
held its annual spring administrative meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, April 14–17.
Twenty-one site coordinators and twenty
trainers came from Violence Prevention
Program sites around the nation to coordinate the events of the upcoming year and
work on strategic plans for their respective
sites. Participants also attended an event at
the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute,
where student work from the Violence Prevention Program was showcased. The Project Citizen portfolios on display at the
institute were Arrington Middle School’s
“Need for Physical Activity,” Bottenfield
Middle School’s “Lagoon Cleanup,” Erwin
High School’s “Sidewalks for Safety,” and
the Independent Living Program’s
“Empowering the Mobility of Youth in
Foster Care.” ■
W e the People
We the People
Coordinators Share Ideas
at National Conference
T
he Eighteenth Annual We the People:
The Citizen and the Constitution
Coordinator Conference was held in
Washington, D.C., June 25–28, 2005. During the four-day conference, state and district We the People coordinators from
across the country shared ideas on how to
improve the implementation of the program with other coordinators, alumni, and
Representative Charles W. Dent (PA-15)
stressed the importance of civic education
during a speech titled “Civic Education
Perspectives from a United States Congressman” on the final day of the Eighteenth
Annual We the People: The Citizen and
the Constitution Coordinator Conference
in Washington, D.C., on June 28, 2005.
Center staff. Center Executive Director
Charles Quigley welcomed the more than
400 participants and provided an overview
of the Center’s history and an account of
the Center’s current initiatives. “I’m always
amazed at the extent of Center activities
and outreach,” said one participant.
Coordinators defined goals and acquired
skills and strategies for expanding the outreach of the program during state meetings
and breakout sessions. Thirty-two breakout
sessions were offered. Coordinators discussed such topics as lesson demonstrations,
retention of teachers, and fundraising
during the sessions.
Seven students from Cajon Valley
Middle School in San Diego, California,
gave a simulated congressional hearing
demonstration. The students were economic or political refugees who have been
in the United States for two or fewer years.
Teacher Maryann Ostermeyer implemented the We the People program in
their English language classes.
Erin Braun, an alumna of the program
who assists the Indiana state coordinator
in administering the We the People programs, spoke to participants about the
impact the program has had on her.
Braun told the audience that their work
positively affects students and encouraged their continued efforts.
Coordinators went to Capitol Hill on
June 27 to meet with their members of
Congress and discuss the success of their
programs at the district and state levels.
We the People: The Citizen
and the Constitution, the most
extensive program of its kind in
the country, brings the study of
the U.S. Constitution and Bill of
Rights to elementary, middle, and
high school students. The program is implemented by a network of 50 state coordinators and
435 district coordinators.
We the People is funded by the
U.S. Department of Education
under the Education for
Democracy Act approved by the
United States Congress.
For more information on We the
People, contact Robert Leming at
the Center ([email protected]).
Participants encouraged their members of
Congress and their staffs to get involved.
Numerous members of Congress and congressional staffers attended a reception at
the Rayburn Café following the meetings.
Representative Charles W. Dent (PA15) delivered the closing address of the
conference. Dent spoke about the importance of quality civic education and
mentioned his support for the work of
the Center. He noted that he has seen
School Violence Prevention Demonstration
Program students in action in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, and was impressed by their
abilities. The Violence Prevention Program uses We the People: The Citizen
and the Constitution, We the People:
Project Citizen, and Foundations of
Democracy to accomplish its goal of
improving students’ civic knowledge,
skills, and attitudes. ■
Be sure to bookmark the Center for Civic Education’s website
www.civiced.org
• Information about the Campaign to Promote
Civic Education
• Information about the Representative Democracy in
America: Voices of the People project
• Sample lessons from Center texts
• Articles, papers, and speeches on civic education
• Education for Democracy: California Civic Education
Scope & Sequence
• National Standards for Civics and Government
• Back issues of the Center Correspondent
A wealth of civics-related materials
SEVEN
W e the People
We the People: The Citizen and the
Constitution Summer Institutes Facilitate
Constitutional Scholarship
F
ive We the People: The Citizen and
the Constitution summer institutes
were held this summer at James Madison
University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and at
Northeastern University in Boston. Institute participants teach in schools at the
upper elementary and secondary levels,
including high schools in urban centers
throughout the United States. The institutes increase the number of well-trained
teachers participating in the We the
People program and enhance the knowledge of those educators already teaching
the program’s curriculum.
The agenda for each institute focused
on traditional Center professional
development
goals.
Participants gained indepth content knowledge, learned innovative
pedagogical techniques,
and received authentic
assessment
practice.
Teachers attended scholarly lectures in the
morning and applied
what they had learned
in sessions with teacher
mentors. In the afternoon, mentors guided
participants through
We the People teaching methods. A major
part of the afternoon sessions involved teacher
preparation for a culminating hearing held at
the end of each institute.
On the last day of each
institute, judges witnessed and evaluated
the performance of
teachers in simulated
congressional hearings
that were exactly like
the authentic assessment
activities used with students in the We the
People program.
Summer Institute for Upper
Elementary, Middle, and High
School Teachers, James Madison
University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Session I, June 29–July 8, 2005
Session II, July 25–August 3, 2005
Sixty-eight upper elementary, middle,
and high school teachers from throughout
the United States were selected to attend
sessions I or II of the Center’s upper
elementary, middle, and high school We
the People institute. Thirty-four upper elementary teachers and seven mentors
attended each session. David Richmond, a
We the People consultant and teacher of
the program, directed both sessions of the
institute. Participants toured the Supreme
Court, the Capitol, and other Washington,
D.C., sites before traveling to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Later in the week, participants in both sessions enjoyed a tour of Montpelier, the
home of James Madison.
