Partnering Initiative

More than 40 leading education associations and organizations announced a bold seven-point program to integrate civil education into the heart of the American school and community experience.

The coalition, called the Partnering Initiative on Education and Civil Society, has agreed to work together on a plan to integrate civic values into virtually every aspect of the educational experience. The plan emphasizes service learning, bringing more voices into educational policy-making, and incorporating civil society values in the curriculum, among other things.

The Partnering Initiative has endorsed the following Declaration on Education and Civil Society.

Declaration on Education and Civil Society

Partnering Initiative
Weaving a Seamless Web Between School and Community

Preamble
The shift from the Industrial Age to the Information Age is transforming our civilization. Vast economic, social, and political changes are already underway. As we enter the Information Age, we face the very real challenge of redirecting the course of American education so that young people will be ready to wrestle with the demands of the new global economy, the new realities facing government, and the new challenges of a multicultural world. We need to bear in mind that the strength of the market and the effectiveness of our democratic form of government have always depended, in the final analysis, on the principles of democracy and community that have served as the cornerstones of our civil society for more than 200 years. The civil society is the wellspring of our spirit as a people. Preparing the next generation for a lifelong commitment to civil society is one of the most important challenges facing educators and communities. Our schools, colleges, universities, and community organizations can play a key role in fostering America's civic values by helping to weave a seamless web between schools and communities.

Call to Action
Weaving a seamless web between schools, colleges, and universities, and communities will require greater efforts to integrate civic values into the educational process. Emphasis should be placed on: 1) expanding opportunities for young people and adults to become more involved in meaningful service with neighborhood and community organizations by making service learning an integral part of the educational experience; 2) encouraging students to explore the twin issues of character development and responsible participation in the civil society by integrating service learning, character education, and citizen education opportunities into the classroom; 3) weaving the historical legacy and values of the civil society into a broad range of curricula and community programs; 4) extending the values of democracy and community to the classroom by engaging students in the design of their own learning experiences; 5) eliciting more direct involvement between community organizations, civic associations, businesses with local schools, colleges, and universities; 6) ensuring that faculty, students, staff, families, and community organizations have a genuine voice in school, college, and university-level policy making; and 7) making every effort to ensure that the human, financial, and community resources needed to accomplish these goals be available.

Endorsed by the following members of the Partnering Initiative: Academy on Educational Development, American Association for Higher Education, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of School Administrators, American Association of University Women Education Foundation, ssociation of College Unions International, Association of Community College Trustees, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, The Big Picture Company, Campus Compact, Close Up Foundation, Communities in Schools, Community Service Learning Center, Constitutional Rights Foundation, Corporation for National Service, Council of Chief State School Officers, Council of Independent Colleges, Earth Force, The Foundation on Economic Trends, Harmony School Education Center, Institute for Civil Society, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, National Association of Partners in Education, Inc., National Association for Gifted Children, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, National Civic League, National Education Association, National Head Start Association, National Helpers Network, Inc., National School Boards Association, National Service Learning Clearinghouse, National Society for Experiential Education, National Youth Leadership Council, New England Resource Center for Higher Education, Points of Light Foundation, University Continuing Education Association, U.S. Department of Education, The Washington Centers, and Youth Volunteer Corps of America.