Dear Friends
Recently I joined the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College at Columbia University. The Center promotes strengthening students’ educational rights through research, advocacy, and collective action. The Center also convenes DemocracyReady NY, the multigenerational, statewide, nonpartisan coalition committed to preparing all students for civic participation.
DemocracyReady NY will host a series of free virtual events to celebrate New York Civic Learning Week, which will take place this year from March 6 – 10, 2023. All events will be accessible to the public, and participants will include students, parents, school and district leaders, educators, and youth-serving organizations. We expect these events to be of particular interest to students of political science, education policy,
New York Civic Learning Week will help raise awareness of New York students’ right under the state constitution to an education that prepares them for engaged civic lives and to lend their voice to decision-making in their communities. The statewide celebration builds on the New York City Department of Education’s successful annual Civics Week, which has been going on since 2019.
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) includes “civic readiness” as a graduation measure under its ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) plan. The Center’s Michael Rebell served as chairman of NYSED’s Civic Readiness Task Force. The task force’s recommendations led to the development of the Seal of Civic Readiness graduation pathway, which was rolled out in 2021. To date, about 350 schools throughout the state offer civic learning opportunities and civic experiences under the Seal.
We hope to build public support for expanding these opportunities in all New York K-12 schools during this critical time in our nation’s history. Our audience will include educators, advocates, policymakers, students, parents, and other stakeholders.
On Monday, March 6, Michael Rebell will host a conversation with Dr. Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a foreign policy adviser to four presidents, about his deep commitment to civic education, as reflected in his current New York Times best-selling book, The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.
DemocracyReady NY will host the inaugural virtual statewide Summit on Civic Readiness on Tuesday, March 7, as a centerpiece of the New York Civic Learning Week convenings. The Summit will feature Dr. Betty A. Rosa, Commissioner of the NYS Education Department, and NYS Regent Dr. Catherine Collins.
On Wednesday, March 8, the Coalition will host a webinar on civic learning in elementary education organized by coalition members DK Holland of Inquiring Minds Institute and Carolyn Ostrander of the NYS Grange.
Dr. Lester W. Young, Jr., Chancellor of the NYS Board of Regents, will join a virtual youth-led event on Thursday, March 9.
A special event on strategies to develop media literacy in the classroom, hosted by Chris Sperry of Project Look Sharp, will be available throughout Civic Learning Week.
Click here to learn more and register. Please feel free to share with your students, colleagues, and constituencies. I hope that you can join us!
Best
Nan
Nan Eileen Mead, MA SPP, M Ed
Director of Outeach and Communications
The Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College
_______
Co-Editor, Journal of Engaged Research
917.679.4324
