Jared Polis Foundation Education Report: Fall & Winter 2008



	Empowering Youth in the Community: Bringing them Back “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.” —Confucius (450 BC) The Need for Experiential Civic Education It is no secret that young people today have become increasingly disengaged from the democratic process. In the recent 2004 Presidential election, voter turnout among 18 - 24 year olds nationally was 47%, quite low but still a significant increase from a dismal 36% in 2000. Moreover, only about 57% of the young people who are eligible to vote have even registered. The turnout from state and local elections, where critical debates occur that more directly affect our lives, are even lower. During mid-term elections in 2002, youth voter turnout hovered around 24%. Although the numbers climbed to around 45% in the 2004 national election, we still have much to improve. In Colorado the numbers are even starker as recent polling data demonstrates that voter turnout among youth in our state has dropped more than 15% since 1992. Studies indicate that most young adults feel completely outside the decision-making process on issues of health care, education, jobs, and economic development. While a few grassroots environmental causes have gathered significant support from the young, few other causes have been successful engaging young people. Even Sierra Club members show a mere 30% turnout rate at the polls. Service and passion does not always translate into a trip to the polling place. So, why do our young people feel disconnected from their community? And how can we bring them back? Leader’s Challenge endeavors to bring them back. The face of civic education and leadership training in the high school curriculum nationwide has undergone great change in the last decade. While calls for increased accountability and tougher standards are indeed valid, this has also created a movement toward stronger teaching of core subjects such as reading, science and mathematics. In fact, in March 2006, 70% of school districts surveyed nationwide reported that they had cut back classroom instruction in social studies and the arts. This trend will certainly limit our ability to cultivate a new generation of leaders who feel invested in their communities and who are confident in exercising their voice. This has also led to a subsequent decrease in teaching basic everyday citizenship skills, and experts around the country, especially following the 2000 election, are calling for a return to teaching more about our civic process. “Some educators are trying to stop a pendulum they believe has swung too far toward standards, testing, and accountability. This squeezes out many “life skills” courses, the practical arts and vocational classes that broaden a teen’s experience while in high school”(Denver Post, page 1F, October 19, 2004). Several recent national studies have provided further evidence of the need to expand civic training for young people. A Legislative Update from the National Council for the Social Studies reported “America’s public schools received a grade of ‘C’ in their efforts to educate students on citizenship, but the students rated a ‘C-‘ for their civic awareness and engagement,” (December 6, 2004). A major study entitled The Civic Mission of the Schools added to these concerns. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), at the University of Maryland, the report indicates that a majority of young Americans do not vote or work to influence public policy in any way. Students today take an average of one civics class in secondary school, compared to at least three courses 30 years ago. Furthermore, “Findings from both CIRCLE and another recent report from Boston University indicate that most students leave school with little understanding of how to apply any knowledge they have of civics to real-life situations”(Martin and Richardson, Education Week, May 7, 2003). This evidence points to a greater need for academic and experiential learning programs outside the classroom. Research shows that students who are more actively involved in the decision-making process of their schools and communities are more likely to stay in school, vote, and invest in improvements and causes that impact their lives. Students not only need greater knowledge of our civic structure, they need to develop the skills to navigate and apply the process to improve their own lives. Extra-curricular activities in civics and service learning, aligned with local education standards and classroom instruction enable students to extend their learning experience and move from the theoretical to the practical. We no longer want to hear, “I wish I could help the homeless, or the drug problem in my school, but I don’t know where to begin.” We must help today’s young people understand how to begin. Connecting Service and Civic Engagement Although we have seen an increase in community activism and volunteering in the past few years, involvement typically stops when young people fail to understand how their actions influence issues they care about. In some schools and districts, community service hours are completed as a graduation requirement, however little real analysis of underlying cause and effect relationships surrounding the issues is considered. This needs to be addressed. Students should know how to identify decision-makers in their schools and communities, better understand the resources available to impact change, and be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, in addition to those in their community, to work toward effective long-term change. It is imperative to build strong service learning opportunities into any civics curriculum, and to also help the student make the connection to real public policy processes to impact their issue or cause of choice. This creates a path for them to connect their service experience to tangible impact, and at the very least, this will encourage them to vote. On the website of the Education Commission of the States (ECS), The National Center for Learning and Citizenship supports this view stating, citizenship education should “develop not just students’ civic knowledge but also their civic skills and dispositions. A community connection also is vital for effective instruction to foster civic skills and dispositions.” Indeed, the ECS report offers strong support for initiatives such as the Leader’s Challenge IGNITE program, recommending that students “obtain experience outside the traditional classroom.” In the state of Colorado there is also a strong need to foster greater civic engagement. Voter turnout has declined consistently since 1972 and currently, depending upon the local school district, there are often only two required civic-related courses in the secondary curriculum. While showing an increase, students still typically engage in community service only a few times a year, and rarely do they make the connection between their service experiences, the underlying causes of the issue, how the organization where they volunteered is involved in the community, how resources are allocated, and how the public policy process is influenced as a whole. Students must be able to connect the dots. Research shows that by connecting service learning and civic engagement activities, students are more likely to exhibit greater political knowledge, engage in more discussion with teachers and parents (giving them a stronger sense of investment), and demonstrate enhanced political efficacy. Nearly all other civics material is simply embedded in other social studies courses. This is certainly not enough to teach our young people the complexities and value of participating in our civic process. As alluded to in the reports cited, how will students learn to apply their academic experiences within their community? How will students learn to become agents of change? Will they learn the value of responsible servant leadership? Leader’s Challenge is working to help students connect the pieces of the puzzle, exercise their voice, and put their ideas and passions into action. Since our founding in 2000, Leader’s Challenge has empowered more than 1,200 high school students to improve their schools and communities, better understand the issues they face, and become more aware of how to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Through an in-depth academic and experiential learning program called IGNITE, high school juniors explore the life skills related to being responsible and active citizens of their community. Integrating our three primary content areas of leadership development, civic engagement, and service learning, students have the opportunity to study current local issues, meet the decision-makers involved, analyze potential responses to social problems, and exercise their voice to help work toward solutions. Throughout the yearlong journey, students develop the confidence, knowledge, skills, and behavior to become lasting agents for change in their schools and community. —George B. Brown, Curriculum Director, Leader’s Challenge To learn more, visit www.leaderschallenge.org.