Arizona Study on Civic Education (PDF - 4/2009)

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Daily Show talking about Civic Education (3/2/09)

Nation's report card on Civics released (5/16/07)

Civic Education and Engagement Commission Passed (6/22/06)

Arizona Republic: Constitution Added to Classroom Flags Bill (6/21/06)

Arizona Republic Editorial: Put Civics Back in Classroom (5/31/06)

Arizona Republic Editorial: Freedom is messy at times (4/25/06)

Not By Math Alone -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Roy Romer Article (3/25/06)

Initial data from school district survey (11/05)

Arizona Social Studies Standards revisions update (9/26/05)

Third Congressional Conference on Civic Education (9/05)

AZ Civics Coalition Partner Form (PDF 118K)

Arizona Civics Coalition Vision (3/05 PDF)

Remarks by Ted McConnell before the Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Civic Education
November 8th, 2005

It is a great privilege to be with you today. On behalf of the National Civic Learning community I salute you for your active concern over civic engagement and the civic mission of our schools.

In particular I’d like to acknowledge the Committee’s Chairman and Co Chairman, Senator Bee and Representative Burns for their commitment to high quality civic education for all school children.

I think a good place to begin this discussion is with a definition of the term ‘civic education.’ The goal of civic education is informed, responsible participation in civic life by competent citizens committed to the fundamental values and principles of American constitutional democracy. To be effective, a citizen must acquire not only a body of knowledge and skills, but also certain dispositions. These are dispositions or traits of character such as civility, tolerance, and compassion that enhance the individual’s capacity and propensity to participate in the political process and contribute to the healthy functioning of the political system and the improvement of society.

Civic education is not just a dry one-semester course describing the three branches of our government or how a bill supposedly becomes a law. Civic education is not political indoctrination; rather it’s about equipping each school child with the critical thinking skills required for independent analysis and self-determination of ones political views.

Those who founded our free universal system of public education understood that each generation must be taught the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. This is the essential civic mission of our schools. Horace Mann and others instrumental in the movement to establish public education articulated what we now call civic education as the central purpose of public education. They believed that civic education was equally important as workplace preparation to each child’s future.

Today it seems as if we have lost sight of preparing our students for citizenship in favor of preparing them to be members of the workforce. This is, in the long run, dangerous for our republic.

Our time in school is the universal experience we all have to acquire both the knowledge and skills for active citizenship. In our increasing complex, interdependent and changing world it is even more vital then ever before that we provide both education for work and education for citizenship.

Over the past few decades two very interrelated developments have occurred that are a wake up call to all policymakers and concerned citizens that we must act now to restore the civic mission of our schools.

Our citizens, especially our youth are increasingly disengaged and cynical about society and our instruments of governance. A library full of studies, and even best selling books like Bob Putnam’s “Bowling Alone,” reveal the record rates of disengagement exhibited by our fellow citizens. The one ray of good news on this front is that today’s young American’s do express a great interest in volunteering and making their communities better; although this commitment to volunteering does not translate into interest in issues, politics or serious current events.

At the same time that our citizenry’s civic participation has been declining, public schools have shifted attention from students’ civic learning to workplace and career preparation. Influenced by concerns of the business community, as well as those of parents, that students learn the skills they need to be members of a changing global work force, public schools have increasingly focused on math and reading. Many educators and policymakers have come to see students’ civic learning as a less pressing priority and all too often decrease resources for civic education.

There once was a ‘golden age’ of civic education. From the 1930s until the early to mid 60s the most common experience of students in civic education included civic learning woven into the elementary curriculum with one or two separate elementary civic education units. At the high school level up to three distinct civic education courses were offered. The traditional “civics” course used to emphasize the rights and responsibilities of citizens and ways that they could work together and relate to government. The traditional “Problems of democracy” course involved discussions of public policy issues. The “government” class (which remains common today) describes and analyzes government in a more distant way, often with little explicit discussion of a citizen’s role.

