Students develop purposeful civic engagement by reflecting on their own civic identities and experiences, exploring democracy’s development and aspirations, practicing productive dialogue with those who disagree, and examining — both in general and career-related studies and in community-based practical experience —how choices affect individuals and communities.

For 21st-century America, civic learning and democracy engagement also should include explorations of diversity in all its forms. The United States is the world’s most diverse democracy, and today, one of our biggest challenges is creating better ways to solve problems together, across many kinds of difference.

The coalition’s CLDE Framework provides a point of departure for discussion, debate, and decisions at all levels — national, state, and institutional — about ways to revitalize education for democracy for all postsecondary learners and the democracy we share. Click here to read more.