Students for an Educated Democracy (Project SED)
Project SED is a classroom-based civic education program for high school students in grades 9-12. This program features classroom instruction by social studies teachers utilizing USHLI materials including a teacher’s manual, bilingual instructional booklets, learning exercises, issues and candidate research, and mock elections. The program serves 20,000-30,000 participants annually.
The Curriculum
Each Project SED curriculum, as it appears in the Teacher's Manual and the Student Booklet, is designed around real elections, i.e., the 2002 gubernatorial primary and general elections, the 2003 mayoral election, the 2004 presidential primary and general elections, etc. In an ideal situation, students will be able to participate in all three major election cycles during their four years in high school. Thus, having had the opportunity to study three election cycles, 18 year olds are more likely to understand the importance of registering to vote and voting and are more likely to register and vote immediately after becoming eligible.
Voter education is an integral part of the program. In 2002 the curriculum focused on some of the fundamental differences between a primary and a general election, and the responsibilities of the office of the Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and State Comptroller. In 2003 the curriculum focused on the Chicago Mayoral and Aldermanic elections and their respective roles and responsibilities. In 2004 the curriculum focused on the differences between presidential caucuses and primaries, the delegate selection process, the role of political parties and their nominating conventions, the candidates, the popular vote, and the electoral college vote.
Classroom Activities
Whenever possible, local and statewide candidates are invited to visit classrooms in participating schools. The Chicago Sun Times provides complimentary copies of daily newspapers to all participating classrooms during the program. Students are encouraged to read articles in newspapers or magazines and watch television news programs pertaining to the election and share whatever they learned with the class.
Each cycle culminates in a mock election. All students are eligible to vote. The election is conducted by students. The student roster serves as the voter roster. Students serve as election judges. Voting machines and sample ballots with the names of the actual candidates are provided by the local Elections Board. The votes are tabulated of real vote counters. The results are given to each participating classroom and compared to the results of the "official" election held one week later.
Midwest Success
It is interesting to note that in Chicago, where Project SED has been offered in predominantly Latino high schools to 100,000 participants during the last 15 years, Latino registered voters between the ages of 18-34 comprise 42% (87,376) of all Latino registered voters. This compares to only 25% among the general population nationally.