Welcome to the High School Public Debate Program!

Welcome to the home of the High School Public Debate Program (HSPDP), featuring national and international class and contest debating for secondary school students. The HSPDP uses a proprietary debate format created by John Meany, Director of Forensics, Claremont McKenna College, and Kate Shuster, Co-Executive Director, Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP). The MS/HSPDP debate models are designed to integrate best instructional practices for class and contest debating as well as maximize learning outcomes for participants.

The MS/HSPDP are sponsored by the Claremont Colleges Debate Union, centered at Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California. The Claremont Colleges are among the nation’s elite liberal arts institutions.

The HSPDP is modeled after the successful Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP), which is now in its eighth year of operations. The HSPDP successfully concluded its pilot program at Southern California and Washington, D.C. sites and is now open for new national and international participation. The MS/HSPDP are the fastest growing debate outreach programs in the United States – more than 40,000 students and teachers participated in class and contest projects in 35 states and a dozen countries last year.

Students receive sophisticated oral communication and argumentation training, including analytical reasoning, critical listening and note-taking, and refutation, as well as opportunities to practice their skills for public audiences

In addition to the HSPDP debate opportunity for upper level secondary school students, the Claremont Colleges Debate Union is the official US representative on the Worlds Schools Debating Council, the international organization sponsoring the high school world debate championship. More than 60 countries participate in the annual event. The Debate Union recruits, selects, and trains Team USA members for the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) and other international events in the WSDC format. Among other events, Team USA participated in debate workshops, tournament events, public debates, and a UN Youth Summit in Fall 2009 events in Korea and Qatar. Students are now preparing for the 2010 World Schools Debating Championship in Doha, Qatar and summer competition and workshops in the United Kingdom. The US World Schools National Championship will be held in Claremont, California, March 26-28, 2010. The invitation is available on this site.

More information on the MSPDP is available at www.middleschooldebate.com.