National Association for Urban Debate Leagues
Encyclopedia
The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) is a Chicago
-based non-profit organization
that prepares low income students of color to succeed in college and in their future careers by organizing and supporting competitive debate
teams in urban public schools across the country. The NAUDL engages in advocacy and fundraising on behalf of Urban Debate Leagues
(UDLs), which operate at 500 high schools and middle schools in 19 cities across the U.S., including New York, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Debate is known to improve critical thinking
skills and educational outcomes.
• Maintaining and improving educational quality of the debating experience.
• Promoting sustainability
of local UDLs.
• Documenting the impact of Urban Debate participation.
• Encouraging school systems nationally to support urban debate.
• Strengthening struggling UDLs.
• Expanding the scope and quality of debate coaching and instruction.
• Connecting UDLs across the country via networking
events and other services.
males. African American male participants were 70% more likely to graduate and three times less likely to drop out compared to nonparticipants. Debaters also had higher average ACT scores than non-debaters—20.3 compared to 18.5. Additionally, students who debated 25 or more rounds in high school had 12th grade GPAs on average .20 points higher (the equivalent of 20% of a letter grade) than students debating fewer than 5 rounds.
• Refines decision-making and interpersonal skills. Debate hones critical-thinking and problem solving
skills. Urban debaters also demonstrate higher levels of self-confidence and flexibility in viewpoint.
• Bridges high school and college. Urban Debate Leagues encourage students to attend college and provides them the tools to succeed there. More than 75 percent of urban debaters go to four-year colleges with a matriculation
rate at about 80 percent, according to Mezuk's study.
• Develops 21st Century Learning Skills. Debate helps students develop the skills they need to succeed in school and in the work force. The NAUDL recognizes that students today need to be able to think critically and creatively to analyze data, use technology
for high level research, and learn to craft effective and logical arguments based on evidence from credible sources. The learning and experience from debate programs help students develop these skills and helps them learn to make decisions and argue effectively from evidence-based policy positions. Urban debaters also learn to collaborate and solve problems as they work as a member of a team while debating.
skills, while literacy
and communication
test scores typically improve.
• Debaters are good role model
s. Participants can be positive influences on their peers, given their academic performance, lower absenteeism
, and higher rates of college enrollment. Debaters are also often adept at peaceful conflict resolution
, research shows.
• Debate programs impact curriculum. The incorporation of formal debating throughout the regular curriculum
is offered in several school district
s with UDLs. Almost half of all Urban Debate Network schools offer an Argumentation and Debate course.
won the 2011 Championship on a 3-0 decision.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that prepares low income students of color to succeed in college and in their future careers by organizing and supporting competitive debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
teams in urban public schools across the country. The NAUDL engages in advocacy and fundraising on behalf of Urban Debate Leagues
Urban debate league
An urban debate league is a group of high school policy debate teams from urban high schools in the United States. Usually, UDL's are located in large cities throughout the US, and work with predominantly minority students-Early years:...
(UDLs), which operate at 500 high schools and middle schools in 19 cities across the U.S., including New York, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Debate is known to improve critical thinking
Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
skills and educational outcomes.
Focus
• Increasing the number of active debaters.• Maintaining and improving educational quality of the debating experience.
• Promoting sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
of local UDLs.
• Documenting the impact of Urban Debate participation.
• Encouraging school systems nationally to support urban debate.
Strategy
• Establishing new UDLs.• Strengthening struggling UDLs.
• Expanding the scope and quality of debate coaching and instruction.
• Connecting UDLs across the country via networking
NetworKing
NetworKing is an educational simulation computer game by NASA for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and web browsers with the Unity plug-in released in 2011. In NetworKing the player assumes the role of a satellite manager responsible for growing the communications network.-External links:* **...
events and other services.
The Power Of Debate
NAUDL believes that participation in urban debate prepares young people for their futures, while transforming school systems and communities.Student Impact
• Reduces achievement gaps. A recent study of the Chicago Debate League by Briana Mezuk analyzed CDL data from 1997 to 2006 and found that debate improved graduation rates and ACT scores among African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
males. African American male participants were 70% more likely to graduate and three times less likely to drop out compared to nonparticipants. Debaters also had higher average ACT scores than non-debaters—20.3 compared to 18.5. Additionally, students who debated 25 or more rounds in high school had 12th grade GPAs on average .20 points higher (the equivalent of 20% of a letter grade) than students debating fewer than 5 rounds.
• Refines decision-making and interpersonal skills. Debate hones critical-thinking and problem solving
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
skills. Urban debaters also demonstrate higher levels of self-confidence and flexibility in viewpoint.
• Bridges high school and college. Urban Debate Leagues encourage students to attend college and provides them the tools to succeed there. More than 75 percent of urban debaters go to four-year colleges with a matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
rate at about 80 percent, according to Mezuk's study.
• Develops 21st Century Learning Skills. Debate helps students develop the skills they need to succeed in school and in the work force. The NAUDL recognizes that students today need to be able to think critically and creatively to analyze data, use technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
for high level research, and learn to craft effective and logical arguments based on evidence from credible sources. The learning and experience from debate programs help students develop these skills and helps them learn to make decisions and argue effectively from evidence-based policy positions. Urban debaters also learn to collaborate and solve problems as they work as a member of a team while debating.
School Impact
• Improves school district test scores. UDLs develop students’ reading and writingWriting
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
skills, while literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
and communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
test scores typically improve.
• Debaters are good role model
Role model
The term role model generally means any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others".The term first appeared in Robert K. Merton's socialization research of medical students...
s. Participants can be positive influences on their peers, given their academic performance, lower absenteeism
Absenteeism
Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation. Traditionally, absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer; it was seen as a management problem, and framed in economic...
, and higher rates of college enrollment. Debaters are also often adept at peaceful conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
, research shows.
• Debate programs impact curriculum. The incorporation of formal debating throughout the regular curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
is offered in several school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
s with UDLs. Almost half of all Urban Debate Network schools offer an Argumentation and Debate course.
Community Impact
• Young people from low income communities enter the adult world prepared to meet demands of civic responsibility. Neighborhoods benefit from having individuals equipped to contribute to the democratic process and become leaders both in their communities and on a wider scale.Urban Debate National Championship
Established in 2008, this tournament features 84 of the nation’s top UDL debaters squaring off in a major U.S. city every April. Debaters compete in regional tournaments for the right to advance to the National Championship. Shagun Kukreja and Amna Tariq from University High School of Humanities in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
won the 2011 Championship on a 3-0 decision.