As democracies have deteriorated worldwide, understanding preservice teachers' perceptions regarding teaching about the 2020 US presidential election helps teacher educators better guide them to make informed and intentional pedagogical decisions for democratic education. Through a survey study, we found that early childhood and elementary…

Although most education policy decisions are made at the state level, America has been having a national debate over the future of our schools for the last several years. Arguments have raged over COVID-related closures and the resultant student learning loss, Critical Race Theory, school funding, parental choice, college debt, and more. The 2022…

This article shares lessons from committed and inspirational educators from across the country with whom the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) worked in 2020. Their experiences reinforce that nonpartisan teaching about democracy is possible (i.e., not teaching who to vote for, but rather how the system…

We study a California policy that loosened constraints on some local governments by lowering the share of votes required to pass school capital improvement bond referendums. We show that the policy change yielded larger tax proposals that received less support from voters, yet led to a doubling of approved spending. We show that this effect is…

In order to have a public education system that caters to the cultural, policy, and pedagogical preferences of communities, more citizens need to participate in local school board elections. This report discusses why school board elections should be moved on cycle (i.e., held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of an even…

2020 was a challenging time to navigate mental health and wellness. With a global pandemic, an emotionally charged U.S. presidential election, and a spike in racially motivated violence, students maneuvered trauma associated with these events in unprecedented ways. The cumulative challenges of this year motivated museum educators at the Cleveland…

This study examines the impacts of two distinct types of school spending on student outcomes. State-imposed revenue limits cap the total amount of revenue that a school district in Wisconsin can raise unless the district holds a referendum asking voters to exceed the cap. Importantly, Wisconsin law requires districts to hold separate referenda for…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine mock elections as political education in school, taking the Norwegian case as an empirical example. Methodology: This study's qualitative content analysis is based on data collected through fieldwork in five upper secondary schools in the Western region of Norway, through observations and in 18…

In the Canadian province of Ontario, the early childhood education and care workforce continues to be undervalued, underpaid and burdened with challenging working conditions. Drawing on Fairclough and Lazar, this study employed a feminist critical discourse analysis to explore the discourses of care work present in the 2018 childcare platforms of…

In November, amid a global pandemic and economic crisis, voters will choose the next president of the United States. Clearly, there will be no shortage of pressing issues to tackle within the first 100 days of the next administration. Addressing COVID-19 and the economy will certainly be top agenda items, but regardless of this election's outcome,…

Most practitioners and scholars agree that critical and reflective early childhood and elementary teachers are foundational for children's holistic growth and development. Yet current policies focused on elevating testing and performativity are contributing to student and teacher anxiety and alienation. This book offers a counternarrative to…

This poll was conducted between February 12-February 15, 2022 among a sample of 2,200 adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race, and region. Among the key findings are: (1) Education issues rank higher when it comes to voting…

Since 2013, Oaxacan Indigenous educators have experienced "seismic aftershocks" from three tumultuous developments: the massive 8.2 earthquake in September 2017 along Oaxaca´s Pacific coast, immediately followed by other earthquakes and continuing tremors; homogenizing federal education reforms imposed since 2013, including the projected…

While the outcomes of the elections are important, one of the most striking things about this campaign season is the almost complete absence of child care and early learning as a key issue. Into October, the Obama and Romney campaigns paid hardly any attention to child care, focusing instead on job creation and the economy. No candidate called…

A critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used to analyze the representation of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in the 2006 federal election in Canada. Guided by Fairclough's approach to CDA, this study analyzed written documents including newspaper articles from "The Globe and Mail" and "The National Post", the policy…