Detroit Urban Debate Education
(Ann Arbor, MI) Detroit Urban Debate Education, a southern Michigan non-profit, is competing in an online voting race for thousands of dollars to provide scholarships and build infrastructure for urban debate programs in Detroit’s struggling school system.
Urban debate is an educational approach that teaches kids to argue and research both sides of an issue while learning to speak publicly and persuasively, as well as becoming advocates on behalf of themselves and their communities. Many education scholars have recently become excited about urban debate as an effective method for creating opportunities in failing educational systems.
A new study led by Dr. Briana Mezuk of the University of Virginia Commonwealth, as well as researchers at the University of Michigan shows that “debaters were 70 percent more likely to graduate from high school, three times less likely to drop out, 50 percent more likely to reach the ACT college-readiness benchmark for English, and 70 percent more likely to reach the ACT benchmark for Reading than non-debaters.”
This study serves to supplement and confirm the large body of evidence that shows that urban debate programs increase literacy and critical thinking skills by leaps and bounds. More than these numbers however, is the passion that urban debate programs inspire in students to argue their position and persuade their audience, to develop the skills to advocate for policy changes that they believe in.
Detroit Urban Debate Education is working to bring these opportunities to students of Detroit at a time when the city needs all the help it can get. Take thirty seconds to vote for Detroit Urban Debate Education on ideablob.com here, and help us bring urban debate to Detroit.
Contact: Edmund Zagorin at detroitdebate@
1Scott Deatherage “Groundbreaking Research on Urban Debate”, National Association of Urban Debate Leagues, October 23, 2009
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