Exceptional scholars engaged participants at each institute. Susan Leeson,
retired Oregon Supreme Court Justice;
Scott Casper, Professor
of Government, University of Nevada–Reno;
and Vikram Amar, Professor of Law, Hastings
College of Law, presented at the first session of the institute.
Anthony Corrado, Professor of Political Science, Colby College;
Judith Failer, Associate
Professor of Political
Science and American
Studies, Indiana University; Paul Finkelman,
Professor of Law, University of Tulsa School
of Law; Henry Chambers, Professor of Law,
University of Richmond School of Law;
and Mike Williams,
Associate
Professor
of Political Science,
University of San
Diego, presented to
participants during the
second session of the
institute.
Participants and mentors from 21 different states attended the second session of the We
the People: The Citizen and the Constitution Summer Institute for Upper
Elementary, Middle, and High School Teachers, held July 25–August 3, 2005, at James
Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
EIGHT
“What a quality opportunity to hear
from current outstanding speakers in the
field of constitutional democracy,” said
Anne Langner, a participant from
Daphne, Alabama. “This We the People
institute provided ‘time, place, and manner’ for valuable collaboration with other
educators across the nation. To share
information, ideas, and validate personal
beliefs was an unforgettable experience.”
Institute for Teachers of High
School Urban Students
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts
July 28–August 5, 2005
The Center, with a grant from the Lincoln-Filene Foundation, conducted an
institute for teachers of urban high school
students at Northeastern University under
the direction of Sandra Stotsky, Research
Scholar, School of Education, Northeastern University, and Richard Katula, Professor of Communication Studies,
Northeastern University. Scholars lecturing
at this institute included Susan Leeson,
John Patrick, Professor Emeritus of Social
Studies Education, Indiana University;
Mark Silverstein, Professor of Political Science, Boston University; and Richard
O’Bryant, Assistant Professor of Political
Science, Northeastern University. Thirtyfour participants from urban areas throughout the United States were selected to
attend the institute.
“The advantages of attending a seminar of such magnitude will enhance my
approach to teaching the Constitution,”
said one participant. “Interacting with
great scholars and educators has been an
exciting, educational, and rewarding experience and will be beneficial to my students. I am looking forward to involving
my class in We the People congressional
hearings when I return home.”
Summer Institute for Elementary
Teachers, James Madison University
Session I, June 20–28, 2005
Session II, July 12–20, 2005
Sixty-four elementary teachers from
throughout the United States were
selected to attend sessions I or II of the
Center’s elementary teacher We the
People institute. Thirty-two upper elementary teachers and seven mentors
attended each institute. Sandy Baker, a
We the People consultant and former
We the People elementary teacher,
directed both sessions of the institute.
Participants began their experience with
tours of the Supreme Court, the Capitol,
and other Washington, D.C., sites and
visited Montpelier later in the week.
John Patrick and Thomas Vontz,
Assistant Professor of Education, Rockhurst University, presented at both sessions. Judith Failer and Susan Leeson
presented at the first session. Jasmine Farrier, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Louisville, and
Richard Hardy, Professor of Political
Science, University of Missouri–
Columbia presented at the second session.
For more information on We the
People national institutes and other
professional development opportunities,
visit
the
Center’s
website
at
www.civiced.org or contact Susan Roe
([email protected]) at the Center. ■
Mentor Alan Brodman, far right, a We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution teacher at East Brunswick High School in East
Brunswick, New Jersey, works with institute participants to prepare for the simulated congressional hearing, which is the culminating
activity for We the People summer institutes.
NINE
W e the People
Center Offers Lessons for Constitution Day
T
he Center for Civic Education and
the American Association of School
Administrators (AASA) posted seven lessons for K–12 educators on their websites
in response to legislation passed by Congress requiring educational institutions
receiving federal funding to present a program pertaining to the Constitution. The
lessons, available in PDF format at
www.civiced.org/byrd, were designed to
make learning about the Constitution meaningful for students and easy for teachers to
incorporate into their regular classes.
“Preparing students for citizenship is a
central mission of the schools,” said
Charles N. Quigley, the Center’s Executive
Director. “That requires providing students
a fundamental understanding of our most
basic document, the Constitution and Bill
of Rights. Using these lessons, teachers
were able to fulfill this mandate with
quality material which hopefully will lead
to a fuller study of the Constitution.”
The Center recorded more than
194,000 hits on the Constitution Day
section of its website during the weeks
surrounding Constitution Day. Users
TEN
from more than 40,000 institutions
accessed the Web page during that time.
Schools nationwide are required to
teach about the Constitution on the
same day each year under the new federal mandate. An amendment to the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2005 entered by Senator Robert Byrd of
West Virginia created the federal mandate that every school receiving federal
funds—from elementary and secondary
schools to colleges and universities—
provide instruction on Constitution
Day, September 17, the anniversary of
the document’s signing. Because September 17 fell on a Saturday this year,
Constitution Day was observed in
most schools on the Friday before
or the following Monday.
The new federal requirement
does not specify which instructional program must be used to
teach about the Constitution.
The Byrd provision also requires
every federal agency to provide
instruction on the Constitution to
every federal employee.
Deborah Price, Assistant Deputy
Secretary of the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free
Schools, complimented the Center
for its work during the department’s
Constitution Day activities. Price
contrasted the civic illiteracy that
Jay Leno captures on the street
with the knowledgeable students
she encountered during a We the
People: The Citizen and the Constitution awards dinner she
attended two years ago. Three We
the People teachers—Bernard
Toomer, Vice Principal and teacher at
Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in
Washington, D.C.; Donna Paoletti
Phillips, a teacher at Robert Frost Middle School in Rockville, Maryland; and
Winona Morrissette-Johnson, a teacher
at T.C. Williams High School in
Alexandria, Virginia—addressed the
group of about 125 guests.
