The work of Crocco and her colleagues, "Deliberating Public Policy Issues with Adolescents," combines two important fields--deliberative democracy and discussion as a pedagogy--with a study of policy deliberations in three classrooms. Their article yields valuable insights. As the authors note, the results are disappointing. This may be…

One important literacy practice is the ability to formulate effective arguments to convince others of the validity of one's position. In this commentary, the authors discuss the literacy practices involved in formulating arguments as well as the challenges involved in helping students acquire these practices. In contrast to more traditional…