During the course of Civics Report, we came upon many articles that interested us.  Below are some links.  And, what would a reading room be without editorial cartoons?  Click here to see some relevant ones.

• On September 13, 2007, educator Jonathan Kozol published a withering critique of the “mania of obsessive testing” embodied in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. You may read it by following this link.
  
• Young People and News

Published by Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy on July 11, 2007, this report’s headline reads

“Survey Finds Young Americans’ News Use Is Half That of Older Adults: Teens’ Daily News Use Is Even Lower Than That of Young Adults“

A PDF file containing the report is located at:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/research/carnegie-knight/young_people_and_news_2007.pdf

• “If Ya Don’t Vote, Ya Don’t Matter“

Published in the Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2006

“Why don’t we vote?” essay contest

This contest was sponsored by the Center for Voting and Democracy in 1999.  Here you can read essays written by young people from across the nation as they attempt to answer the question, “Political participation by young people is plummeting. What changes in our electoral system would increase political participation by young people and why is that important to you and people like you?”.

The Vanishing Voter Project

This project is the work of Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

• Top Flight Colleges Fail Civics, Study Says

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, 2006

The complete Civics report is available at:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/

For a liberal take on the validity of the report, have a look at John Seery’s
Civics Education or Else!! at Huffington Post.

The First Amendment – A Powerful Way to Teach Critical Thinking

• Published by the National Council Teachers of English, September 2006

• A Republic … if you can keep it

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, September 21, 2006.

• Have We Forgotten Civic Education?

Published in the Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2006

• Why Johnny Can’t Be Bothered

Published in the Chicago Tribune, April 4, 2006.

• Students Take on World Challenges

Published in the Christian Science Monitor, March 22, 2006.

• Students Flex Rights to Understand Responsibility

Published in the Washington Post, February 21, 2006.

• Teach Students How to Use Skills to Serve Their Community

Published in the Christian Science Monitor, January 25, 2006.

• What if the U.S. had to write a Constitution from scratch?

Published in the Christian Science Monitor, August 19, 2005.

• Are We Buying Our ‘McStudent’ Lie?

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 2005.

• In Class, Suddenly the Electoral College Counts

Published in the Washington Post, November 2, 2004.