Program areas at Street Law
National programs:1) teacher professional development programs - Street Law works with primary and secondary school teachers to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to teach about a variety of practical legal and civic topics using teaching strategies that promote democracy, positively impact educational achievement, and foster civic engagement. Now in its 27th year, the supreme court summer institute is a professional development seminar for social studies teachers from across the country designed to strengthen and expand instruction about the u.s. supreme court. Street Law further supports classroom instruction by operating an educational website, www.landmarkcases.org, that provides free teaching materials about historic supreme court cases most frequently required in state social studies content standards.the talking about local current and contested issues in schools (talccs) project prepares Maryland teachers to guide their students through discussions of contested public issues-a step toward bridging the divides in american society. Street Law supports teachers through innovative instruction, high-quality professional development, and tailored curricula. This three-year initiative plans to benefit more than 36,000 elementary, middle, and high school students from districts across the state.the enhancing civics professional development and internal capacity in chicago public schools project prepared chicago public schools (cps) teacher-leaders to (1) deliver professional development for teaching civics to middle and high school social studies teachers throughout the cps system and (2) create localized deliberations materials for discussing contested public policy issues. Through rule of Law for all, Street Law addressed the decline of rule of Law in the united states by developing, piloting, and distributing a free, high-quality rule of Law curriculum that educators may use with students to instill democratic attitudes and beliefs.under the legal timelines in american history project, Street Law is creating a series of interactive timelines and accompanying curricular materials within a user-friendly website. The content is designed to educate students about how u.s. laws have evolved over time on key issues such as voting, federalism, the rights of the accused, and other topics.the measuring the impact of the deliberative discussion model project is a partnership between Street Law and university researchers to prepare teachers in select districts to use deliberations in their classrooms and to then study the impact of Street Law's deliberation methodology on students' political beliefs, commitment to democratic values, and willingness to engage in political discussions.the teaching for civic engagement seminars guide teachers through an exploration of current issues in civics and government as they master instructional strategies that build students' civic skills and increase educational achievement.deliberation training prepares secondary school teachers to master the use of deliberative discussion on contested public policy issues in their classrooms in order to build positive relationships through discussion across differences.2) legal diversity pipeline initiatives creates opportunities for lawyers, legal professionals, and Law students to teach and inspire young people who are often underrepresented in the legal profession.through legal diversity pipeline programs, Street Law partners with corporate Law departments and Law firms to tackle the dearth of diversity in the legal profession. The pipeline programs encourage young people of color to pursue legal careers by providing them with law-related lessons and activities, role models, career education, and hands-on experiences in the field of Law. Street Law's staff trains volunteer legal professionals to teach high school students about topics in Law and pathways to the legal profession.street Law's summer bridge program supports a law-themed high school to provide young people entering high school with a foundational understanding of Law and justice to help ensure a successful academic transition.developing a model for strengthening educational and pipeline outcomes at law-themed high schools is a joint initiative between Street Law and the Law school admissions council to strengthen education outcomes and pipeline outcomes at law-themed high schools serving communities of color. The project will also heighten the impact of the Law school experiential programs in which Law students teach about Law and democratic engagement to nearby high school students (often known as Street Law programs).3) other u.s. programs: curricula and teaching materials - Street Law equips educators with the textbooks, lesson plans, and teaching activities they need to be effective educators of Law, government, democracy, and rule of Law. Street Law's resource library includes hundreds of resources, including supreme court case summaries, deliberations, moot courts, mock trials, and many other materials.street Law authors Street Law: a course in practical Law (mcgraw hill education, 2021, 10th edition). The high school text supports the teaching of practical Law in classrooms across the united states. Street Law co-authors a high school government text titled united states government & civics (mcgraw hill education, 2024) with an accompanying inquiry journal. The text helps educators teach students about government and how to "do democracy." In every chapter students are asked to deliberate with peers, advocate for or against a position, evaluate policy alternatives, analyze claims and arguments, negotiate a compromise, and make collaborative decisions. The text centers debate and discussion on current, public, and controversial issues-a proven method for increasing student engagement.
Communications: the communications program strengthens Street Law's programs through web-based promotions and technologies. Additionally, it disseminates program information, resources, and curricula to program participants around the globe.
International programs: Street Law's global Law and democracy programs help cultivate rule of Law culture around the world. Street Law collaborates with Law schools, civil society organizations, and government agencies to build public legal education programs, train educators and youth-serving organizations, and develop teaching materials. These programs have empowered people and strengthened civil society in 45 countries throughout africa, the americas, asia, europe, and the middle east since the organization's founding. Street Law's international programs include:in uzbekistan, through several initiatives, the organization supported tashkent state university of Law (tsul) in establishing its own Street Law program and in expanding Street Law to legal technical colleges throughout the country. Through these programs, students from tsul and the legal technical colleges provide practical legal education to youth. Street Law also supported legal literacy in uzbekistan by developing interactive lessons on practical legal issues such as marriage and divorce laws and preparing community-based organizations to teach the lessons to constituents.rule of Law matters project- in collaboration with a jordanian ngo, Street Law and its partner adapted Street Law's rule of Law curriculum for use in jordan and worked with educators, community organizations, and youth centers to teach about rule of Law to youth throughout the country. It also supported jordanian youth fellows to develop and implement community-based projects to improve rule of Law locally.through the promoting alternative dispute resolution (adr) in pakistan project, Street Law partnered with the legal aid society to develop and pilot an adr mini course at five Law schools in sindh province.in kosovo, Street Law supports the kosovar civil society foundation's citizen engagement activity by designing curriculum for youth leadership and activism academies and training trainers to lead the academies.as a partner on the usaid/georgia rule of Law program, Street Law works with a cohort of Law schools and regional technical colleges to expand their public legal education programs.