California Convening on Civic Learning
Free Resources from Speakers, Partners, and Friends
Dr. Joseph Kahne, Director, Civic Engagement Research Group
The Costs of Conflict: The Fiscal Impact of Culturally Divisive Conflict on Public Schools in the United States
Authors: John Rogers, Rachel White, Robert Shand, Joseph Kahne
Facing Partisan Conflict: How Social Studies Educators Can Lead Towards a Diverse Democracy
Authors: Joseph Kahne, John Rogers
Michael Matsuda, Superintendent, Anaheim Union High School District
AUHSD Future Talks, hosted by Anaheim Union High School District Superintendent Michael Matsuda, features special guests each week focusing on the Future of Education, Preparing Students for College, Career and Life Success, and Equity and the 5Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Compassion).
Why civic engagement must be integrated into the school dashboard, EdSource
Author: Michael Matsuda
A Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Toughest Questions in K–12 Education
Authors: Frederick M. Hess and Pedro A. Noguera
Introductory podcast about the book
Series of Podcast episodes on Spotify
Teach Democracy provides civic learning programs and lessons for elementary, middle and high schools, as well as teacher professional development. We specialize in student-centered discussion of issues that matter to them, project-based learning for authentic civic engagement, and role play/simulation of democratic processes. Key free resources include:
Civic Learning for Elementary Grades
In addition, Teach Democracy leads the California Coalition for Civic Learning Initiative and is the fiscal sponsor for Californians for Civic Learning, both initiatives led by Dr. Michelle Herczog.
Generation Citizen’s mission is to build an education movement that equips and inspires young people to transform our democracy. We envision a world in which young people are at the forefront of creating a more just, participatory, and inclusive democracy with greater equity in representation and outcomes. Generation Citizen is transforming how civics is taught by providing real-world education with an equity-centered approach.
Generation Citizen champions real-world democracy education that equips all young people with foundational civic knowledge and skills needed to understand systems of inequality and effect change. In classrooms across the country, GC’s project-based experiential civics program inspires robust civic participation by inviting students to engage directly with the local issues and institutions impacting their communities
Take Action Lesson Series
This series of lessons empowers middle and high school students to become active changemakers and engage in civic action. Students will learn about historical and contemporary youth-led movements, assess community assets, write Op-Eds, draft local ordinances, and advocate for increased voter access. By engaging in these activities, students will develop critical thinking skills, civic literacy, and a sense of agency to address issues they care about.
A Guide for California Teachers- Grade 12 Crosswalk
This brand new resource aligns all of our free resources to the Content Standards for the Grade 12 Principles of American Democracy. It includes games, lesson plans, mini lessons, webquests, DBQuests, videos, and infographics. All resources are hyperlinked to the document.
Professional Learning Services Flyer
For District Leaders and Administrators
Social Studies Accelerator
We believe in teaching the complete, inclusive history of the United States, ensuring representation of the broad range of identities and experiences of historically marginalized people and otherwise untold stories. Creating content reflective of America’s rich diversity – inclusive of multiple voices – is critical to engaging students of ALL backgrounds.
In doing so, we better prepare our young people to navigate the world in which they live, work well with others, and become strong contributors to their communities and our society.
Understanding our history strengthens our democracy and our empathy towards each other.
Mikva Challenge’s mission is to develop youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society. They offer programs and some free resources for educators.