The Constitution Day lessons were
adapted from the Center’s We the People:
The Citizen & the Constitution text and
Foundations of Democracy curriculum.
The lessons examine various topics
related to the Constitution and Bill of
Rights that vary according to grade
level. The kindergarten and first–
second grade lessons, for example, use
stories to explain the concepts of
authority and limited government. The
ninth- and tenth-grade lessons examine
the organization of the three branches
of government and the Bill of Rights.
The eleventh- and twelfth-grade lessons
explore what the Constitution says
about the conflict between liberty and
order and the powers and limits of the
federal government.
The AASA distributed the lessons to
their national network of school administrators, who forwarded them to personnel
involved in curriculum. Teachers could
also directly access the lesson plans at the
AASA’s website at www.aasa.org.
“It is essential that we help students
become knowledgeable about the Constitution and our government and that
schools fulfill this new federal requirement in a meaningful way,” said Paul
Houston, Executive Director of the
AASA. “This new federal mandate does
not have to be onerous, and these highquality lesson plans will be a valuable
tool for teachers as they look for exciting
ways to engage students.”
Numerous other people and organizations linked their websites to the Center’s Constitution Day page, including
Senator Byrd, the National Constitution
Center, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the Center for Law and Democracy, the Center on Congress at Indiana
University, District Administration magazine, the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, Learning is for
Everyone of Florida, the New York State
Bar Association, the Utah Law-Related
Education Project, and the Vermont Bar
Association. ■
Seventh Annual National Academy Increases
Teacher Knowledge of the Constitution
T
he Seventh Annual We the People
National Academy, “Political and
Constitutional Theory for Citizens,” was
held at Loyola Marymount University in
Los Angeles, July 9–30, 2005. During
three weeks of intensive study, teachers
examined major works of political
theory, including Aristotle’s Politics;
Cicero’s Republic; Hobbes’s Leviathan;
Locke’s Second Treatise; The Federalist
and anti-federalist writings; and Supreme
Court opinions.
Nineteen educators from public and
private upper elementary, middle, and
high schools from throughout the
United States and nine educators from
Columbia, the Dominican Republic,
Ghana, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, and
Pakistan participated in the academy.
“This is an insightful and intellectually
challenging experience,” said Noor
Soraya Ahyaudin of Malaysia. “It really
probes the mind about the Constitution
and the foundations of democracy.”
Will Harris, Director of the Center
for the Constitution at James Madison’s
Montpelier Institute in Virginia, served
as the academic director of the academy. Kevin Fox of Arcadia, California,
Shellee O’Brien of Austin, Texas, and
Melani Winter of Brookfield, Wisconsin, served as preceptors. They assisted
participants with readings, discussions,
Participants at the Seventh Annual We the People National Academy, “Political and
Constitutional Theory for Citizens,” held at Loyola Marymount University in Los
Angeles, July 9–30, 2005.
lectures, and presentations on political,
constitutional, democratic, and interpretive theory. Participants discussed
the challenges of teaching the material
and meeting the goals of the We the
People Programs, the National Standards for Civics and Government, and Res
Publica: An International Framework for
Education in Democracy.
The eighth national academy is
scheduled to be held July 8–29, 2006, at
Loyola Marymount University. Applications are available through the We the
People network and on the Center website at www.civiced.org.
For more information on national institutes and other professional development
opportunities, go to www.civiced.org or
contact Susan Roe ([email protected]) at
the Center. ■
Regional and State Institutes Provide Skills and
Knowledge Needed to Implement Programs
F
ive regional We the People: Project
Citizen and 33 state We the People:
The Citizen and the Constitution weeklong institutes were held this summer. Participants explored content, teaching
methods, and assessment strategies guided
by mentor teachers and eminent constitutional and public policy scholars. National
institutes were also held during the summer (see “We the People: The Citizen
and the Constitution Summer Institutes
Facilitate Constitutional Scholarship” on
page 8 and “Seventh Annual National
Academy Increases Teacher Knowledge of
the Constitution” on this page).
Project Citizen institutes, which were
open to teachers and youth leaders, were
held in Florida, Idaho, New Mexico,
Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Participants
worked through the five steps of Project
Citizen: identifying a problem in their
community, gathering information about it,
evaluating alternative solutions, proposing
a public policy, and developing an action
plan. They documented each step of their
work in a binder, included written reflections, and presented their findings during a
simulated legislative hearing. One participant said, “I enjoyed learning about
the political process and how to get
things done.”
Daily lectures at We the People institutes introduced participants to ideas
continued on page 12
ELEVEN
Illinois Project Citizen Students Lobby for
Adoption of Jane Addams Day
I
f a group of Dongola Junior High
School eighth graders have their way,
Illinois will designate Jane Addams Day as
its first holiday honoring a woman. Using
We the People: Project Citizen, Cindy
Vines’s students chose to focus on the
problem that, although there have been
many great and accomplished women
throughout Illinois’s history, none have
been celebrated with a holiday. The students’ solution: select a worthy woman and
have her honored with a holiday.
The eighth-graders chose Jane Addams,
the first president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, a
founder of the American Civil Liberties
Union and the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People,
and the first woman to win the Nobel
Peace Prize.
