The Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy (PennCORD), a coalition of state and national organizations committed to implementing civics education in classrooms and after-school programs in every Pennsylvania community, has added the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Student Voices program to its offerings.
Lead partners in the PennCORD effort are the Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania, under the leadership of First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell; the National Constitution Center; the Pennsylvania Bar Association; and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. PennCORD activities are coordinated by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
The goal of PennCORD is to help Pennsylvania students to become more active citizens by offering teachers quality resources that meet state educational standards and can be implemented at little or no cost to the schools. PennCORD’s Keystone Programs criteria include: “1) low-cost; 2) fit civics standards; 3) assessable; 4) offer methods, materials and training; 5) adaptable to school environment; 6) renew the civic mission of schools.”
Student Voices (www.student-voices.org) is a national, nonpartisan civic education initiative in which students study their local government, policy issues and political campaigns. Along with online local government and elections curricula, lesson plans and teacher training materials, the Student Voices website provides classes across the country with research tools, moderated discussions and daily news stories about government and policy issues.
