Background
“… debate catapults at-risk students into academic and social territories that challenge their intellectual skills and broaden their world view.”- Annette Wellman
What is ALOUD?
The Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD) represents a national network of partner programs dedicated to promoting debate as a vehicle for urban education reform and civic participation. ALOUD helps young people make healthier choices and transform their lives.
AL OUD provides partners with the tools to manage their agencies, share success stories, assess their work, and build capacity. In less than three years, ALOUD partners produced staggering measurable results in the nation’s most challenged school districts; 61% increases in critical thinking skills, 25% increases in reading rates and college matriculation rates from 95-99% for urban debate participants.
How does ALOUD accomplish its mission?
ALOUD engages local public/private partnerships that include a university, a school district, and individuals with proven expertise in debate, assessment and at-risk populations to form debate initiatives and lay the groundwork for student participation. These partnerships recruit students trapped in poverty, relegated to special education classes, involved in gangs, with low self-esteem and even lower GPAs to form top-notch programs that replicate successes elsewhere.
Through empirical observations, anecdotal accounts, qualitative studies and quantitative evaluations, we’ve learned that debate enables low-income students to improve academic performance, think critically, resolve conflicts peaceably, envision productive futures, and build healthy self-concepts. As students learn to persuasively advocate solutions for themselves and others, they develop lasting confidence and the desire to change students' academic trajectories. Tangible differences were measured in as little as 1 or 2 years.
The ALOUD approach augments the powerful competitive debate model with civic engagement programs in the community and inspired curricula for the classroom. The number of children served has doubled over the past five years, while reducing the cost to serve each child.
Who directs ALOUD and why will it succeed?
At the helm is Will Baker, a former NGO representative turned award-winning nonprofit leader and debate coach. Featured in US News & World Report and the NY Times, Will has helped young people learn to express themselves, think critically, and use words rather than fists to settle conflicts for over twenty years. He brought debate into prisons and faith-based communities, coordinated college scholarships and international exchanges for hundreds of kids and ran the country’s largest urban debate initiative . His decades of experience in nonprofit management, debate, and youth development made him an easy choice to direct the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate.
ALOUD’s model is the product of the ideas, discussions, and observations of educators, philanthropists, business leaders and nonprofit managers who have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of debate. We’ve tested concepts and developed the essential tools for scaling debate organizations and getting results.
Baker is backed by a team with nearly a century of debate experience including a distinguished board chaired by John Sexton (President, New York University). Other directors include Michael Critelli (CEO, Pitney Bowes), Bonnie Copeland (former CEO, Baltimore City Public Schools), Denmark West (Executive VP, MTV) Larry LaSala (general counsel, Textron) and Joyce Shortt (former Executive Director, National Institute for Out-of-School Time).
Who benefits from ALOUD?
Students Benefit. A debater that attends meetings (avg. five hours/wk), researches (three hours/wk), competes in tournaments (ten hours/event) and participates in summer debate institutes (40/hr/wk for 2-4 wks) receives 500 additional hours of academic instruction every year leading to increases in literacy, academic achievement and graduation rates.
Teachers Benefit. They reconnect to the mission that first attracted them to education. Debate increases teacher retention and their success inside and outside the classroom. Teachers witness students develop critical thinking skills before their eyes.
Colleges & Parents Benefit Universities use urban debaters to diversify their entering classes with promising students from neighborhoods they cannot access normally. More than 150 colleges offer debate scholarships. When ALOUD informs parents that debaters receive millions in scholarships just for debating, they see new options for their children.
School Districts Benefit. Reaching just 5% of students with the ALOUD model has driven schools to add AP courses, upgrade their libraries, and expand their educational objectives for all students. The activity creates school-wide norms and expectations of academic excellence.
Communities Benefit. Once an ALOUD debate culture takes hold in a school, we can reduce costs by up to 80% by enlisting volunteers, in-kind donations, and identifying community assets to make programs sustainable within city budgets.
The Nation Benefits. Debate works. It’s why debate was required in every school for decades. According to the 2000 US census, there are 54.3 million students in the public k-12 system. When we keep students in schools, and learning, they make better choices that benefit the larger society. For every student we serve, their earning potential increases exponentially, saving the government billions of dollars in remediation, health care, welfare, and lost tax revenue.
What will it take to sustain and grow ALOUD?
The Associated Leaders of Urban Debate invites your investment in these young people through our integrated debate learning system. We’ve served thousands. Now, we need to serve millions. With committed funders and diverse partnerships, ALOUD’s model can take root, go to scale, and be sustained over time. Our goal is to reach 500,000 students in 50 cities in five years by deepening existing debate partnerships and creating new ones. ALOUD will bring local initiatives to scale and engage new partners with the capacity for high achievement.
Support from your foundation reaps huge benefits. It validates debate as an effective academic intervention strategy easily accessible to tens of thousands of students.
A distinguished Board well versed in fund development and civic discourse and a management team with over a century of experience in nonprofit management and debate will produce tangible results in communities nationwide.
What follows is the ALOUD Blueprint for Debate Education Reform. By helping children achieve academic and social proficiency and take ownership over their community, ALOUD facilitates a generation of leaders who will do their part to make the world a more vibrant, safe, and peaceful home to live, work, and play. These debaters finish high school, pursue higher education, and attain meaningful career paths. They will demand more of themselves, their teachers, their political leaders and their community as they take control of their educational outcomes in new and exciting ways.
We plan to institutionalize debate so that any student who wishes to, regardless of circumstance, can utilize this vital training and become an informed, more engaged citizen.
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The win-win power of debate must be communicated to teachers and parents who want success for their children.
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This is our message to urban students:
Your Voice. Your Future. Debate.