PBS News Hour Classroom has been awarded the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics’ 2024 Civic Mission of the Nation Award to develop civics-education resources for community colleges and young adults.
The award from the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics (LAIC), an initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, will provide PBS News Hour Classroom with over $58,000 to create and publish 32 multimedia resources for adult learners over a 16-month period, beginning in January 2025.
These resources for adult learners will be built around short, televised news segments from PBS News, including a series called “America at a Crossroads” hosted by former News Hour anchor Judy Woodruff. Its segments have focused on issues such as how polarization and division has led to political violence, the connection between religion and politics in America, and how to revitalize American democracy.
The award to PBS represents a growing effort by the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s LAIC initiative to expand civics education beyond its traditional base among K-12 students to a broader group of citizens, particularly those in community colleges, the military, and business. In August 2024, APPC and the American Association of Colleges and Universities collaborated on a Community College and Civics Report, which aimed to understand how civics education opportunities are offered inside and outside community college classrooms and identify ways to strengthen and broaden those offerings.
“We’re delighted to support PBS News Hour Classroom in this project to expand adult learning, using its extensive and high-quality media resources while working with a community college advisory board to help adapt resources for those learners,” says Andrea (Ang) Reidell, LAIC’s director of outreach and curriculum. “Whether someone is working to enter an in-demand technical field or earn a credential to advance in their current field, everyone benefits by learning about important civics knowledge and skills.”
Read more at Annenberg Public Policy Center.
