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  • On-demand Events
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Civic Readiness Education in New York

Learn how Facing History's resources are used in New York City Public Schools' Civics for All curriculum, and find resources to support schools implementing the State Seal of Civic Readiness.

Civics for All and the State Seal of Civic Readiness

Civic education is an essential part of every student’s core academic program. Civics for All, an initiative launched in Spring 2018 by New York City Public Schools, provides resources, programming, and professional learning to all NYC schools, with a focus on education models that are interactive, project-based, and relevant to students’ lives. Facing History & Ourselves has partnered with the Civics for All Team to include a range of our resources in the 6 – 12 Civics for All Curriculum.

To support schools offering or wishing to offer the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness, Facing History has partnered with Civics for All to create the following resources:

  • Civic Agency and the Pursuit of Democracy, a semester-long Civics elective with a culminating civic participation project
  • Writing Strategies to Support a Civic Knowledge Research Project, a set of materials to supplement any civics or history unit or course with a formal argumentative essay assignment

The Civics for All team will automatically accredit Facing History’s elective, civic participation project, and research project for the Seal when submitted by your NYC school for approval.

A Proven Approach

A compelling body of research validates our approach to civic education. In a randomized controlled trial, Facing History was shown to significantly increase

  • students’ tolerance for others with different political views, 
  • their capacity for civil discourse, and 
  • their belief that they can make a difference.

Facing History students score higher than their peers on a civic responsibility index. Facing History alumni are more civically involved than their peers: more likely to vote, to participate in a civic or community group, and to discuss current events.

In addition, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) named Facing History as one of only nine middle or high school SEL programs (among nearly 400 nominated) that has a proven positive impact on students, such as increased empathy or more prosocial behavior. Facing History is just one of two cited that works at both the middle and high school level.

Explore Our Civics Resources for New York Educators

Learn more about how Facing History's resources support civics education in New York City and New York State.

Facing History’s pedagogy engages young people with challenging content through a process that builds the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of deep civic learning.

Learn More

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