60-Second Civics, produced by the Center for Civic Education, is a daily podcast that provides a quick and convenient way for listeners to learn about our nation’s government, the Constitution, and our history. The podcast explores themes related to civics and government, the constitutional issues behind the headlines, and the people and ideas that formed our nation’s history and government.

Episode 845 of 60-Second Civics, below, is about civic engagement.

Want to learn about the civil rights movement? Over the next few weeks 60-Second Civics, the daily podcast of the Center for Civic Education, will be exploring the history of the civil rights movement and the struggle for equal rights. Visitors to the podcast’s website can also take the Daily Civics Quiz to test their knowledge. 60-Second Civics has been on the air since 2009 and is now nearing its 900th episode. Used by teachers nationwide, the podcast and quiz make an ideal warmup activity for social studies, U.S. government, and American history classrooms.

http://itunes.apple.com/si/podcast/60-second-civics-podcast/id320780421

American Enterprise Institute Report Lauds Project Citizen as a Teacher-Training Model
October 20, 2011

The American Enterprise Institute recently released a report (http://bit.ly/vyZ7cv) by Diana Hess and John Zola that calls for increased and more effective teacher training in civic education.

Hess and Zola stress that “the quality of teaching is the most powerful determinant of students’ access to a meaningful civic education,” yet most teachers do not have the opportunity to receive meaningful civics training from knowledgeable mentors.

The report goes on to single out Project Citizen as one such civics training program. Specifically, the report describes the approach taken by the Center for Education in Law and Democracy (http://www.lawanddemocracy.org/), the Denver-based organization that directs the Center for Civic Education’s programs in Colorado, and concludes that there is “strong evidence that this authentic form of civic education has powerful and lasting effects.”