Between 1988 and 1998, the proportion of fourth-graders who reported taking social studies daily fell from 49 percent to 39 percent, a steep decline that reflects a general trend away from civics and social studies in elementary grades; this trend has continued unabated into this decade.

The remaining commonly found high school ‘government course’ is usually offered in 12th grade, that is both too little and too late. And completely misses the large number of students who drop out of school before their senior year and who are arguably in the most need of education that helps them understand their responsibilities and assert their rights.

The most recent round of education reform has exacerbated these trends away from course offerings in civic education. While every state but one has standards that address civics and government, a 2003 study by the Albert Shanker Institute reveals that the majority of what passes for civics standards is unrealistic or inadequate. All too often these standards contain far more content then the classroom teacher can cover in the precious little time the teacher is allowed to teach civics. Far too many standards stress just the book knowledge and leave out the instruction necessary to impact student’s dispositions and civic attitudes.

The movement for high-stakes testing has had a huge impact on education nationally: schools are under unprecedented pressure to raise student achievement, which is now largely measured by standardized examinations of reading and mathematics. There is no necessary contradiction between high-stakes tests in these subject areas and excellent civic education in schools. Indeed, reading, writing, and mathematics can be taught through civic education at all levels from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Unfortunately, far too few policymakers understand the positive impact civic content can have when used in other disciplines such as reading.

A major focus on testing can be damaging if the exams are flawed or if civic skills and knowledge are not assessed (either on separate exams or as part of English tests). In a context of high-stakes testing, policymakers and educators interested in designing and implementing civic education programs or courses may not have the time, money, staff, or incentive to do so. Some of the most important outcomes of civic education are attitudes and skills, results that are not measured well by standardized tests. Consequently, the focus of civic education, if assessed at all, is often solely on knowledge, which is important and necessary but not sufficient. The old maxim, if its not tested it is not taught, has grave implications for civic education.

All too often, education policymakers who are not familiar with current classroom realities assume that civic education is still being taught, just like when they were in school. The reality is that it is not.

The result of the factors I’ve just mentioned, decreased time, resources and attention devoted to civic education, coupled with inadequate standards and high stakes testing, is dismal student performance in civics and increased disengagement.

In the most recent and reliable national measurement of how well our schools are performing in their civic mission, the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAPE for short) assessment in civics; it was found that just 25% of American schoolchildren could demonstrate the most basic proficient knowledge of civics and government. The fact that the NAPE in civics will not be administered again until next year – an eight-year gap between measurements - shows an unfortunate neglect of the subject at the federal education policy level. Most civic learning experts expect there to be no change in the findings of the 2006 NAEP in Civics from the 1998 assessment. Many expect the percentage of students reaching proficient status to decline.

We know that when asked, the vast majority of the American public still supports the premise behind the civic mission of schools as evidenced by annual polling done by Phi Delta Kappa and the Gallup Organization in which, consistently over 33 years, Americans have overwhelmingly concurred with the statement that “educating young people for responsible citizenship should be the primary goal of our schools.” In a 2004 study undertaken by the Alliance for Representative Democracy and Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, 88% of respondents agreed that policymakers at all levels should pay more attention to civic education in the public schools; and 90% would be more likely to support policymakers who make civic education a priority.

So where to start to reverse the long, dangerous decline of civic education in our schools? I suggest that the logical place to start is with education policymakers. The deficiencies in civics that I’ve cited are as a result of policymaker’s action or inattention. We must act now to engage policymakers and persuade them to provide the time and resources necessary to restore the civic mission of our schools.

I’m happy to report that the civic education, service and character education community, joined by the greater education community along with concerned policymakers from across the nation have begun the process of engaging education policymakers at the state, school district and building implementation levels to do just that.

