A new report from the Education Commission of the States looks at the quality of K–12 civic education requirements in all fifty states. While each requires its students to participate in some form of social studies or civics education, the scope and depth of these requirements vary greatly.
Reviewers used seven indicators to analyze each state’s approach to civic education. These indicators include graduation requirements, standards, curriculum, assessments and accountability systems, and statutes. The purpose is not to rank or critique the civic education programs in each state. Rather the report is meant to be informational and highlight general trends in civics education so as to help states learn from the practices and policies of others and improve their own civics education criteria.
The report found that every state addresses civic education in some form within a state statute. Typically this is accomplished in one of two ways: States either enumerate specific civics course requirements for students, or they outline the desired outcomes of a civics education and then leave it up to the individual districts to determine how to reach these outcomes.
Pennsylvania stands out among other states in this indicator and includes both methods within its statute, listing civics courses students must take, while also requiring students to learn about their civic duty to vote and understand the differences and advantages of a democratic government, among other outcomes.
Thirty-seven states require students to take civics assessments, yet there is great variation in how each administers and uses the results of its tests. Some states, like Texas, only require students to be assessed in civics once throughout their entire K–12 education. Others assess the progress of students through projects or portfolios instead of exams. But of these thirty-seven states, only fifteen use the results of these assessments as a requirement for graduation, and only seventeen use them in accountability reports.
Academic standards for civics and social studies are also applied in a diverse number of ways among the states. Many include topics such as citizenship, civic participation, and political processes in their academic standards. And Hawaii requires students to practice community engagement by identifying a civic problem and drafting and implementing an action plan to solve it. Each state is also unique in how it supports its districts in implementing its standards. Less than 50 percent provide some sort of curriculum guideline for their civics instruction. Where states fail to provide curriculum resources, including places like North Dakota and Minnesota, they often rely on third-party organizations, such as the Minnesota Center for Social Studies Education, to provide instructional materials.
One of the roles of a public education is to teach students about patriotism, democracy, and citizenship skills. While all states accomplish this to some degree, there is certainly room for improvement on all fronts. Preparing students for college and for future careers should be a priority of public education—but these outcomes shouldn’t overshadow the need for students to understand the importance and role of their citizenship. As each reevaluates its academic standards to accommodate ESSA, policymakers should work to ensure schools expand and improve their efforts to educate students about their civic responsibility.
SOURCE: Hunter Railey and Jan Brennan, “Companion Report: 50-State Comparison: Civic Education,” Education Commission of the States (December 2016).
