New Study Shows What Works for Civics Education

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Reviews and grades the country’s top programs

BOSTON – Americans strongly disagree about how our K-12 schools should teach our system of self-government. Dozens of organizations offer rival civics education resources and many of them don’t work. A new study published jointly by Pioneer Institute and the National Association of Scholars offers in-depth evaluations of 15 leading civics programs, grades them on their effectiveness, and offers recommendations for how Americans should build upon these programs.

“Civics reformers don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” said Dr. David Randall, author of “Learning for Self-Government: A K–12 Civics Report Card.”  “They can draw on programs such as Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum; We the People: Citizen and Constitution; and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which provide lesson plans aimed for academically serious, curious 12th-grade students.”

Americans are sharply divided about how civics should be taught to our students. Dozens of novel instructional approaches have emerged from these conflicts.

Learning for Self-Government” surveys and assesses a wide selection of traditional and progressive K-12 civics education offerings. The report discusses programs developed by organizations such as the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, We the People, and 1776 Unites. The study evaluates both their approach to civics education and their ideological content.

The study offers summary grades of each organization’s effectiveness and recommends concrete ways for civics reformers to use existing civics resources effectively to reclaim American civics education.

Learning for Self-Government” finds that several organizations, such as the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and Educating for American Democracy, focus on political activism rather than K-12 civics education.

“These organizations form the regulations and develop the personnel of the educational establishment,” Randall said. “They greatly affect K–12 civics education, even though they don’t provide textbooks and lesson plans.”

“In 2021, the American people and parents across the country awoke to the longstanding crisis in K-12 civics education,” said Pioneer Director of School Reform Jamie Gass. “‘Learning for Self-Government’ will tell policymakers and parents which civics organizations replace civics education with radical activism, which actually try to educate students about their country’s government and history, and how they can build upon existing programs to restore great civics education in our nation.”

About the Author

David Randall is Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars and Project Director of the Civics Alliance. His publications include Making Citizens: How American Universities Teach Civics (NAS, 2017) and (co-author) No Longer a City on a Hill: Massachusetts Degrades Its K-12 History Standards (Pioneer Institute, 2018).

About Pioneer Institute

Pioneer’s mission is to develop and communicate dynamic ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond. Pioneer’s vision of success is a state and nation where our people can prosper and our society thrive because we enjoy world-class options in education, healthcare, transportation and economic opportunity, and where our government is limited, accountable and transparent. Pioneer values an America where our citizenry is well-educated and willing to test our beliefs based on facts and the free exchange of ideas, and committed to liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise.

About National Association of Scholars

The National Association of Scholars seeks to reform higher education by upholding the standards of a liberal arts education that fosters intellectual freedom, searches for the truth, and promotes virtuous citizenship. It defends the academic freedom of faculty members, students, and others through individual advocacy; investigates issues affecting academic freedom, the integrity, purpose, and neutrality of the university and publishes its findings as in-depth reports; and educates the public about policies and legislation that would preserve the liberal arts and protect academic freedom.

Get Updates On Our US History Initiative

WATCH:

Related Posts

Prof. Lorraine Pangle on the Founders, Education, and Civics

This week on The Learning Curve, Lorraine Pangle, professor of political philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, discusses how the Founding Fathers' grounding in classical and Enlightenment thought helped shape America's Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the role of public education as a wellspring of republican self-government.

Pulitzer Winner Prof. David Garrow on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement

/
https://chrt.fm/track/4655F8/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/53284998/tlc_davidgarrow.mp3 This…

Poll Finds Strong Majority of Massachusetts Residents Support Restoring U.S. History MCAS Graduation Requirement

Sixty-two percent of Massachusetts residents support restoring passage of a U.S. history test as a public high school graduation requirement, according to a poll of Massachusetts residents’ attitudes toward education policy commissioned by Pioneer Institute and conducted by the Emerson College Polling Center.

Award Winner Peter Cozzens on Tecumseh, the Indian Wars & the American West

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard talk with Peter Cozzens, the award-winning author of The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West. As National Native American Heritage Month winds down, Mr. Cozzens reviews what our schoolchildren should know about Native Peoples’ innumerable contributions and heart-wrenching experiences.

Award-Winner Nathaniel Philbrick on the Mayflower and the First Thanksgiving

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard talk with Nathaniel Philbrick, historian, winner of the National Book Award, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and author of Mayflower: Voyage, Community, and War. Mr. Philbrick shares what we should know about the actual historical events of the First Thanksgiving in 1621.

Stanford’s Pulitzer-Winning Prof. Jack Rakove on James Madison, The Federalist Papers, & U.S. Constitutionalism

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard talk with Dr. Jack Rakove, Coe Professor of History and American Studies and Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Stanford University, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. Professor Rakove reviews the biography of James Madison, often called the "Father of the Constitution," and the influence of classical and Enlightenment learning on his farsighted political thought and leadership.

NYT Best Seller Laurence Bergreen on 530th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus Discovering the New World

On this special Columbus Day edition of “The Learning Curve," guest host Pioneer Institute's Mary Z. Connaughton talks with Laurence Bergreen, a prize-winning biographer, historian, chronicler of exploration, and the author of Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492-1504. Mr. Bergreen discusses what people should know about the life, career, and myths around Christopher Columbus, the courageous, ruthless, and complicated explorer and navigator, on the 530th anniversary of his history-changing and ever-controversial discovery of the New World.

Oxford’s Prof. Timothy Garton Ash on Poland’s Solidarity, Lech Walesa, & Cold War Lessons for Ukraine

https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chtbl.com/track/G45992/mp3.ricochet.com/2022/09/TheLearningCurve_TimothyGartonAsh.mp3

UVA’s Two-Time Pulitzer Winner Prof. Alan Taylor on Thomas Jefferson & Education

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Alan Taylor, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and author of the book, Thomas Jefferson's Education. Professor Taylor shares some highlights of Jefferson’s career, his views on the importance of primary and higher public education in serving the political aspirations of his state and region, and Jefferson's role as the architect of the University of Virginia,

William & Mary’s Dr. Charles Hobson on Chief Justice John Marshall, SCOTUS, & Judicial Review

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Charles Hobson, a retired resident scholar at the William & Mary Law School, 26-year editor of The Papers of John Marshall, and author of The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law. Dr. Hobson shares what students should know about the longest-serving, most important chief justice in the history of the Supreme Court, and his influence on our understanding of the U.S. Constitution.