Can your students use these civil dialogue skills?

Are you or your students nervous to discuss current events or political topics in your classroom? You aren't alone.

The Committee of Seventy is working with five schools across PA to bring our Can We Talk? program to their students. Can We Talk? teaches skills in productive civil dialogue.

We have almost a dozen sample lessons on our website for your class. One of our favorites is a discussion of American Values. These values sometimes come into tension between different people, not necessarily as a matter of good vs. evil, but more as a matter of ideas that we all generally agree are good in different ways.

If you want to learn more about Can We Talk?, simply reply to this email. We are Act 48-certified to train teachers on how to deploy these skills. Those who commit to bringing them to their class are also eligible for a stipend to support their work.

Civics tests don't necessarily lead to increased voting

Earlier this month, a new study from researchers at Penn State University concluded that mandatory civics testing in 18 states did not lead to a meaningful increase in voter turnout when those students became eligible to vote. The study is available here.

C70 and our colleagues at the PA Civics Coalition took note of these findings as we help school districts navigate the requirements from Pennsylvania's Act 35, which mandates that districts test students at least once during grades 7-12.

This study would seem to indicate that more in-depth, experiential civics education is required to ensure that students become active participants in our democracy.

Celebrate Digital Citizenship Week

It's Digital Citizenship Week across the United States. If you haven't yet, make sure to check out C70's collection of resources on Digital and Media Literacy. Common Sense Media has multiple lessons that help students consider confirmation bias, filter bubbles, and how to find credible news on social media.