The Congressional Conference on Civic
Education was held in Washington, D. C., September
20-22, 2003, and was sponsored by the Alliance for
Representative Democracy consisting of the Center
on Congress at Indiana University, the Center for
Civic Education, and the National Conference of State
Legislatures. Honorary hosts for the event included:
the Honorable William A Frist, MD, Majority Leader
of the United States Senate; The Honorable Thomas
a. Daschle, Democratic Leader, United States Senate;
The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker, United States
House of Representatives; and The Honorable Nancy
Pelosi, Democratic Leader, United States House of
Representatives.
Representing the State of Iowa were the following:
Mr. Jason Follett, Iowa teacher and delegation facilitator;
State Senator and Senate Education Chair, Nancy Boettger,
Harlan; Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver, and Jeffrey
W. Cornett, Dean of the College of Education at UNI.
As a result of participation in this conference,
the Iowa delegation and over 500 conference participants
representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia,
have established the following findings:
1) civic knowledge and engagement are essential to
maintaining our representative democracy;
2) civic education should be seen as a core subject;
3) policies that support quality teacher education
and professional development are important to ensure
effective classroom instruction and raise student
achievement;
4) well-designed classroom programs that foster an
understanding of fundamental constitutional principles
through methods such as service learning, discussion
of current events, or simulations of democratic processes
and procedures are essential to civic education.
In recognition of these findings, the Iowa delegation
plans to reconvene in November to examine the current
status of civic education in Iowa.
PROSPECTIVE
STUDENTS