On May 11, 2005—Youth Democracy
Day—all 49 seventh- and eighth-graders
from Dongola Junior High went to the
Illinois capitol in Springfield to rally support for the proposed state holiday.
The students gained the support of
State Representative Brandon Phelps, who
said that a holiday honoring a woman is
“long overdue.” Phelps plans to introduce
legislation honoring Addams.
Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn also
took an interest in the students and their
efforts and is pushing for a commemorative
Regional and State
Institutes Provide
Skills and Knowledge
continued from page 11
found in the We the People: The Citizen &
the Constitution textbook. Mentor teachers
conducted methodology sessions each day,
and participants prepared for the simulated
congressional hearing held at the end of
each institute. Lectures, teaching methods,
and the assessment activity addressed the
following: the historical and philosophical
foundations of the American political system, how the Framers created the Constitution, how the values and principles
TWELVE
Teacher Cindy Vines with five of her students from Dongola Junior High School. The
students are lobbying for legislation establishing Jane Addams Day as an Illinois state
holiday—the state’s first holiday to honor a woman.
holiday in Addams’s name in December.
Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize on December 10, 1931. Quinn is
making arrangements for the Illinois
State Board of Education to add to their
website a place for students to sign a petition to have Addams honored.
Although excited about the possibility
of seeing their proposal become Illinois
law, Vines and her students are still hoping
to go beyond a commemorative holiday
to one that closes banks, schools, and
government offices for 24 hours. The students proposed that the school year
should be lengthened by one day to
accommodate the new holiday. “Having a
full-fledged holiday honoring a woman
sends a message to women and girls that
their accomplishments will be recognized
in the same manner as those of men,”
said Vines. ■
embodied in the Constitution shape American institutions and practices, how the
protections of the Bill of Rights have been
developed and expanded, the rights protected by the Bill of Rights, and the roles
of citizens in American democracy.
Participants attending these institutes
went through an application process that
included a statement from their schools’
administration indicating that it would
support implementation of the program.
Each participant was given a classroom
set of textbooks for this purpose. They
also received a library of constitutional
literature if they attended a We the
People institute or books about public
policy if they attended a Project Citizen
institute. Transportation, lodging, and
meals were paid for by the U.S. Department
of Education under the Education for
Democracy Act approved by they U.S.
Congress.
Follow-up support is available to participants through the Center’s volunteer congressional district and state coordinators.
These coordinators organize congressionaldistrict-level simulated hearings and help
teachers to conduct an in-school hearing.
Information and applications for the
summer 2006 institutes, including contact
information for We the People state institutes, can be found on the Center’s website at www.civiced.org/institutes.php.
For more information on Project Citizen
regional institutes, contact Kaci Patterson
([email protected]) at the Center. ■
NEWS from the STATES
W E
T H E
Arizona
We the People: The Citizen and the
Constitution students from Dobson
High School in Mesa met with Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on
May 3, 2005, at the Supreme Court following their top 10 placement in the
We the People national finals. Teacher
Joyce Godfrey contacted O’Connor, a
native of Arizona, to arrange the
meeting. O’Connor discussed the role
she had played in the advancement of
women in the court system and shared
her experiences growing up in Arizona. The students’ visit concluded
with a private tour of the “highest
court in the land”— a basketball court
located on the top floor of the
Supreme Court building.
Students from Cheri Bludau’s teen
court class from Mansfield Middle
School in Tucson were able to see their
We the People: Project Citizen project
result in state legislation in April 2005,
when Governor Janet Napolitano
signed their anti-bullying bill into law.
The process began in 2003 when the
students’ anti-bullying portfolio placed
in the Superior achievement category at
the Project Citizen national showcase.
The students spent that summer writing
an anti-bullying bill, which they presented to Arizona Representative Linda
Gray at the beginning of the 2003–04
legislative session. The students were
asked to testify before both the House
and Senate education committees. The
bill was unanimously passed by both
committees, but was never introduced
to the full House and Senate. The bill
was reintroduced as House Bill 2368
during the 2004–05 legislative session
and was signed into law by Napolitano
on April 20.
California
Students from Modesto’s Fairview
Elementary School used the Foundations of Democracy and Project Citizen
programs to expose the problem of
the sale of toy guns to children by ice
cream truck vendors. The students in
both second- and fifth-grade classes
researched the issue and analyzed alternative solutions. In April 2005, the stu-
P E O P L E
P R O G R A M S
dents hosted before- and after-school
sessions to increase awareness of the
problem. The sessions were taped by
Wisconsin Public Television for its
Democracy It Is! series. Students presented their portfolio to the Modesto
City Council in June 2005.
Colorado
Students from James Mayo’s Metro
Academy class at Lookout Mountain
Youth Services Center in Golden took
second place at the Colorado Project
Citizen state showcase for their electronic portfolio presentation on homeless youth in the Denver area. The
Lookout Mountain Center is a residential facility for the most serious juvenile
offenders in Colorado. Mayo reported
that the showcase was “an incredible
opportunity for these young people to
get their voices heard. They truly felt
empowered, because they really don’t
feel that anyone cares about what they
usually have to say. This session gave
them an opportunity to assume a leadership role, which I think will only
help their efforts in successfully reintegrating into the community.”
Georgia
program both as a state legislator and
as the Project Citizen state coordinator.
Indiana
The first Spring State Elementary
Showcase was held on May 9, 2005.
Twelve classes from around the state
came to Indianapolis for the hearings,
including classes from parochial, suburban, and inner-city schools. Twentyseven elementary schools participated in
the We the People state and district
hearings during the 2004–05 school year.
