Civitas is a cooperative project of a consortium of civic education organizations in the United States and other participating nations. The program is administered by the Center for Civic Education and funded through a grant from the United States Department of Education under the Education for Democracy act approved by the United States Congress. The program is implemented throughout the world in cooperation with the United States Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. The program provides for a series of exchanges among leaders in civic education in the United States and emerging and established democracies worldwide.

Since 2003, New Jersey has been paired with Senegal. Teachers, administrators and public policymakers from Senegal visited New Jersey and teachers, administrators and public policymakers from New Jersey visited Senegal from 2004 - 2008.For more information about the partnership with Senegal, see page 7 of Winter 2004 LRE Network News.

In 2008, Serbia was added to the partnership. Delegations from Serbia and Senegal visited New Jersey in November 2008. A delegation from New Jersey visited Serbia in April 2009. In the spring of 2010 and 2011, International Institutes for Principals have been held at Rutgers University, with assistance from the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.

Goals

The goals of the Civitas Exchange Program are to:

• Acquaint international educators with exemplary curricular and teacher training programs in civic education developed in the United States.
• Assist international educators in creating, adapting, implementing, and institutionalizing effective civic education programs in their own countries.
• Create and implement civic education programs for students in the United States that will help them better understand the history and experiences of emerging democracies and other advanced democracies.
• Facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences in civic education among educational, governmental, and private sector leaders in the United States and emerging and established democracies.
• Encourage independent research and evaluation to determine the effects of civic education on the development of the knowledge, skills, and traits of character that are essential for the preservation and improvement of constitutional democracy.

• Visits to school systems, institutions of higher learning, and nonprofit organizations that are conducting exemplary programs in civic education.
• Seminars on the basic principles of constitutional democracy and major government institutions in the U.S. and visits to such institutions.
• Seminars on the history and systems of government of participating countries.
• Demonstrations of U.S. curricula and pedagogy for educational leaders in other countries.
• Translations and adaptations of exemplary curricular and teacher education programs.
• Cooperative development and implementation of new curricular and teacher training material.
• International conferences on civic education for educational leaders, teacher trainers, scholars, and educational policy makers.
• Consultation on research and evaluation to determine the effects of civic education on the development of civic knowledge, skills, and traits of character.