As tens of thousands of people participate in Civic Learning Week across the country March 11-15, major organizations in the growing movement around civic education have announced new resources, opportunities, and fellowships for students, educators, and adults to engage in yearlong civic learning and engagement.

Civic Learning Week is a nonpartisan effort that brings together students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors to highlight and further energize the movement for civic education. It is designed to further understanding of what a modern civic education needs to sustain and strengthen our nation’s constitutional democracy.

This year’s theme, “2024 and Beyond: Civic Learning as a Unifying Force,” focuses on how to make civics a national priority, and how it can provide a way to address polarization by building civil discourse and understanding. 

The new resources announced today include educational content, fellowships, internships, and engagement opportunities from Civic Learning Week cosponsors iCivics, A More Perfect Union, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service at George Washington University, Microsoft, More Perfect, National Archives and National Archives Foundation, and National Council for the Social Studies. 

Civic Digital Literacy: iCivics and the Digital Inquiry Group have partnered to create Civic Digital Literacy, a collection of non-partisan, evidence-based, classroom-ready materials for educators that will equip students to identify and discern credible information online. Launching in Fall 2024, Civic Digital Literacy will include 15 lesson plans, ten student-facing videos, and six videos for teachers covering a range of topics, from determining who’s behind cloaked websites to evaluating political claims shared on social media. A preview of the offering is now available.

New Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia: GBH and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announce a new civics collection launching in fall 2024 that will be a companion to the U.S. History Collection. It will include free, interactive, media-rich resources for teachers and students in grades 6–12.

Civic Changemaker Internship: The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service at George Washington University is offering a summer internship for college students in Washington, D.C., that will provide the opportunity to work with middle school students to make a difference in their communities. The Civic Changemaker curriculum helps students learn more about their local government, neighborhood, and school communities while addressing community issues that are important to them. Interns will live together on the GW campus, and participate in cultural events, and professional development. 

National Archives Civics for All of US Teacher Institutes: This summer, educators working with grades 3–12 are invited to apply to attend the 2024 Civics for All of US Teacher Institute with the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Educators will learn how to use National Archives holdings to teach the civic knowledge and skills students need for civic engagement in the 21st century.  Participants will explore primary sources that shed light on the successes, failures, debates, and challenges in the history of our democracy. The program will also feature resources for sharing diverse perspectives and historically underrepresented voices in classroom civics lessons. This professional development experience will also highlight student voices in the Archives that demonstrate how civic participation can happen at any age. The application closes on March 15. 

Connecting Civic Education and a Healthy Democracy: Carnegie Corporation of New York has issued a report calling for a greater investment in civic education, given the need to prepare young people for informed and engaged citizenship. Connecting Civic Education and a Healthy Democracy highlights the need for state-level policies that expand and improve K–12 civic learning and features examples of how coalition-building has helped advance more robust policies in a number of states. Equipping young people with the tools to think critically, engage in constructive debate, and discover their agency is essential to reducing polarization and strengthening American democracy. Visit Carnegie.org/CivicsPolicy to download the free report.

Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society: The National Council for the Social Studies Rho Kappa Honor Society provides high school juniors and seniors with national recognition and opportunities for exploration in social studies. Any accredited public, private, or charter high school can apply for a local chapter, through which individuals will be inducted into Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society. 

For more information about any of these initiatives, contact jacob@oneallen.com or the organizations directly.