National Defense Education Program (NDEP) for Enhanced Civics Education Fiscal Year 2021

Overview

<div>The Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Education Program (NDEP) seeks innovative applications on mechanisms to implement  a pilot program in Enhanced Civics education. The first step of the application process is submission of a White Paper (see Other Information for more detail).</div> <div></div> <div>(3) Enhanced Civics Education <br>WHS/AD is requesting applications that address the requirement to establish a pilot program on enhanced civics education, as directed by Section 234 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.  The purpose of the pilot program is to provide enhanced civics education in collaboration with Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) and / or Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) on the following topics: <br>- Critical thinking and media literacy; <br>- Voting and other forms of political and civic engagement; <br>- Interest in employment, and careers, in public service; <br>- Understanding the United States law, history, and Government; <br>- The ability of participants to collaborate and compromise with others to solve problems.</div> <div></div> <div>Specifically, these capabilities or programs should contribute to the types of support authorized under this pilot, including: <br>- The development or modification of curricula relating to civics education; <br>- Classroom activities, thesis projects, individual or team projects, internships, or community service activities relating to civics;  <br>- Collaboration with government entities, nonprofit organizations, or consortia of such entities and organizations to provide participants with civics-related experiences; <br>- Civics-related faculty development programs; <br>- Recruitment of educators who are highly qualified in civics education to teach civics or to assist with the development of curricula for civics education; <br>- Presentation of seminars, workshops, and training for the development of skills associated with civic engagement; <br>- Activities that enable participants to interact with government officials and entities; <br>- Expansion of civics education programs and outreach for members of the Armed Forces, dependents and children of such members, and employees of the Department of Defense;  <br>- Opportunities for participants to obtain work experience in fields relating to civics.</div> <div></div> <div>Such support as described can only be provided to eligible entities, which are limited to either a local education agency that hosts a unit of JROTC, or a school operated by DoDEA (or some combination of these two). <br> <br>Applicants to Enhanced Civics education are encouraged to address the feasibility of the pilot program implementation in geographic areas of CA, TX, NC, VA, FL, GA, WA, SC, CO, and NY, as well as Purple Star program locations in AR and OH.</div>