;


Current Issues Blog & More

 

The Close Up Current Issues Blog, updated weekly throughout the school year, helps teachers connect current events to their students and classrooms. We know that teaching the news can be time-consuming; by the time you find important issues and identify how to teach them, they are old news. That’s where our blog comes in: unpacking issues in the headlines by providing relevant context, links to classroom-ready news items, and suggested prompts for thoughtful discussion.

  • Resource Type:

  • Categories:

  • Tags:

Found 212 Results
Page 15 of 22

Summer Round-Up #2: Campaigns, Conventions, and the Race to Election Day

Post | August 31, 2020

  Over the course of the summer, the 2020 election has taken shape. Most primaries for congressional office have concluded, and the parties and presidential candidates were able to showcase their respective visions during their conventions. In this second summer round-up, we take a look at the state of the 2020 election. Our first summer […]


Summer Round-Up #1: The Pandemic, Schools, and The Economy

Post | August 26, 2020

The summer of 2020 has been unlike any other. Schools across the country did not finish the end of the academic year in person, and many will not be seeing students in person once again this fall. Major events have been canceled or moved online, and we are in the midst of a presidential election […]


Protests, Riots, Justice, and the Rule of Law

Post | June 4, 2020

On Monday, May 25, a Minneapolis police officer named Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over eight minutes.1 The next day, video of the killing went viral; by the end of the day, large groups had begun protesting in Minneapolis. In the week since, protests have spread to many major […]


Discussing Race & Racism with Students

Post | June 2, 2020

  Over the past week, we have witnessed an outpouring of grief and rage that reminds us—again—that democracy is always in the making and that we have a responsibility both to reflect and to act. As civic educators, we naturally turn our attention to what we can do, and what we can teach, that might […]


Enforcing Social Distancing & Wearing Masks

Post | May 27, 2020

In order to combat the spread of COVID-19, people are making many changes in their habits and routines. Two central recommendations of public health officials are that people remain socially distant1 by staying six or more feet from people and avoiding non-essential trips outside the home, and that people wear masks when in public.2 This […]


Executive Privilege and the Supreme Court

Post | May 18, 2020

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases involving President Donald Trump’s tax returns and financial records, Trump v. Mazars and Trump v. Deutsche Bank. During the 2016 election, then-candidate Trump broke with tradition and refused to release many of his financial records and tax returns. The president is suing his accountants and […]


Racial Equity and COVID-19

Post | May 12, 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is stressing our healthcare system, our economy, and parents trying to teach their children at home. It is also highlighting significant COVID-19  racial disparities in access to quality health care. According to an April survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, Black, and Hispanic people are more likely than white people […]


Calm or Chaos: The Role of the Media During a Crisis

Post | May 5, 2020

As the COVID-19 2020 news headlines continue to dominate, the American public is facing an onslaught of information about the pandemic. Social and traditional media are covering developments, spreading opinions, and broadcasting statistics about COVID-19. There has been a strong association between coronavirus media coverage and an increase in public attention on the virus itself […]


Should States Continue to Shelter in Place or Begin to Reopen?

Post | April 28, 2020

As COVID-19 has spread across the country and the globe, most U.S. states have taken to issuing shelter-in-place orders to help “flatten the curve.” As of April 20, 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had asked residents to stay at home. However, over the past two weeks, there has been an increase […]


Revisiting the Minimum Wage

Post | April 23, 2020

Inequality has been a central issue of the 2020 presidential campaign, with many of the candidates including economic and income equity as major elements of their message.1 The COVID-19 outbreak has also placed economic inequality in the spotlight. While many professionals and white-collar workers are able to work from home, employees in the service industry […]


Page 15 of 22