Skills such as identifying evidence, evaluating the credibility of information sources, analyzing complex historical and geopolitical issues from multiple perspectives, asking good questions, and forming and articulating a point of view are useful for succeeding in school and in life. Speech and debate training can help students learn and practice…

This study aimed to investigate the effect of debating activities on prospective science teachers' willingness to argue. The sample group consisted of 27 students studying in the second year of Science Teaching. The Argumentation Willingness Scale and a structured interview form were used as research tools to collect data in the present study,…

Policy makers have advanced out-of-school time learning as a means to address far-reaching class and racial/ethnic disparities in high school achievement and college readiness, particularly in urban districts. However, limited data have hindered large-scale efforts to evaluate the influence of such activities on student achievement. Recent federal…

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredits 623 of the 1,200 traditional university-based teacher-training programs; nearly 100 others are seeking accreditation. The Washington-based group, established in 1954, is a coalition of 33 organizations, including the two national teachers' unions, the American Association of…

This paper presents an explanation, justification, and invitation to establish and participate in local circuits for intercollegiate forensic tournaments. It begins by discussing the personal experience of one college forensic group in various national tournament circuits. It then presents reasons the founding of a local circuit was needed, citing…

Although student interest is greater than ever, college forensics programs are limited in their expansion by budget considerations that restrict travel. However, with reasonable effort and perseverance new programs can be initiated or existing ones expanded to integrate the educational community and the community at large into a forensics program.…