Resources for Educators in an Election Season

Updated November 7, 2024

Any election season provides educators the opportunity to teach students about civics and democracy, and the 2024 election season is taking place in the context of an increasingly polarized global environment. Teachers and other school leaders may find themselves managing challenging conversations and being called on to model and teach civil discourse and support students with different reactions to the election results. Below, find several related resources.

Supporting All Students After the Election 

• Supporting Students in Politically Charged Times: Tips for Families and Educators (NASP) 
• Helping Kids Process Election Results (Psychology Today) 
• How to Talk to Kids About Post 'Election Stress,' According to the Experts (Newsweek) 

Supporting Children from Historically Marginalized Groups After the Election

• Coping with Intense Emotions Around the Presidential Election (The Trevor Project) 
• Having Difficult Conversations with Children about the US Election: Tips for Immigrant Parents (Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College) 
• For Educators: Supporting Undocumented Students & Their Families (Informed Immigrant) 

2024-2025 NAIS Election Webinar and Meetup Series

• Election 2024: Impacts for Independent Schools (November 21, 2024, 2:00 PM ET)
• Creating Dialogue Across Difference to Bring the Community Together (November 7, 2024, 2:00 PM ET)
• Supporting Your School Community Through Election Day and Beyond (Watch the recording.)

Additional NAIS Resources

• NAIS Research: Navigating Polarization in Independent Schools (NEW)
• NAIS Legal Advisory: Key Policies and Considerations for Independent Schools Regarding Elections (NEW)
• Independent Ideas Blog: The Roundup: 5 Helpful Blogs During Election Week (NEW)
• Election-Related Policies: A Guide for Independent School Leaders
• Election Dos and Don'ts for Nonprofits
• NAIS Webinar Recording: Preparing for Challenging Conversations in the Upcoming Election Season
• Legal Tip of the Week: Review Your School’s Election-Related Policies
• Legal Tip of the Week: Consider Whether a Political Symbols Policy Is Right for Your School’s Handbook

Teaching About Elections and Civics

• Hassenfeld Library: 2024 Election  (University School of Nashville)
  Best-practice tips to help support students during this momentous period.

• Best Election Sites and Apps for Education (Tech & Learning)
  Top elections lessons and activities from respected, nonpartisan sources.

• Strategies for Teaching the 2024 Election (Hold on to Your Hat) (Education Week)
  Educators have a particularly unusual, unique, challenge this year

• Facing History: Teaching Resources for the US Election (Facing History)
  Resources (including learning objectives and lesson plans) designed and curated to help middle and high school students explore the role of elections, voting, and civic participation in creating and sustaining a just and healthy democracy

• Tips for Teaching the Election Season (Middle School Grounds)
  Big picture questions and practical tips for educating middle and high school students – and communicating with their families

• Voting and Voices Classroom Resources (Learning for Justice)
  Curated collection of videos, lessons, and student texts for middle school and elementary school students—civics education with a focus on elections and voting

• News for Students and Teacher Resources Grades 6-12 (PBS NewsHour Classroom)
  Lesson plans for grades 6-12 based on current events 

• Election Central (PBS Learning Media)
  Comprehensive e-learning site for adults and young people. 

• Civic library (iCivics)
  Founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics offers free curricular resources, digital literacy tools, professional learning materials, and educational video games for middle and high school students. 

• 11 Election Videos for Kids & Teens and 18 Books About Elections (We Are Teachers)

• Democracy Class (Rock the Vote)
  A free, nonpartisan curriculum that educates high school students about the importance and history of voting and pre-registers and registers them to vote. 

• Current Issues Classroom Resources (Close Up Foundation)
  Comprehensive resources available to purchase on several issues, including “Government and Elections.” Ready-to-use lesson plans and teacher guides, videos for high school and middle school.

• This civics teacher wants his students to know: The government is made up of people just like you (Chalkbeat)

• Teaching Presidential Elections Isn’t Easy.  How One Teacher Manages (Education Week)

• Do You Know the Three Branches of Government?  Many Don’t, Leading to a Push for Civics Education (Los Angeles Times)

Practicing Civil Discourse and Communicating About Contentious Issues 

• Tips for Promoting Civil Discourse in Election Season (NAIS)
  Seven tips to help you promote civil discourse in your school as election season nears.

• Learning to Depolarize: Helping Students and Teachers Reach Across Lines of Disagreement (By Kent Lenci)
  This book describes how educators can tackle the challenge of preparing students to communicate and collaborate across lines of deep disagreement—to face the political and ideological "other"—despite the conventional wisdom that schools should be apolitical.

• Civil discourse in the classroom (EdNc)
  This article makes the case (and offers tips) for teaching students the art of civil discourse and effective communication and listening skills. See this definition of civil discourse from the American University Project on Civil Discourse.

• Constructive Conflict: Teaching and Learning Materials (Beyond Intractability)
  Resources for students and adults. This foundational 2019 article defines civility in public and private discourse.

• Resources for Bridging Divides (Living Room Conversations)
  Resources to help you increase understanding, including conversation agreements. 

• High School Resources on Constructive Dialogue (Constructive Dialogue Institute)
  Free resources for individual educators designed to cultivate trust, foster belonging, and facilitate dialogue on challenging topics.

• Conversation Simulator: Navigating Difficult Conversations (Constructive Dialogue Institute)
  Free resources to guide you through three science-backed steps to navigate difficult conversations.

• Getting to We: Communicating in the Age of Polarization (Independent School magazine)
  This backgrounder on polarization and its impact on schools also has tips (relevant for educators as well as school heads) for how to communicate more effectively in the context of community polarization. 

Understanding Polarization as Educators (Research and Articles) 

• “Big Ideas for Upending Polarization” (Education Week)

• “Partnerships with parents are key to solving heightened political polarization in schools,” (The Brookings Institution)

• "'Chaotic,’ ‘misleading,’ ‘informative’: What teens say about 2024 election coverage" (Chalkbeat)

• Teachers', teens' and Americans' views about race, LGBTQ issues being taught in school (Pew Research Center)

• Managing Polarities in School Instructional Culture ASCD
  Also see an interview about polarity thinking for equity and justice in independent schools in Independent School magazine.

Also see NAIS - Resources for Educators About the Conflict in the Middle East