In 2003 representatives of over 40 civic, service and character education, general education and civic engagement organizations joined together to produce a report simply entitled ‘The Civic Mission of Schools.” Coordinated by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Center for Research and Information on Civic Learning and Engagement at the University of Maryland; this report has become the civic, service and character education communities’ consensus document on how to reverse the slide of civics and provide high quality civic education to all students. The Report identifies six approaches to civic education that research has determined to be effective. Stated briefly, the report suggests that

1. Schools should provide sound formal instruction in government, history, law, and democracy. Such instruction increases civic knowledge which research shows contributes to young peoples’ long-term political engagement. The report cautions, however, that schools should avoid teaching only “rote facts about dry procedures that are unlikely to benefit students and might actually alienate them from politics.”

• Schools should include discussion of current events at local, national, and international levels and particularly those events that students see as important to their lives. Such practices have been demonstrated to develop among students a greater interest in politics, improved critical thinking and communications skills, greater civic knowledge, and more interest in discussing public affairs outside of school. The report cautions that classroom discussions of current issues should be carefully moderated by the teacher so students feel free to speak from a variety of perspectives and positions, and that their right to hold and express different positions or opinions is respected not only by other students but by teachers as well.

3. Schools should provide students with opportunities to apply what they learn through performing community service that is linked to the formal curriculum and classroom instruction. Community service programs that are best at developing engaged citizens are those that (1) provide students meaningful experiences in working on serious matters of public policy, (2) allow students to chose, design, and implement their own projects, and (3) provide opportunities for students to reflect upon their experiences.

4. Schools should provide students opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities focused on civic life. Studies have shown that students who join high school extracurricular groups remain more civically engaged than their contemporaries decades later.

5. Schools should provide students opportunities to participate in student government that give them a meaningful voice in the management of their own classrooms and schools.

6. Schools should provide students opportunities to take part in simulations of democratic processes and procedures such as simulations of legislative, administrative, and judicial hearings; lobbying; coalition building; negotiation; and seeking consensus or compromise.

I urge you to take a look at the Report. It is available on the web at www.civicmissionofschools.org 

The same organizations that drafted the Report have joined together in a Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools whose goal is to encourage the adoption of the report and its six promising practices in civic education by each school, district and state in the nation. I’m delighted to note, that the Arizona Bar Association has received a grant from the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools to test and implement some of the reports recommendations. You will shortly hear from my colleague Jeff Schrade of the Bar with information from a survey the Arizona Bar has collected with help from this grant. I know that the coalition created by the Bar, along with the national campaign, is very supportive of the legislature’s interest and involvement on this issue.

Another positive development in the effort to strengthen civic education is the advent of the Congressional Conferences on Civic Education. Three annual Congressional Conferences on Civic Education have been held to date. The conferences are hosted by the four leaders of the United States Congress, and sponsored by the Alliance for Representative Democracy, which is composed of the National Conference of State Legislators, the Center on Congress at Indiana University and the Center for Civic Education. The conferences bring together policymakers and educators from each state and the District of Columbia for a through examination of the relationship between civic engagement and civic education as well as an examination of the necessary policies that must be in place to support civic education.

The typical state delegation to the five Congressional Conferences are composed of a member of each chamber of the state legislature, the chief state school officer or a senior officer of the state Department of Education, representatives of superintendent’s or principal’s associations the Secretary of State or Attorney General, the Chief Justice or an Associate Justice as well as influential individuals from the private sector.

Arizonans who have attended the Congressional Conferences include Senator Gray, Representative Burns, Representative Anderson, representatives from the state Department of Education, long time Arizona civic educator Kathy Williams and Jeff Schrade from the Arizona Bar. The dynamic Senator Bee, whom we in the nation civic learning community honor for his commitment to this issue, leads this great group. Senator Bee is assisted by my friend Lynda Rando a nationally and internationally recognized authority on effective civic education.

Each state delegation left the first three conferences with a plan of action to restore the civic mission of schools in their state. Over the past two years, virtually every state delegation has formed a widely inclusive coalition to bring attention and action to the issue; 22 state delegations have held state level summit conferences on civic education; legislators from 29 states have introduced relevant legislation to strengthen civic, service and character education, to date twelve of these measures have passed and are now law; and policymakers who have attended the conferences have been persuaded to take action within their authority to improve civic education.