Teacher Michael Raisor’s Project Citizen students from Perry Heights Middle School in Evansville presented their
anti-smoking proposal to their city
council, sparking a debate within the
community. At the invitation of the
local newspaper, the Evansville Courier,
citizens wrote letters to the editor and
expressed their opinions regarding the
proposed smoking ban.
Kansas
The Kansas State Department of
Education is the new institutional home
for We the People. Lynn Stanley, the
State Social Studies Coordinator for the
department, became the We the People
state coordinator in May 2005 after
Dave DuBois, the former state coordinator, accepted a position as the
Center’s new Chief of Staff. Stanley is
also the Kansas State Facilitator for
the congressional conferences on
civic education.
Mary Stakes, a Public Service Associate specializing in Georgia history,
government, law, and civic education at
the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia,
Atlanta, is the new Project Citizen
state coordinator. Stakes is also the state
facilitator for the congressional conferences on civic education. Judy Butler,
an Associate Professor of Secondary
Education at State University of West
Georgia, served as state coordinator for
five years. She continues to work with
the program as the Georgia District
11 coordinator.
Rusty Willette returned to serve as
the Maine We the People state coordinator. Rusty is a teacher at Foxcroft
Academy in Dover-Foxcroft. Julia
Underwood served as the state coordinator for the past four years.
Hawaii
Maryland
Sandra Cashman is the new We the
People state coordinator. She taught
We the People for more than 10 years
at Kahuku High and Intermediate
School, from which she recently retired.
She succeeds Lyla Berg as state coordinator. Berg is still involved in the
Maine
Mary Zynda is the new Project Citizen
state coordinator. Zynda is the Associate
Director of the Maryland Center for the
Study of History and Civic Education
and the former Maryland District 6
Project Citizen coordinator. Former
state coordinator James Adomanis will
continued on page 14
THIRTEEN
NEWS from the STATES
W E
T H E
P E O P L E
P R O G R A M S
North Dakota
continue to be involved in the
Center’s international programs (see the Message from
the Center article on page 2).
Massachusetts
We the People Programs
District 2 Coordinator Roger
Desrosiers has been elected vice president of the New England Council for
the Social Studies. Desrosiers
teaches We the People at Milbury
High School in Milbury and has been
a mentor at numerous institutes.
Missouri
On March 7, students from eight
classes at five schools displayed their
Project Citizen portfolios at the Missouri state capitol and discussed them
with civic educators and members of
the Missouri General Assembly. The
presentations were part of the Project
Citizen statewide showcase.
Nevada
We the People District 2 Coordinator
Daniel Wong has been promoted to
Chief Solicitor General for the State of
Nevada. He was previously the Assistant Solicitor General. Wong has volunteered for the Center since 1992 and
will continue his role as the coordinator
for Nevada’s second district.
New York
Eight Project Citizen students from
Joseph Hartig’s eighth-grade Participating Citizen social studies class from
Hicksville Middle School presented
their proposal to build a new Hicksville
Youth Council/Boys and Girls Club to
the Nassau County Legislature in Long
Island on June 6, 2005. Hartig’s students proposed allocating funds from an
environmental bond act to pay for the
initiative. The students met with Nassau County Legislator Edward P.
Mangano prior to their presentation.
The legislators applauded the students for their efforts. Afterwards,
students expressed excitement about
testifying before the lawmakers
responsible for public policy for their
FOURTEEN
Joseph Hartig’s eighth-grade class from
Hicksville Middle School in Hicksville,
New York, presented their We the
People: Project Citizen portfolio to the
Nassau County Legislature on June 6,
2005. Adults pictured are (from left to
right) Mike Krummenacker, Nassau
County Fire Marshall; Joseph Hartig,
teacher; Edward Mangano, Nassau
County Legislator; and Tom Bruno,
Executive Director, Hicksville Youth
Council Boys and Girls Club.
county. During the following week,
the students earned the rating of
Exceptional at the New York State
Project Citizen showcase.
The Justice Resource Center (JRC)
implemented We the People and Project Citizen at New York’s City Hall
Academy in Lower Manhattan. The
JRC trained the academy’s teachers
who are currently training other educators in Project Citizen.
The JRC was encouraged by the New
York City Department of Education to
develop new, small themed schools. The
Department of Education accepted a
proposal to open the first law and public policy school in New York City. Four
teachers from that school will attend
the New York Project Citizen institute.
Project Citizen will become the mainstay of their program. The JRC paired
them with a major law firm that
will assist with program development.
Donna Pearson, Assistant
Professor at the University of
North Dakota Department
of Teaching and Learning, is
the new Project Citizen
state coordinator. Pearson
uses the We the People Programs with elementary and
secondary preservice teachers. Pearson
began using the We the People curriculum in her classroom at Quitman
High School in Quitman, Mississippi, in
2000. In 2001, she returned to graduate
school at Mississippi State University
where she assisted Susie Burroughs with
the We the People program. Through
her work with Burroughs, Pearson
gained experience in the We the People
program, Project Citizen, and the Civitas International Programs. Pearson
said that her work as a district coordinator in Mississippi enhanced her
understanding of the importance of
“making more teachers aware of the
curriculum available from the Center
and the opportunities for professional
development.”
Wisconsin
A delegation of nine Chinese educators visited Madison May 12–14,
2005, to observe the Wisconsin Project Citizen state showcase and hearing. State Senator Robert Jauch greeted
the delegates at the portfolio showcase
at the Wisconsin State Bar on May 13.
State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster of the Department of Public Instruction welcomed the delegation at the
state capitol on May 14, where they
attended the hearing showcase.
