Programs

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us." Marcel Proust

 

 

PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW

• How Can Debate Help Reform Public Education?

Urban debate signals a revival of this co-curricular tool. Educators across the country share stories of urban debaters’ solid gains in class attendance, tests scores, and increased interest in academic achievement. Recent research efforts are uncovering debate’s far-reaching effects. A national study concluded that urban debate increases literacy by as much as 25% in a single year and debaters are three times less likely to engage in risk taking behaviors that lead to crime, drug use and violence.

Urban debate also represents a new method for students living in poverty to pay for college. In New York City alone, IMPACT Coalition debaters received $2.5 million in college scholarship offers over a two-year span.

• What is the Promise of ALOUD?

ALOUD’s purpose is to bring debate to the general public and to support the organic growth of debate communities through local leagues, universities, school systems, and regional partners. We bring debate to the public by launching coordinated national media efforts, developing co-branded products for partners in local markets, promoting research, and enlisting acclaimed individuals in marketing campaigns.  We support the organic growth of debate communities by offering nonprofit management assistance (e.g., fund development, business management and advocacy), identifying partnership models to replicate, generating funding for local distribution through national monetary awards, and facilitating assessment of debate initiatives.   These essential services resonate with local organizations, the education community and other stakeholders.     

• What is a Debate Community?

Debate communities include any place that the practice of academic debate gains new footholds. Teachers use debate in their classrooms. Nonprofits organize debate leagues in middle schools, high schools and colleges. Corporations, politicians, and community groups sponsor public debates on topics that further their interests. Faith-based groups sponsor debates on complex moral issues. Those who participate immediately understand debate’s unique power.  The general public does not.  When ALOUD highlights the transformative effects in these communities, others will want the same benefits for their urban areas. Debate should be everywhere that young people face difficult choices and need more tools to overcome the barriers they face.  

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By framing urban debate as a program for use inside AND outside the classroom, ALOUD substantially increases the market for debate education nationally.

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Programs

National Campaign for Civic Discourse (NCCD)

In these times of conflict and unprecedented violence, too many of our citizens feel left out of the political discourse, fail to find their voice, or worse turn their backs on the democratic process. How many conflicts will we fail to stop and how many solutions will become lost in bureaucracy if we fail to engage in effective discourse? NYU President John Sexton warns that “We have lost the ability in our public discourse to speak to one another in a way that moves ideas forward—that can result in enlightenment—or at least reflection—and that ends in disagreement without rancor…Informed discussion of issues of importance is a basic premise of democracy…” For these reasons, the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD) is launching a National Campaign for Civic Discourse.

The NCCD brings together organizations, corporations, foundations, school systems and individuals working to spur civic engagement, public debate, and reasoned discourse in our schools, religious institutions and in the larger society. Initially, the Campaign will focus on student involvement in schools and communities. A recent study noted that 89% of people between the ages of 15-25 are totally uninvolved in electoral or civic activities. C ommunication is a powerful antidote to violence and apathy. Sarah Pearson of the American Youth Policy Forum notes “If we want safe and stable communities and caring and responsible neighbors for tomorrow, we’ve got to plan today to provide opportunities to combine academics with civic involvement...”

The Campaign will herald a new generation of responsible citizens anxious to join in discussing and debating the issues of the day. In every place, there are those who recognize that without discourse, we lose the essence of education and democracy: the power of free expression.

National Awards for Debate Excellence

ALOUD harnessed decades of debate, nonprofit, corporate and evaluation experience to create the National Awards for Debate Excellence. These advisors realized that the best way to expand the reach of debate was “to bring the mountain to Mohammed” and provide incentives for school systems and local entities to report to ALOUD on their debate activities and plans for the future. The awards serve the dual functions of creating accountability and facilitating data collection about existing debate communities. Competitive awards will attract applications from public/private partnerships in the nation’s 500 largest school districts. By attracting many applications, ALOUD will gather extensive data about best practices and strategies for expanding debate and the best models to evaluate the effectiveness of different programs. Over the long-term, these awards may become the hallmark award for multi-city school district partnerships in this area.

Virtual College Partners Program

The Virtual College Partner programs assists interested universities in partnering with individual high schools, Urban Debate Leagues and school systems to provide additional long-distance support to emerging debate programs. Colleges can participate in national research consortiums, audiovisual projects, coaching hotlines and recruiting efforts while administrators and local education officials gain access to new in-kind resources.

College Partners Program FAQ

What resources could colleges with debate programs provide to local high schools and Urban Debate Leagues?