Legislatively created state Commissions on Civic Education or Learning have been established in Maine, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia. Several other states are in the process of enacting legislation to establish a Commission. These Commissions are empowered to review the entirety of the state’s approach to civic education at the state, district and school building levels and to make corrective and improving recommendations to the appropriate policymakers.
As you consider the possibilities of how the legislature can effectively assist in restoring the civic mission of Arizona’s schools, please consider the following:

There is abundant evidence both from research and everyday observations that good
civic learning produces desirable results. When students receive a sustained and systematic civic education they become

• more knowledgeable about their government and how it affects them;

• more interested in politics the news and government;

• more capable of identifying public policies that do or do not serve their  interests and the common good, and more consistent in their views on policies;

• more critical of politics and government—developing a healthy skepticism that does not alienate them from participation, but instead motivates them to participate in improving the system;

• more likely to participate in political and civic activities; and

• more committed to fundamental values and principles and more tolerant of those who differ in their opinions.

There is also abundant evidence that knowledgeable, skilled, and dedicated teachers are one of the most important factors, if not the most important single factor, in providing a sound civic education for our students. Teachers need adequate preparation in both the substance and methodology of civic education as well as the support of their administrations and their communities.

Civic learning must be given adequate attention. The most basic requirement for civic education programs to be effective is for them to exist in the school curriculum. All too often, civic education is simply not taught at all or taught too little or too late. Civic education must not merely exist in our schools: it must occupy a prominent role. It must be given enough attention for its demonstrable, beneficial effects to occur. This requires, among other things, that

• civic education should be seen as a central purpose of education;

• civic education should be considered a core subject on a level with others such as history, geography, mathematics, and science:

• civic education should be taught explicitly and systematically from kindergarten through twelfth grade either as separate units and courses or as a component of courses in other subjects.

And, there is a wealth of resources available to assist you. The national civic learning community has assembled an impressive array of best practice models of meaningful, engaging courses, extracurricular programs and supplementary materials; many at no or very low cost to schools and districts. We have also assembled model and sample policies, many implemented or being implemented in our states. Useful research on effective pedagogy, courses and supportive policy has and is being conducted.

Through the Congressional Conferences and resulting 51 state ‘campaign’ efforts, we offer opportunities for cross state exchange of model policies and best practice and peer advise. Exemplary of this type of assistance is the formation by Kentucky Secretary of State Try Grayson of the Southern Coalition for Civic Learning, a cross state exchange that is already assisting state efforts like this, across the south. This is also indicative of the seriousness with which policymakers from across the nation are taking the need to restore the civic mission of schools.

We also offer expert technical assistance from groups such as the National Center for Learning and Citizenship at the Education Commission of the States, the National Conference of State Legislators, the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools and the Center for Civic Education.  And yes, there is even a limited amount of grant money from the national community to assist you.

Lastly I ask you to consider the consequences of not acting to restore the civic mission of our schools; increased disengagement and feelings of apathy or alienation on the part of citizens towards their instruments of governance.  Can a representative democracy be called healthy if its citizens are alienated and disengaged?

Perhaps you recall a story that is told about September 17th, 1787, a hot and muggy day in Philadelphia. The delegates who had just crafted the United States Constitution were filing out of Independence Hall, a large crowd had gathered, an old crone, dressed in rags approached the oldest delegate, Dr. Ben Franklin, and asked of him, “well dr. Franklin, just what sort of government have you men given us? “A Republic madam,” Dr. Franklin replied, “if you can keep it! If you can keep it indeed!

For nearly 200 hundred years that has been the civic mission of our schools; to provide the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for each generation to take its place as citizens and live up to Dr. Franklin’s charge to ‘keep it;’ To preserve, improve and pass along to the next generation anew, the promise and fulfillment that is this nation; the longest running experiment in self-governance in the history of mankind.

Thank you!