PBS News Hour Classroom has been awarded the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics’ 2024 Civic Mission of the Nation Award to develop civics-education resources for community colleges and young adults.
The award from the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics (LAIC), an initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, will provide PBS News Hour Classroom with over $58,000 to create and publish 32 multimedia resources for adult learners over a 16-month period, beginning in January 2025.
These resources for adult learners will be built around short, televised news segments from PBS News, including a series called “America at a Crossroads” hosted by former News Hour anchor Judy Woodruff. Its segments have focused on issues such as how polarization and division has led to political violence; the connection between religion and politics in America; and how to revitalize American democracy.
Three major areas will be the focus of the resources: Engaging in civil discourse, honing media literacy skills, and understanding civic institutions. “We see these three pathways as critical to young adults not just understanding what is happening in the world around them, but engaging with it as partners and citizens,” said Luke Gerwe, education project manager for PBS News Hour Classroom.
The award to PBS represents a growing effort by the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s LAIC initiative to expand civics education beyond its traditional base among K-12 students to a broader group of citizens, particularly those in community colleges, the military, and business. In August 2024, APPC and the American Association of Colleges and Universities collaborated on a Community College and Civics Report, which aimed to understand how civics education opportunities are offered inside and outside community college classrooms and identify ways to strengthen and broaden those offerings.
APPC’s civics knowledge survey, released annually in advance of Constitution Day (Sept. 17), has consistently found that many U.S. adults lack basic knowledge about the government and their constitutional rights. The September 2024 survey found that a majority of adults could not name most of their First Amendment rights. While two-thirds of those surveyed could name the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial), 15% could not name any.
“We’re delighted to support PBS News Hour Classroom in this project to expand adult learning, using its extensive and high-quality media resources while working with a community college advisory board to help adapt resources for those learners, said Andrea (Ang) Reidell, LAIC’s director of outreach and curriculum. “Whether someone is working to enter an in-demand technical field or earn a credential to advance in their current field, everyone benefits by learning about important civics knowledge and skills.”
The award provides an opportunity for PBS News Hour Classroom to expand its offerings, which currently center on resources for middle and high school students, and reach “young citizens who are maybe voting for the first time and have just begun to think of themselves as adults,” Gerwe said. “We can imagine deeper engagement with research projects than you typically have with middle and high school students, more in-depth and challenging discussions.”
The Civic Mission of the Nation awards are open to partners in the Civics Renewal Network (CRN), another signature LAIC initiative, which includes 44 partner organizations dedicated to enhancing civics education by providing free, high-quality, nonpartisan educational resources. These awards specifically target the development and dissemination of instructional resources and programs that support civics education for adult learners in three areas: community colleges, the military, and business. The program assists CRN partners in revising or creating instructional materials that elevate the understanding of the Constitution and how our government works.
Past recipients of the Civic Mission of the Nation awards include the Rendell Center for Civics & Civic Engagement, for a six-part video series on the First Amendment; the Center for Civic Education, for a toolkit on civil discourse for adult learners; the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, for a community college learning guide in political science and government courses; and the Indiana University Center on Representative Government, for Everyday Civics: Tools for Daily Living, an online game that encourages civic participation by adult learners.
