Researchers and teachers are hopeful that new classroom curriculum will improve how the next generation of Americans engages in discussion around contested issues. (Image source: Unsplash/Kenny Eliason.)
Record USC grant funds study of program on how to handle controversial topics in the classroom
USC Dornsife researchers receive nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate a new classroom program teaching debate, deliberation and civil discussion skills to middle and high school students.
K-12 schools have come under increasing scrutiny for how well they teach students to effectively and productively think about and discuss controversial topics, such as immigration policies and gun ownership rights, and whether they’re preparing students to be engaged public citizens. A new curriculum that promises to improve the dynamic is available, but is it effective?
What’s new: Anna Saavedra and Amie Rapaport of the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, have received nearly $4 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to evaluate the efficacy of Talking About Current and Contested Issues in Schools (TALCCS).
- Created by Street Law Inc., TALCCS is a new program used by middle and high schools to teach students how to better deliberate and debate.
- The grant is the largest USC has ever received from IES.