A delegation of Chinese educators met with Wisconsin State Senator Robert Jauch
(sixth from right), Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth
Burmaster (sixth from left), and Center staff members Charles Bahmueller (fourth
from right) and Guohua Liu (second from left) at the Wisconsin We the People:
Project Citizen state showcase and hearing.
C
ivitas International Programs
World Congress
Strengthens International
Civic Education Efforts
M
ore than 160 civic education leaders from 61 countries and 28 U.S.
states convened at the Ninth Annual
World Congress on Civic Education in
Amman, Jordan, June 2–6, 2005. The
theme of the world congress was “Advancing Peace and Stability through Active Citizenship.” The goal of the world congress
was to share best practices and materials
for education for democracy developed
through the Civitas International Programs and administered by the Center.
Conference sessions provided the Civitas
International Programs partnerships and
others the opportunity to strengthen civic
education and civic culture through participation in thematic workshops. The Center
for Civic Education, the Jordanian Center
for Civic Education Studies, and Arab Civitas—a regional Civitas network of nine
Arab countries of the Middle East—hosted
the world congress.
Margaret Branson, Associate Director of
the Center, delivered the keynote address
on the first day of the world congress. A
panel of international participants discussed their perspectives of the theme of
the world congress, and the Center’s
international partners conducted topical
breakout sessions.
On the second day, Jordanian Minister
of Education Khaled Touqan explained
the Jordan Ministry of Education’s efforts
to develop active citizenship through
civic education . Touqan then presented
an award to Branson for her years of
support for civic education in the Arab
Middle East.
Arab Civitas country program coordinators explained the unique challenges and
opportunities for civic education in their
countries during small workshop sessions
with delegates to the world congress. Topics
ranged from maneuvering within large
bureaucracies to addressing concerns of
teachers, students, and parents. Each coordinator shared stories of positive experiences with students, teachers, local
communities, and national educational
leaders through their implementation of
the Center’s programs.
Twelve teams of middle school, high
school, and university students from
throughout Jordan presented their Project
Citizen portfolios during a showcase on the
third day of the world congress. During
A University of Jordan student presents her class’s We the People: Project
Citizen portfolio during the Ninth Annual World Congress on Civic
Education, held in Amman, Jordan, June 2–6, 2005.
The Civitas International
Programs are supported by a grant
from the U.S. Department of
Education under the Education for
Democracy Act approved by the
U.S. Congress and by additional
grants from the U.S. Department of
State, the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID),
and other sources. The programs
are implemented throughout the
world in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of State, USAID, and
nongovernmental and governmental
institutions in the United States
and abroad.
For more information about
international programs, contact
Richard Nuccio at the Center
([email protected]).
their 30-minute portfolio presentations,
they introduced a public policy problem
from their community, explained alternative policies to deal with the problem,
described their proposed public policy solution, and presented an action plan for having their policy implemented.
A number of these Project Citizen
groups were successful in attracting attention to their communities’ problems and
caused local leaders to reexamine their current policies. A Project Citizen class from
the University of Jordan examined problems with the university’s medical clinic
and medical policies. Students conducted a
survey of the clinic’s services, interviewed
clinic staff and community members, took
photos, designed posters, sent letters to the
university president, and presented the
problem to the university community
through a portfolio presentation. The
students proposed amendments to the
university’s medical policy and the formation of a university committee on
medical issues. As a result, the University
of Jordan formed a committee to work on
medical policy with the university’s student council. The university approved
hiring new doctors for the clinic, developing a plan for full maintenance of the
continued on page 16
FIFTEEN
World Congress
Strengthens
International Civic
Education Efforts
continued from page 15
medical equipment, and buying a new
fully equipped ambulance.
The Center’s domestic consultants and
international partners led discussions of
new programmatic directions and plans for
the Center’s international programs during
Civitas International Programs sessions.
Plans include developing education for
European citizenship; hosting regional
workshops that will employ interactive
methods; adapting Center materials to
meet the needs of different countries, particularly those of divided societies; implementing preservice education; developing
the international training of trainers
program in Project Citizen and Foundations of Democracy; and using educational technology to produce an
interactive, e-enabled version of Project
Citizen.
International partners shared their best
practices in managing, planning, and implementing civic education programs. Topics
included how to develop an effective team
to write a civics textbook, strategies for
building an effective network, electoral
institutes as promoters of civic education, a
new model for the Project Citizen showcase, and reflexive supervision of teachers
to foster democratic values in schools.
Delegates commented that some of the
greatest strengths of the world congress
were the opportunities to network with
an international group of civic education
leaders, share experiences and ideas,
spend time working closely with their
international partnerships, and learn about
the Arab Middle East. One participant
said that the strength of the meeting was
“experiencing firsthand the Arab culture,
destroying a lot of prejudice and expectations based on prejudice.”
Another delegate said that the greatest
benefit of the world congress was “having
an opportunity to build a worldwide sense
of community that actively pursues civic
education in democracy. The seeds we
plant will never stop growing.”
Richard Nuccio, the Center’s Director of
International Programs, announced during
the final plenary session that special meetings and events are being planned for 2006,
the tenth anniversary of the Center’s
Civitas International Programs. The next
world congress will be held May 24–30,
2006, in Warsaw, Poland.
More information about the Ninth
Annual World Congress on Civic Education
and an agenda can be found on the Center’s website, www.civiced.org. Presentations from various conference sessions
are posted on the Civnet website at
www.civnet.org. ■
West Bank Civic Education Program
Helps Fulfill U.S. Foreign Policy Objectives
in the Middle East
T
he persistence of a group of young
Palestinian We the People: Project
Citizen students from the West Bank has
helped fulfill key U.S. foreign policy goals
in the Middle East.
