Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S. History & Civics in America's Schools

Pioneer Institute’s book “Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S. History & Civics in America’s Schools” serves as a call to action for educators and policymakers to prioritize civic education and ensure that students understand the principles that have shaped our nation. The book highlights how in the 1990s a handful of states, including Massachusetts, developed world-class history and civics standards that helped deliver outstanding educational results for a generation of students. But the book also chronicles a slow retreat from those standards in favor of educational fads, a trend that has resulted in declining test scores, the slow abandonment of rigorous civics instruction, and a corresponding weakening of American traditions of knowledge about and participation in government. Finally, “Restoring the City on a Hill” suggests how states can reclaim the tradition of rigorous history and civics instruction grounded in the American Founding, develop engaging and nonpartisan curricula, and ensure that public schools offer instruction that prepares students for a lifetime of engagement with their communities and the nation. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in promoting civic literacy and strengthening our democracy for generations to come.