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Civic Education

Media Literacy
commentary
What Role Should Schools Play in Teaching Pupils to Spot Fake News?
Asha Carpenter
Nov 28, 2018
Schools Week
Since social media is not regulated in the same way as traditional news media, anyone can convey information with little fact-checking. So how do we help children develop critical literacy skills to enable them to interpret the media correctly?
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United States
blog
RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress
Aug 5, 2019
For busy staff, August's respite from back-to-back meetings, hearing preparation, and late votes is hard-earned. The summer recess also provides an opportunity to get ahead of issues that will resurface in the fall. To that end, we have compiled recent RAND research on topics likely to top the congressional agenda come September.
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Gun Violence
blog
The Most Popular RAND Research of 2018
Dec 21, 2018
RAND serves as an objective source of facts that help inform the world's most pressing policy debates. When decisions are based on the best evidence, that's when public policy can have a positive impact on people's lives. We're highlighting the 10 research projects that RAND.org readers found most engaging this year.
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Social Media Analysis
blog
Best RAND Videos of 2018
Dec 19, 2018
RAND research yields findings that run the gamut of potential applications and promising policy solutions. Here, we highlight three of 2018's most captivating videos featuring RAND research and its potential to inform policy.
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Civic Education
blog
Conversation at RAND: Truth Decay
Oct 2, 2018
The recent erosion of public trust in facts and institutions is not the first period of Truth Decay in U.S. history. What's different this time is the increasing disagreement about objective facts. Jennifer Kavanagh and William “Pat” Getty discussed the trend and how to stop it.
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Databases and Data Collection, Analysis, and Processing
commentary
Truth Decay, America's Latest Pastime
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh
Jul 12, 2018
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Detailed data and complex analysis are the foundation of decisionmaking in baseball and many other professions and occupations. But facts are out of favor in current U.S. political and civil discourse, and the public policymaking that accompanies it.
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Media Literacy
commentary
In Reckoning with Today's Truth Wars, Look to America's Past
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh
Jun 19, 2018
CNN
The declining regard for factual evidence may be a defining characteristic of our current age. Previous eras suggest it is within society's power to restore respect for objective facts. Humankind just needs to put it on the agenda.
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Social Media Analysis
blog
Regulation or Research? The Search for Solutions to Reduce Truth Decay in the Media
May 22, 2018
What is social media's role in the decline of trust in the media? Is government intervention needed to help stop the spread of misinformation? A panel of researchers discussed the connection between the media and Truth Decay at a recent RAND event in Boston.
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Politics and Government
article
How to Increase Immunity to Truth Decay
May 16, 2018
Americans have always held differing views about policy issues. But more and more, they disagree about basic facts. This is a symptom of what RAND calls "Truth Decay," and it's doing severe damage to democracy in the United States.
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Civic Education
commentary
People—Not the Tech Companies—Will Ultimately Stop Disinformation in Europe
Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh, Stijn Hoorens @StijnHoorens
Apr 9, 2018
E!Sharp
Authorities can continue to seek to punish the tech companies for the circulation of false articles. But this is unlikely to make a difference until more people take the time and acquire the skills to distinguish between fact and fiction.
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Civic Education
commentary
Truth Decay and the Spirit of the Law
Dan Grunfeld
Mar 23, 2018
Daily Journal
The widening gap between how the law is expected to be (and generally is) practiced, and certain events transpiring in America's political and policymaking realms, is of increasing concern.
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Civic Education
commentary
The Danger of Truth Decay Across Europe
Hans Pung
Mar 19, 2018
E!Sharp
“Truth Decay” poses a threat to the health and future of democracy across Europe. With partial facts, disinformation, and incompatible versions of “the truth” competing for attention, it's more and more important for Europeans to recognize this phenomenon.
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Civic Education
q&a
The Perils of Truth Decay: Q&A with Three RAND Leaders
Feb 27, 2018
Truth Decay is defined by disagreement about facts, the blurred line between opinion and fact, increased volume of opinion and personal experience over fact, and declining trust in formerly respected sources of facts. RAND president and CEO Michael D. Rich, journalist Soledad O'Brien, and political scientist Francis Fukuyama discuss the phenomenon and the search for solutions to it.
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Civic Education
commentary
The Diminishing Role of Facts in American Public Life
Michael D. Rich @michaeldrich, Jennifer Kavanagh @jekavanagh
Jan 17, 2018
USA Today
Without agreement about objective facts and a common understanding of and respect for data and analytical interpretations of those data, it becomes nearly impossible to have the types of meaningful policy debates that form the foundation of democracy.
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Education Legislation
commentary
Strengthening Our Democracy Starts in School
Anna Rosefsky Saavedra
Dec 17, 2015
U.S. News & World Report
The teaching of civics and other social studies courses has hit hard times in most states, driven in part by accountability systems that reward schools for math and reading scores. Yet civic education is critical to the stability of our democracy and seems warranted now more than ever.
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Educational Program Evaluation
commentary
Nine Lessons on How to Teach 21st Century Skills and Knowledge
Anna Rosefsky Saavedra, V. Darleen Opfer @VDarleenOpfer
Oct 19, 2012
Education Week
Despite widespread agreement among parents, educators, employers and policymakers worldwide that students need skills like critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork and creativity, these skills are stubbornly difficult to teach and learn, write Anna R. Saavedra and V. Darleen Opfer.
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Civic Education
blog
10 Books That Will Change the Way You Think
Jul 19, 2012
The Pardee RAND Graduate School asked its faculty members to name the books that inspired them, and remain essential reading for anyone who wants to stretch themselves and how they view the world.
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