Dozens of middle school students from
the Espana School in Ramallah investigated poor conditions at a local hospital
as part of their participation in Project
Citizen. The hospital, which serves the
entire West Bank, was for years widely
regarded as a deathtrap, but the reasons
for the hospital’s high death rate were
unknown to local residents.
During their investigation, the Espana
students interviewed patients and nurses
and obtained documents previously withheld from the public. From the documents, the students learned that about
400 patients at the hospital had died in
2004 due to its poor sanitary conditions,
far more than previously known.
Students were shocked by filthy conditions
in key hospital locations, including surgical theaters, food preparation facilities,
and bathrooms. When the city’s mayor
refused to listen to the complaints of the
irate Project Citizen participants, they
threatened a public demonstration. The
mayor backed down when the students
published a brochure, financed by their
families, that contained photos of the
unsanitary conditions.
The Espana students did not abandon
their efforts to reform the hospital when
the school year ended in May 2005, but
continued to press for change. For the
students, Project Citizen had become
more than just a school class.
According to a Palestinian familiar
with the students’ project, one effect of
the students’ experience is that Palestinian
adults have begun to see U.S. espousal of
human rights and democracy not as part
of a hidden agenda, but as being genuinely connected to the improvement of
Palestinians’ daily lives. Youthful talent,
energy, and emotion, said the Palestinian,
have been directed away from violence
toward constructive action with their participation in a project that encourages a
culture of moderation.
Middle school students in the West
Bank have undertaken nearly 100 Project
Citizen initiatives. More than 1,800 students took part in the program in 2004,
the program’s first year.
Participating as classes, Project Citizen
students select a problem in their local
community, investigate it thoroughly,
choose a plan of action to resolve or
improve the problem, and publicly present their findings. Students accumulate
documentation as a result of their investigation and construct graphic representations of their activities and findings. In
numerous projects throughout the West
Bank, students set out to see the issues
resolved.
continued on page 17
SIXTEEN
Refaat Sabbah, General Director of the
Teacher Creativity Center of Ramallah,
directed the implementation of Project
Citizen in the West Bank. Sabbah said that
Project Citizen helped to reduce truancy.
Participants began to see themselves as
potentially effective actors in community
affairs, said Sabbah, and started showing
up for school. One teacher noted that violence had decreased among participating
students and that they had become easier
to work with.
Sabbah credits this dramatic change
in student attitudes and behavior to the
methodology of the Project Citizen program, which makes students active participants in community affairs rather than
passive receivers of information from
teachers.
Sabbah said that as a result of the success of Project Citizen in its first year, the
Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education has adopted the program for use
throughout the West Bank.
A competition across the entire West
Bank to select the best Project Citizen
portfolio provoked keen interest among
parents and other family members who
became interested in the problems the students had chosen.
West Bank educators have expressed
their gratitude to Americans for sponsoring Project Citizen, which they consider to
be a valuable civic education program. ■
R. Freeman Butts Institute Prepares Teachers to
Educate for Democracy
T
he R. Freeman Butts Institute on
Civic Learning in Teacher Education was held May 20–24, 2005, on the
Indiana University campus. Nine participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina,
China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic,
Ghana, Malaysia, Russia, and South
Africa joined American university professors engaged in democracy education
teaching methodology. Preservice presentations provided future classroom
teachers with a theoretical approach to
teaching education for democracy. The
international participants delivered
short presentations about preservice
and civic education activities in their
countries. ■
Participants from nine countries
attended the R. Freeman Butts
Institute on Civic Learning in Teacher
Education, May 20–24, 2005, at
Indiana University. International participants are shown here with
Professor John Patrick of Indiana
University (fourth from left), and
Sharon A. Moran, Program Manager,
Center for Civic Education (fifth
from right).
SEVENTEEN
NEWS from the SITES
C I V I T A S
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
P R O G R A M S
Baltic Conference
The conference “Mass Media and
the Civic Mission of Schools in Contemporary Democracies” was held in
Tallinn, Estonia, April 17–20, 2005.
Estonia’s Jaan Tõnisson Institute and
Indiana University cohosted the conference, which showcased the work of
the partnership among three Baltic
countries—Latvia, Lithuania, and
Estonia—and three U.S. states—
Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Participants from Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden also attended the conference.
Conference participants attended
panel discussions on topics such as
U.S. and Estonian perspectives on the
role of the media in the political
socialization of youth in society. Some
participants visited Estonian classrooms for demonstrations of Project
Citizen and other civic education
programs and attended a session of
the Estonian parliament. Next year’s
Baltic conference will be held in Riga,
Latvia.
India
Ramjas School, R. K. Puram,
headed by Principal Meera Balachandran, organized and hosted India’s
first Project Citizen showcase on
August 26, 2005. Classes from 11
The Rajkiya Pratibha Government School from New Delhi was selected as one of the
top three classes to participate in the final round of India’s first Project Citizen showcase on August 26, 2005. The students’ portfolio dealt with unfair child labor practices.
New Delhi–area schools participated
in the preliminary round of the
showcase. Three outstanding classes,
including a public school class whose
students presented in their native
Hindi, were chosen to present their
portfolios during the final round of
the showcase, held the same day.
A two-day teacher training held
August 18–19 and a five-day training
of trainers workshop held August
20–24 preceded the showcase. Thirtytwo teachers from eight different
Indian states participated in the
workshop. Twenty of the teachers
were new to the Project Citizen curriculum and had been introduced to
the program during the intensive
two-day training. The workshop, conducted by Center Senior Consultants
Phyllis Bowie and Douglas Phillips,
was a follow up to the first teacher
training held in January, which Bowie
and Phillips also conducted.
