How Can Civics Secure Democracy?

Post by Future Teachers in Dr. Carah Ong Whaley’s Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Spring 2022 Course

Research shows that students who receive quality civics education are more likely to vote, discuss politics at home, complete college, and develop skills that lead to employment. They are also more likely to give back to their communities through volunteering and working on community issues and are more confident in their ability to speak publicly and communicate with their elected representatives. A student’s likelihood of future civic engagement improves when they receive a quality education, and improve their own interests in effecting change. For example, 92% of students believe they can affect local change by simply voting. Alongside that, 75% of students believe they have the power to make a difference in their own communities. (Action Civics in School Districts, pg. 13). Yet, as former Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah has pointed out, the U.S. government spends approximately $54 per student to further STEM learning and a paltry 5 cents per student for civic education.

Civics Secures Democracy Act is bipartisan legislation that would provide resources to expand educational programs in American civics and history, including by establishing grant and fellowship programs and reauthorizing various programs. Representative Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3) introduced the Civics Secures Democracy Act into the House of Representatives and it currently has 20 co-sponsors, including Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK-4). Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) introduced and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) co-sponsored the Civics Secures Democracy Act into the Senate on March 22, 2021.

As Danielle Allen of Harvard’s Democratic Knowledge Project has noted, “70 percent of Americans born before World War II considered it essential to live in a democracy. For today’s millennials, it’s less than 30 percent.” The purpose of the Civics Secures Democracy Act is to promote the importance of democracy by educating young people about the values of democratic practices and institutions.

Civics Secures Democracy Act would give the “the Department of Education [the ability] to award grants to states, qualified nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and qualified researchers to support and expand access to civics and history education.” It does this by creating four separate grant programs that fund various types of civic education research and praxis. $585 million would be made available to states, $200 million to nonprofits, and $150 million to higher-education institutions. A further $50 million in research grants would be made available for research into civic education. Entities would apply for these grants with detailed descriptions of their programs so that the Department of Education can verify whether or not they fit the description of civic education as defined in the bill.

Furthermore, the bill will make “available to all students innovative, engaging curricula and programs in civics and history that prepare them to understand American Government and engage in American democratic practices as citizens and residents of the United States.” In other words, it will help create a new or revised curriculum to include more hands-on learning opportunities to help students understand the foundation of American government and the actions of American democracy. Additionally, the bill seeks “to provide resources to institutions of higher education for the purposes of offering effective professional development opportunities to enable and encourage teachers to deliver instruction that engages students in learning civics and history.”

The State of Civic Education

Most state civic curriculums tend to focus on knowledge, but not on experiences that give young people the opportunity to build civic skills or apply what they have learned through civic engagement. For example, 17 states have passed laws requiring high school students to pass the naturalized citizenship test in order to graduate. Compare this to the facts that less than 30 percent of fourth-, eighth- and 12th-grade students are categorized as proficient in civics, millions of American students and adults are unfamiliar with how their government works, and the United States ranks 31st among 35 developed countries in voter participation.

Many students believe there needs to be changes in their community. However, all too often they feel as though they have no voice in the classroom and furthermore feel that their opinions ultimately will not matter. In their research, White and Mistry found that teachers have a direct impact on students’ civic knowledge, and instruction should focus on students’ ideas of civics, such as being socially responsible for themselves, others, and the environment. The authors also state that students tend to gravitate towards civics-related issues that are important to them personally, such as “helping those who are less fortunate, stopping pollution, and working to stop prejudice.”

In the early years of the republic, it was dependent on the mother to teach children the ways of democratic life. However, since the incorporation and foundation of widespread public education in America, civics education has been incorporated in history education. The original purpose and argument behind implementing widespread, free, public education in America was that public schools would help train and prepare children to be active and educated citizens in democracy. Up until the 1960s, civics education was commonly seen as three separate courses.

According to experts, the decline in civics education and knowledge is a result of the change in America’s education system as it began to focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Simultaneously, standardized testing became a way to measure success and performance, and school and teacher funding was tied to the results of standardized tests. As a result, civics and other subjects were de-emphasized in curricula. Employers frequently report that they are unsatisfied with the skills of recent school graduates and business leaders point out that they need employees who aren’t just good at math, reading and writing, but also can lead teams, communicate effectively to partners, come up with new ways to solve problems, and effectively navigate an increasingly digital world. These are all skills that are central to civic education.

While it can be challenging to systematically assess students’ knowledge of civics, several school districts have developed new assessments that “can speak to the authentic tasks that are often at the heart of high quality civic education.” For example, the Oakland Unified School District in California has their students complete a comprehensive capstone project focusing on a social issue of their choice. The National Writing Project has developed a rubric called the Civically Engaged Writing Analysis Continuum (CEWAC) that guides teachers in their instruction and evaluation of civic writing. Furthermore, Goldberg, Pastor and Ong Whaley show that institutions of higher education can also create civic engagement programming and assess using campus-wide civic and political learning outcomes.

According to Alex Lin in Citizenship education in American Schools and its role in developing civic engagement a review of the research, “For primary grade students, character education programmes can help students learn the importance of community at school. Political simulations and service-learning programmes are more common in high schools, which have the potential to improve students’ civic engagement at the school and community level.” By utilizing additional resources and political simulations, this bill creates opportunities for thousands of American students to better understand what it will take to continue our democratic experiment.

What Can You Do: Contact Your Senators and Representatives!

Consider contacting your local representative to encourage them to co-sponsor or vote for the Civics Secures Democracy Act to help students develop skills, knowledge and values needed to strengthen our communities and democracy.

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