Our core program is the Chicago Debate League, encompassing competitive debate programming in middle school and high school. Currently, we serve 75 schools, most of them Chicago Public Schools, and 1400 students. Our program is designed with low barriers to entry to encourage and enable students from across the academic spectrum to get deeply involved.  Most of our students are from low-income communities and under-resourced schools. In our school-based model, students attend after-school practices multiple times per week, engage in independent reading and research, and attend up to six two-day tournaments (five one-day tournaments for middle schoolers). Our program uses the policy debate format, acknowledged as the most academically rigorous form of debate, which demands reading and synthesis of complex texts, research, critical thinking, and use of evidence to support every claim. Topics are rich and every year our debaters explore economics, domestic and international politics, science and technology, and philosophy.  The time spent on debate is intense. Our high school debaters spend an average of 145 hours in adult-supervised practices and tournaments – the equivalent of five additional weeks of school. Our highly engaged high school students devote over 400 hours to debate.

The CDC’s core program activities include advocating for and helping establish debate programs in Chicago Public Schools; recruiting and providing hundreds of hours of professional development for 130 teachers and coaches; providing extensive materials and guidance for successful debate programs; running a summer debate camp and school-year training for students; managing all aspects of the seven-conference debate league; and conducting 40 debate tournaments a year.