Civic Mission of our Nation's Schools, The

"Democracy needs to be reborn in each generation and education is its mid-wife"

-John Dewey, leading 20th Century Education Theorist

Our Nation is Confronted by Twin Problems: Disengagement and Lack of Civic Education

Americans value and cherish the ideals of democracy. Yet many reports and surveys have confirmed that far too many citizens do not understand the basic workings of our government or are cynical and distrustful of our political institutions and processes. A library full of books, studies and reports such as Robert Putnam's "BowlingAlone" and the research institute CIRCLE and Carnegie Corporation's Civic Mission of Schools report (www.civicyouth.org/research) highlight the decline of civic engagement in the United States. The question is where to start to reverse the dangerous decline of civic participation and engagement. Many leading educators and policymakers believe that restoring the civic mission of schools in this nation is the most effective method of positively impacting civic engagement.

Research proves that effective civic education policies and practice dramatically affects citizens' civic knowledge and dispositions. While many institutions such as the family, the church, and social institutions help forge a person's civic character and propensity to participate, civic education in the schools is the one common experience American citizens have that helps them acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives. This is the historic civic mission of schools. A mission considered so important by those who established a free universal system of public education in the United States that they termed civic education as one of the central purposes of education. Unfortunately, as the indicators of civic engagement are dropping so too is the amount of time and attention devoted to civic education in our schools.

The results of a decline in civic education are shown by the 1999 release of the most reliable measure available on how well our schools are preparing student's for citizenship, the 'National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Report Card in Civics,' which revealed that just 25% of America's schoolchildren could achieve a proficient score in their knowledge of civics and government. The results of the 2006 NAEP Report on Civics are expected to be the same or worse. During the past several decades, education policy and practice appear to have focused more and more upon developing the "worker" at the expense of the "citizen." Although every state notes the need for civic education, the subject is seldom given sustained and systematic attention in the K-12 curriculum. For many students, their only explicit exposure to civic education is a one-semester course at the secondary level, which is too little and too late. Research reveals that most states and districts give lip service to the importance of civic education, but in reality, state policies and school practices often fail to provide students the civic education they deserve.

The failure of students do well in the NAEP study and other studies is a direct consequence of:

* inadequate policy support or inadequate implementation of policy when it exists;

* inadequate curricular requirements;

* inadequate teacher preparation; and

* distorting effects on the entire curricula of a focus on testing in math, science, and reading.

Unfortunately study after study shows that our schools are devoting less and less attention to preparing students for competent citizenship. Overwhelmed by a school reform movement that emphasizes a few subjects over all others, our schools have been forced to cut the time and resources devoted to civic education. The overwhelming majority of what passes for state standards and curricular frameworks for civic education are overly complex and contain far more material then a teacher can cover in the time currently allotted to the subject. The old maxim "if it isn't tested it isn't taught" is quite true; civic education is assessed in far too few schools which has grave consequences for the development of students' civic competencies. These are all reasons why civic education is disappearing from our schools at the same time it is desperately needed to combat disengagement, cynicism and apathy.

The Decline of Civic Learning in American Schools

In recent years, civic learning has been increasingly pushed aside. Until the 1960s, three courses in civics and government were common in American high schools, and two of them ("civics" and "problems of democracy") explored the role of citizens and encouraged students to discuss current issues. Today those courses are very rare. What remains is a course on "American government" that usually spends little time on how people can - and why they should - participate as citizens.

This remaining course is usually offered in the 12th grade, which is both too little and too late. And, it completely misses the large number of students who drop out before their senior year and who are arguably in the greatest need of understanding their rights and responsibilities as citizens.