• Access to University Departments with Expertise (Public Relations, Marketing, Communications, Education, Urban Affairs, Teaching & Learning, Business Admin., Comp. Science/Web Design)
• Access to Specialty Programs (Grantwriting, Service Learning, Diversity Offices, Media Services)
• Access to Interns
• Connections to Fraternities and Sororities
• College student Mentors
• Research on urban debate
• Campus facilities (libraries, meeting spaces, classrooms)
• In-kind donations (equipment, furniture, computers, etc.)
• Production of Evidence
• Awards & Recognition
• Monetary Support
• National Public Policy Forum (NPPF) assistance
• College Bridge Program
• College Navigation Programming (financial aid literacy, campus visits to demystify process)
• Coordinating geographic debate outreach to non-UDL members
• Communicating about debate allies within

What resources could Urban Debate Leagues provide to colleges with debate programs?

• Marketing materials on the benefits of debate
• Students to attend their institutions for summer institutes & college enrollment
• Database systems for tracking student development
• Best Practice Guides for Outreach to their area high schools
• Communication systems to initiate public school system partnerships for high schools
• Models for initiating UDLs
• Models for initiating junior high school outreach and league development
• Debate Across the Curriculum Ideas
• Information on effective business models and strategies (fundraising, advisory boards, business management, public relations,
• Regional and national grant opportunities for K-12/college partnerships
• Ready pool of students for research projects in debate, urban education, urban affairs

How would colleges potentially benefit from associations with local high schools, school systems and/or Urban Debate Leagues?

• Prestige associated with national partnerships
• Achieving strategic plan goals associated with K-12 outreach
• Significant opportunities for positive press
• Course Development Earned Income Streams (Distance Learning Courses, certification programs in debate, textbooks, Online Debate Courses)
• Exciting extracurricular
• Professional Development Earned Income Streams (summer institutes, coaching manuals, re-certification programs for teachers in current specialties)
• Potential contributions to departmental or university fund development goals
• Reconnecting debate programs to departmental academic missions
• Increased Admission Interest (website hits, institute scholarships)
• Community Relations

How would the recipients benefit from the associations with colleges?

• Prestige associated with national partnerships
• Additional office assistance for understaffed sites
• Leverage with local university partners
• Assistance in gaining facility access and instructions
• New sources for volunteers and funding
• Tutoring, proofreading documents & proposals
• Role models for students
• Scholarships
• Potential for positive press
• Advantages that stem from the attachment of a university name

Partnership Descriptions

Virtual Partnership Package

• Document Review and Expertise (grants, public relations & marketing materials, business plans, etc.)
• Web Design
• National Public Policy Forum (NPPF) assistance
• Curriculum Sharing
• Debate hotlines (evidence, arguments, mentoring, non-debate issues)
• Research Projects
• Coach-to-Coach Mentoring Program for HS teachers
• Student involvement (evidence production)
• Videoconferencing
• Identification of Debate Allies

Initial Partnership Package

• Student involvement (internships, college mentors, evidence production)
• Organizational connections (fraternities, sororities)
• Coach/director involvement (research projects, lesson planning)
• In-kind support (equip. furniture, computers, libraries, meeting spaces, classrooms)
• National Public Policy Forum (NPPF) assistance
• Coordinating geographic debate outreach to non-UDL members
• Assistance in gaining facility access and instructions
• Tutoring, proofreading documents & proposals
• Role models for students

Full Service Partnership Package

• Student involvement (internships, college mentors)
• Organizational connections (fraternities, sororities)
• Research projects
• In-kind support (equipment, furniture, computers, libraries, meeting spaces, classrooms)
• Monthly instruction in locating and producing evidence for students/teachers
• National Public Policy Forum (NPPF) assistance
• Coordinating geographic debate outreach to non-UDL members
• Assistance in gaining facility access and instructions
• Tutoring, proofreading documents & proposals
• Scholarship assistance

Micro-Partnerships —Colleges interested in handling individual referrals from schools, students or coaches that are located in areas with urban debate sites.

How can our school join the College Partners Program?

1. Online Partnership hosted at www.debateleaders.org with link exchanges with UDL sites
2. Select a program option (Virtual Partnership, Initial Partnership, Full Service Partnership)
3. Submit your college to the Expertise Locator
4. In that e-mail, describe your Ideal “Match” high school or middle school match
5. Information is tabulated & an appropriate match is identified including contact information, needs and schedules
6. Confirming extent of service availability
7. Agree on Memo of Understanding that outlines provision of services

Monitoring authority (not the university director)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is our message to America’s urban students:

Your Voice. Your Future. Debate.