NATIONAL DEBATE PROJECT

HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Attempting to bridge the gap across the socio-economic divide by bringing debate training to inner-city students, the National Debate Project has helped create Urban Debate Leagues in cities throughout the United States for more than twenty years. NDP personnel have served as consultants, contractors, or fundraisers for UDLs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, District of Columbia, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tuscaloosa. To date, more than 40,000 students have been served by UDLs.

NDP personnel recognize that constructing effective and sustainable UDLs requires careful adaptation to the needs of local communities. The leagues featured here are examples of the diverse nature of the UDL movement. Each one was initially created with funding obtained by the NDP, but each has developed its own individual character over time.

ATLANTA URBAN DEBATE LEAGUES

In 1985, a grant from Phillips Petroleum funded Emory University (a founding member of the National Debate Project) to partner with the Atlanta Public School System to start the Atlanta Urban Debate League. Recognized by the national debate community as the birthplace of the Urban Debate League movement, the Atlanta UDL still serves a model of innovative programming transportable to other cities interested in building UDLs both in the US and abroad.

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Faculty, staff, and students from Emory and Georgia State University collaborate with a number of community partners (the Atlanta Housing Authority, Atlanta Public School System, Invisions, Techbridge, and Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta) to sustain the AUDL. The league has been funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Open Society Institute, the Arthur Blank Family Foundation, the UN Better World Foundation, and many others over its more than 20 year history.

Programming in the AUDL includes a creative set of games designed to teach debate fundamentals, college-bridge workshops, teacher training, summer institute, a middle and high school tournament league, and debate center (which invites all students in the metro-Atlanta area to receive free weekly training from college students from the partner institutions).

Baltimore Urban Debate League

In 1999, a grant from George Soros’ Open Society Institute funded personnel from Emory University (founding members of the National Debate Project) to collaborate with Towson University to create the Baltimore Urban Debate League (BUDL). The league began with students from eight schools attending the summer program offered at the Emory National Debate Institute. Throughout the year, the participating schools held UDL tournaments for interscholastic competitions.

Almost a decade later, BUDL is thriving with 35 high schools and 21 middle schools. In addition to the ongoing university partnership with Towson, the league now has a non-profit organizational staff that spearheads programs in Public Debate, College Bridge, High School Programming, and Middle School Programming. Recently, BUDL received a contract with the Baltimore School System to implement Debate-Across-the-Curriculum in its social science classrooms.

The success of the BUDL program has been featured in a many national media outlets, including a powerful segment produced for 60 Minutes (see below). Several of the students in the video are now college students who have chosen to pass on their knowledge and experience by serving as instructors in a number of UDL programs around the country. In 2008, two of the alumni of BUDL won the Cross-Examination Debate Association National Tournament, securing their place in history as the first UDL team to win a intercollegiate national debate championship.

(60 Minutes News Program - Segment on debate)

Miami Urban Debate League

In 2005, the National Debate Project collaborated with the University of Miami to establish the Miami Urban Debate League for schools throughout Miami Dade County. Barbara Garrett, the Director of the league, recently announced that as of 2007, the league is serving 122 varsity and 104 junior varsity students from area high schools, as well as 110 middle school children.

A unique feature of the Miami league is its partnership with the After School All-Stars Program, a program designed to expand after-school funding for at-risk youth. Based on the decision that debate offered a promising after-school experience, the All-Stars program designated a portion of its funding to students who wished to participate in the MUDL.

Another distinguishing aspect of the Miami league is the participation of Bay Point (an alternative boarding school for boys) and the Incarcerated Girls Program. Funded by the Lennar and Batchelor Foundations, these schools serving seriously at-risk youth first learn debate in separate summer institutes and then become mainstreamed into Miami league tournaments. In 2007, Bay Point students won three of the five Miami league tournaments, and have, on several occasions, won the MODEL award (designed to reward good sportsmanship). In the first year of Bay Point’s participation, more than 150 of the school’s students participated in the Miami Debate League.

Milwaukee Debate League

In 1997, a grant from the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust funded personnel from Georgia State University (founding members of the National Debate Project) to collaborate with Marquette University to create the Milwaukee Debate League. In the first year of the program, 224 students from 12 schools participated. In year two, nine more schools were added, with eight additional schools participating in 2008-2009.
The Milwaukee Debate League requires each of its participating schools to offer 4-6 hours of debate instruction each week of the academic school year. Some schools implement that goal through a dedicated debate class in their curriculum, others rely on after-school programming, and some combine both in-school and out-of-school instruction. The results of such a debate program have been rewarding, with students showing dramatic gains in reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension that far exceed national averages for yearly progress. Further, more than half the schools participating in the league’s first year had to cap their debate enrollments in because demand was so high.
Given Milwaukee’s strong commitment to school choice, the MDL provides debate training to wide range of school types. The participating schools include ones that are public/private, secular/religious, large/small, and charter/traditional. Anchored by Marquette’s commitment to a substantial endowment campaign to sustain the league, the MDL offers a summer institute, eight interscholastic tournaments each year, and access to the Marquette Debate Center for teacher training and student development.

(Click "Play" to watch this short video about
the Milwaukee Debate League)

New York Urban Debate League

In 1997, a grant from George Soros’ Open Society Institute funded personnel from Emory University (founding members of the National Debate Project) to collaborate with New York University to create the New York Urban Debate League. Having served more than 5000 students and 300 teachers since its inception, the NYUDL remains one of the largest UDLs in the nation. In 2007-2008, the league served 780 students from 70 schools in New York.

New York’s league initially began with schools that served 100% Title I students. After only one semester of participation, the NYUDL students demanded to be mainstreamed into New York’s traditional debate tournament circuit and have competed successfully against all the NY schools to the present day.

The NYUDL holds competitions that showcase various forms of youth expression. Recently, some of their students were featured on MTV demonstrating hip-hop debates. Others have delivered public debates. The NYUDL is now partnered with the Impact Coalition to ensure its long-term sustainability.