Meira Levinson’s book No Citizen Left Behind (Harvard University Press, 2012) began with a CIRCLE grant and develops the argument of Levinson’s CIRCLE Working Paper 51, ” The Civic Achievement Gap.”

Levinson combines anecdotes from her eight years of teaching middle school in Atlanta and Boston, political theorizing, and social science analysis.  She argues that the United States suffers from a civic empowerment gap that is as shameful and anti-democratic as the academic achievement gap targeted by No Child Left Behind.

Levinson shows how schools can help address the civic empowerment gap by teaching collective action, openly discussing the racialized dimensions of citizenship, and provoking students by engaging their passions against contemporary injustices through action civics.  The book also includes chapters on historical counternarratives, heroes and role models, school culture, and accountability.

A book panel and reception will take place at Harvard on April 25 from 5:30-7:00. It is open to the public.

• Moderated by Peter Levine (Director of CIRCLE, Tisch College, Tufts)
• Featuring  Author Meira Levinson, Associate Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Jennifer Hochschild, Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government at Harvard University, Professor of African and African American Studies, and Harvard College Professor
• Lawrence Bobo, W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University
• James Liou, Assistant/Teacher Coach, Boston Public Schools & Special Project Director- BPS Civics Initiative

Praise for No Citizen Left Behind:

“A must-read for anyone who cares to see young people from all backgrounds grow into self-confident and efficacious citizens.”—Danielle S. Allen, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

“A landmark book that should influence teachers of all subjects in American schools while providing an important model for scholars.”—Peter Levine, Tufts University

“A very sophisticated and lively argument, backed by wonderful tales from school, for what it might mean if we really educated for democracy. An important contribution to a field dominated by clichés.”—Deborah Meier, co-author of Playing for Keeps

“Brilliant. No Citizen Left Behind is must reading for anyone concerned with the reform of civic education in America. An inspiration for both scholars and practitioners.”—Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and co-author of American Grace

This entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2012 at 8:54 am and is filed under K-12 Civic Education, Special Reports and Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.