*Preserve the long-term stability of the existing middle and high school Urban Debate League. The Atlanta Public School System has solidified support for debate by supporting coaches, providing transportation, and encouraging student participation. But there must be some long-term commitment to providing training opportunities for future students, especially in the remaining schools that have yet to develop a debate program.

*Increase the number of schools and school systems participating in the UDL in the Atlanta metro area.

*Expand opportunities for women in debate. Debate has long been an activity whose demographics suggested a strong preference for white males. However, it has been the mission of the Barkley Forum and a goal of the UDLs to not only increase opportunities for men from underserved backgrounds but also to increase the number of women who have access to debate opportunities. We have developed programs especially to increase female participation in academic debate.

*Expand support for schools in less-densely populated areas. While the UDL programs have proven effective, they are effective in part because in densely populate areas there are more tournaments and they are easier to access. Training is more easily available for teachers and students. We need to find a way to sustain programs in less densely populated regions where travel to tournaments can be time-consuming and expensive.

*Expand support for teacher training and debate in all areas of the State. A key element in any successful debate program is teacher commitment. We are seeking ways to improve teacher incentives to coach debate, provide easy access to curriculum and training material, and to provide increase access to high school debate institutes run by various universities throughout Georgia and the nation.

*Conduct research into debate as a part of curriculum and alternative school curriculum. A great deal of research has been done on the effectiveness of debate as part of the elective curriculum. In the information age, many colleges and universities have begun to integrate a debate component into communication across the curriculum programs. Expanding debate into other classrooms and experimenting with the including debate as part of alternative schools for the nontraditional leaner shows great promise for improving skills in an information age and for providing unique learning opportunities for those nontraditional learners.

*Improve access to technology. Policy debate is a highly information-based activity. Access to resources over the internet will be the only way many high school students are able to access the kind of information needed for informed discussion of public policy. Students need access to government documents, law reviews, academic and scholarly journals, and reports from think tanks and private foundations. In the modern era this requires computers with Internet access. We need to secure access to computer-based research tools. Computers might also make it possible to access those in less-densely populated areas as well. In addition, the students will reap the additional benefit of learning to engage high quality computer based research, valuable skills in the information era.

*Expand Scholarship Opportunities for the Emory National Debate Institute training for UDL and Rural Students. Debate institutes provide secondary school students with the opportunity to develop skills under intense instruction of the nation’s finest college debate coaches. Exposure to Professors from colleges around the country has increased the incentive to do well in debate, to make good grades, and to attend college. The rare experience of living on a college campus with students from different socioeconomic backgrounds has been a valuable asset for the existing UDL programs.

*Improve access to college admissions and debate opportunities for UDL graduates. There are many colleges and universities across the country that offer debate scholarships or, at least, view debate as a favorable activity. We have to find a way to connect the UDL students with educational opportunities.