“Competitive debate forces students to look outside their pre-conceived views, at both sides of an issue, and thereby deepens their ability to cope with complexity and to understand nuance.” - Van Nguyen, Brown University, UDL Alumna, Oakland

Proven Results

ALOUD’s approach gets results. An ever-growing body of research supports debate's effectiveness. ALOUD works with partners in over 500 schools, community-based organizations and prisons.  The immersion that students experience when they participate in debate produces results in an accelerated fashion. Supporting ALOUD preserves that track record and the following successes:

Debate helps students achieve academically

1) Debate raises high school graduation rates above 98%

DEBATE-Kansas City 2002, 2003

2) Debate leads to a measurable increase GPA in middle schools

Dr. Carol Winkler, 2005 Assessment Report

Debate improves students’ ability to learn

1) Debate improves High School students' reading skills by as much as 25% in a single year

Collier, L.M. (2004). Argument for success: A study of debate in the urban high schools of Chicago, Kansas City, New York, St. Louis, and Seattle.

2) Debate improves critical thinking skills by 44% in one year

Communication Education

3) Debate accesses 5 of the 6 recommended methods of active construction

Nyquist, J.D. and Wulff, D.H. "Selected Active Learning Strategies," 1990.

Debate Improves Social Development

1) Debate reduces disciplinary referrals for at-risk middle schoolers by 50%

Georgia State University Reporting at the 2005 White House Conference on Helping America’s Youth.

2) Debate creates civic-minded students who seek out opportunities for change.

Dr. Georgia Hall 2006, Bowne Foundation Study

3) Debate develops emotional maturity and social skills

Richard B. Sodikaw NFL Conference on the State of Debate, 1985

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There was a reason debate was required in school for decades…It works.

This is our message to urban students:

Your Voice. Your Future. Debate.