Street Law’s broad range of initiatives are connected by a common, cross-program approach to changemaking. Below are the ingredients you will find in Street Law programs.
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High-Quality Content
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Interactive Learning Methodologies
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Capacity Building
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Engaged Networks
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Systems-Level Impact
High-quality Content
At the core of successful civic and law-related education are quality learning materials that help people build their civic and legal knowledge, strengthen civic skills, and develop key skills to bridge divides.
We adhere to multiple standards of quality when we create teaching resources. Our materials are reviewed by outside experts to ensure accuracy and by stakeholders with multiple perspectives to ensure balance. When possible, we aim to explicitly address identity and center the lived experiences and expertise of young people in our materials.
When working outside the United States, we partner with local organizations and experts to ensure our materials not only reflect local realities but are culturally appropriate for each country.
Interactive Learning Methodologies
Our interactive learning methodologies ask students, not educators, to do the heavy intellectual lifting. Using interactive pedagogy, educators guide students through negotiations, case studies, civil discussions, as well as a variety of simulations of democratic processes such as mock trials, moot courts, and simulations of legislative committee hearings.
These powerful, interactive methodologies:
- Are research-based, proven practices in civic education.
- Allow learners to practice democracy in a low-stakes, educational environment.
- Teach people how to cooperatively discuss controversial issues by carefully considering multiple perspectives and searching for common ground.
- Create skills and spaces for talking across differences, which are essential ingredients for building an informed, engaged citizenry.
Capacity Building
We believe that the people best equipped to meet a community’s needs are the people closest to the challenges and opportunities. That’s why we work closely with teachers, legal professionals, school administrators, and community leaders to build their capacity to better serve their constituents.
Only by building the capacity of these stakeholders to deliver high-quality content and methodologies are we able to sustain our impact long term.
Engaged Networks
For long-lasting solutions, no one can work alone. In today’s interconnected world, we must harness the power of people — a network, a system, a connection — to make positive change.
Leveraging decades of partnerships with both the public and private sectors and our robust network of professionals allows us to amplify our impact.
Our networks include:
- Secondary schools across the United States, which includes thousands of classroom teachers and scores of school districts: This network uses Street Law materials and interactive methodologies in classrooms and beyond to prepare the next generation for civic engagement.
- Lawyers and other legal professionals from national and global corporations and law firms: This network engages in teaching and mentoring young people, encouraging the pursuit of legal careers, and education about the law.
- 200+ global law schools: This network engages faculty and students to teach practical law in communities ranging from prisons to schools to local aid organizations.
Systems-Level Impact
For decades, Street Law has partnered with the education sector, the private sector, the public sector, and community and civil society organizations to achieve our intended impact.
Our impact is on a systemic level, from the replication and adaptation of Street Law models across schools, to the integration of Street Law content in professional development trainings, to the rollout of Street Law trainings in public agencies.
For scaling impact, Street Law believes in partnering with existing systems and adding value. This allows our impact to scale and be sustained longer term. Some of the systems Street Law has partnered with include:
- School districts and departments of education
- Law schools
- Juvenile justice systems
- Ministries of justice