Latin America
Students from the Rajkiya Pratibha Government School in New Delhi
discuss their portfolio with a training participant.
EIGHTEEN
On July 11, 2005, Civitas Venezuela
was awarded the CIVICUS Nelson
Mandela Graça Machel Innovation
Award. The award is designed to honor
recipients’ “achievement and innovation
in
developing
creative
and committed ways of achieving a
more just world and for having a positive impact on citizen rights and
justice movements.” Civitas Venezuela
received the award for its work
NEWS from the SITES
C I V I T A S
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
with Proyecto Ciudadano—Project
Citizen—curricular material developed
by the Center and adapted by Civitas
Venezuela.
The Civitas Latin America program
has expanded to include two new partnerships. In the program year that
began on October 1, the Connecticut
Consortium for Law and Citizenship
Education, Inc., began collaboration
with Fundacion Ideas of Chile, and Wisconsin’s We the People program began
working with Fundacion Horizonte of
Ecuador. These partnerships will conduct joint projects to share expertise
and experience in civic education.
Pakistan
More than 2,000 Project Citizen
students participated in competition
showcases held May 29–30, 2005, in
Islamabad. Zafarullah Khan, Centre
for Civic Education Pakistan InCountry Project Citizen Program
Director, said, “I think this project has
succeeded in inculcating democratic
thinking. I sincerely hope that Project
Citizen will be instrumental in facilitating long-term democratic changes
in Pakistan.” Khan described the outcome of a recent Project Citizen portfolio: “In Sagri, a village 45 kilometers
from Rawalpindi, people saw a municipal garbage collection truck for the
first time. The Sagri girls school students were surprised at their potential to solve a lingering problem in
their community.”
To prepare for the May competition
showcases, Pakistani Project Citizen
trainers completed a training for
teachers and principals April 15–17 in
Islamabad. The trainers came from 20
schools in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Russia
Evgeny Belyakov, Executive Director of Civitas Russia, met with President Bush and Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice during their May
P R O G R A M S
2005 trip to Moscow. The president,
who was in Europe attending celebrations honoring the 60th anniversary of V-E Day, met with 20 Russian
civil society leaders before heading
to a ceremony at Poklonnaya Gora,
a World War II memorial in Moscow.
Belyakov told Bush and Rice that
“our role as Russian civil society
leaders today is to help develop a
taste for freedom in the Russian people. The exchange programs between
civic educators that we run for both
of our countries with the help of the
American people help both of our
nations. The programs help us to
learn how to gain freedom and help
the American people learn how to
keep it.” Belyakov said that Bush
and Rice were supportive of his work
and spoke of the need for continued
Russian–U.S. exchanges. ■
New International Initiatives
T
he Center’s civic education initiatives in the Middle East have been
enhanced by two recent grants that will
expand We the People: Project Citizen in
Jordan and Pakistan.
During the next two years the Center
will collaborate with Jordan’s Ministry of
Education, the Jordanian Center for Civic
Education Studies, Arab Civitas, and an
award-winning Jordanian technology
firm, Menhaj Educational Technologies,
to develop a new electronically enhanced
version of Project Citizen. This e-learning
version of Project Citizen will be developed for use initially in Jordan’s “discovery”
schools, which emphasize computerassisted learning. However, the e-enhanced
Project Citizen will also be piloted in
English in the United States and has the
potential to expand the reach of Project
Citizen in other countries. The U.S.
Agency for International Development’s
mission in Jordan and the Middle East
Partnership Initiative of the Department
of State will fund the project. The funding mechanism for the project is the Civil
Society Leaders’ Consortium managed by
Pact, Inc., the Center’s partner in a
number of projects around the world.
The Center has partnered with the
Centre for Civic Education Pakistan to
implement Project Citizen in middle
school classrooms and engage out-ofschool youths in four areas of Pakistan.
The partnership received a grant from
Pact and the South Asia Bureau of the
Department of State for a one-year program commencing in fall 2005 that
expands a Project Citizen pilot program nearing completion in Pakistan.
Project Citizen will help young Pakistanis
develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes
required for competent and responsible participation in democratic self-government.
Project Citizen will expand in
2005–06 to reach more than 1,280 students and 120 out-of-school youths in
four cities. In Islamabad and Rawalpindi,
the program will include middle school
teachers and students in 16 additional
schools, four out-of-school youth groups,
and some university students. The program will expand to the same number of
middle-school teachers and students and
out-of-school youth groups in Lahore
and Karachi.
Project Citizen will increase the ability of Pakistani educational leaders to create, implement, and sustain effective civic
education programs in Pakistani schools
and universities, building a network of
institutions and individuals committed to
the implementation of civic education
throughout the country. The program will
be presented to educators at all levels,
including in university teacher education
programs.
The Centre for Civic Education Pakistan will continue its national public
awareness program to promote and
encourage the continued expansion of the
network of institutions and individuals
committed to the implementation of civic
education in Pakistan. These efforts will
include negotiating with a private television station and a cable television network
to broadcast Project Citizen showcase
ceremonies and hearings. Prepared videotapes and audiocassettes will be distributed to television and radio stations that
have covered previous showcases. ■
NINETEEN
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I N S I D E
T H I S
I S S U E
of the Center Correspondent
Students Display Their Civic Accomplishments
at the Ninth Annual Project Citizen
National Showcase in Seattle
see page one
■
Iraqi-American Partnership Works to
Spread Democracy throughout Iraqi Kurdistan
see page two
■
Center Offers Lessons for Constitution Day
see page ten