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Background and Context
These resources will help students develop a thorough understanding of Health Care and make connections between historical events, current conversations, and current policy proposals surrounding the issue. This section includes all of the context and content previously included in Close Up’s public policy chapters.
Available for Middle & High School
Current Issue Debates
Current Issue Debates are framed by a central question and followed by historical context, an overview of both sides of the topic, and discussion questions to facilitate deliberation in the classroom.
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Available for Middle & High School
Videos from Policymakers
Brought to you by ASP HOMEROOM, through a collaboration between Close Up Foundation and A Starting Point, these supplemental videos are an introduction to policy areas that provide an opportunity for students to hear different perspectives directly from lawmakers.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) & Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA) April 23, 2021
Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH) & Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH) April 28, 2021
Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) & Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) March 19, 2021
These ready-to-use lesson plans can be utilized in conjunction with any of our resources to enhance the quality of student discourse in the classroom. Our supplemental Civic Readiness Guide provides a recommended lesson plan sequence for using our Current Issues resources.
Post | June 1, 2021
After April’s jobs report fell short of predictions and unemployment ticked up for the first time in the last year, some politicians and policymakers, particularly conservatives, called for an end to the generous unemployment insurance (UI) benefits that have been place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Although federal pandemic-related UI benefits are set […]
Post | May 18, 2021
President Joe Biden is currently promoting his plan to transform the U.S. economy.1 In a previous blog post, we explored one element of that plan: infrastructure. In this post, we will examine some details of the Biden administration’s American Families Plan. What is in the Plan? According to the White House, the American Families Plan […]
Post | May 10, 2021
President Joe Biden is currently campaigning to promote his administration’s infrastructure plan. The plan is intended to address three main areas of concern: crumbling or inadequate infrastructure, job creation and economic growth, and environmental issues. In this post, we will focus on the infrastructure goals of the plan. What is Infrastructure? Infrastructure refers to the […]
Videos | May 7, 2021
During this Close Up Conversations webinar, Close Up’s, Mia Charity discusses ‘Workers’ Rights & Teacher Unions’ with guest speakers Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. After a year of changing our normal working lives, many workers including teachers are still navigating difficult changes to their work lives. Join us for a session […]
Post | April 13, 2021
Last month, nearly 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children were stopped at the U.S.-Mexican border, a record since documentation began in 2010, beating a previous record set in May of 2019.1 Currently, the Biden administration is allowing only children traveling alone to stay in the U.S. while their asylum claims are being evaluated, a process that can […]
Post | March 16, 2021
There’s been a lot of good news in the fight against COVID-19. The United States has authorized three vaccines for emergency use and drastically ramped up the distribution to states while increasing the administration of doses.1 More than 107 million shots have already been given, with an average of 2.3 million per day.2 President Joe […]
Post | February 2, 2021
The Lincoln Memorial is usually bustling with energy and activity on the eve of a presidential inauguration, when it takes center stage for concerts, crowds, and celebrations.1 This year was different. The Biden Inaugural Committee struck a deeply somber tone in the midst of the pandemic, holding what was the first national memorial service for […]
Post | January 22, 2021
During his inaugural address, President Joe Biden laid out a number of policy priorities. The clearest theme of his speech was a call for unity and the need to address political divisions in the United States, which came to a head with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.1 However, President Biden also […]