Peter Huidekoper, Jr. -Happy Constitution Day - Sept. 17,
2014
Balance
is again my larger theme. Let’s make sure we offer Colorado students a
well-rounded, rich curriculum—not one narrowed by “what gets tested.” AV#118
addressed classroom discussion, and quoted from Neil Postman on “The American
Experiment.” AV#119 builds on that: the topic is civic education.
A conundrum for many: how do we argue for more _______ (fill in in
the blank with whatever you think schools aren’t teaching enough: civics, art, character
education, financial literacy, yoga!) without asking for more tests on
these subjects, as we sense the abundance of tests ALREADY in place might be exactly
what crowds out the teaching of ______ (whatever you think schools aren’t
teaching enough)?
The Colorado State Board of Education’s stated vision is: “All children in
Colorado will become educated and productive citizens;” its mission: “to provide all of Colorado’s children equal access to quality,
thorough, uniform, well-rounded
educational opportunities in a safe and civil learning environment” (italics
mine). It is in our schools, then, that our future citizens should explore
and understand a wide range of subjects, such as, let’s say: what is citizenship.
But when we are told the only way to ensure that we teach x, y, or z is to add
another state test, we back off and say, Yikes! That’s not what I had in
mind!
This newsletter is not an attempt to
say WE NEED MORE TESTING IN CIVICS!
After all, just this year
the state of Colorado chose to add (this was not, I repeat not, a
Washington conspiracy!) social studies assessments across the state. This past
spring 4th and 7th graders took part in the first
state-wide tests in this discipline; later this fall 12th graders
will do so as well. The move, supported
by the State Board of Education and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education
(http://co.chalkbeat.org/2010/11/29/boards-endorse-social-studies-csaps/#.U_YdpvldUgw), made sense to many of us, given the concern that,
if we only measure reading, writing, math, and science, schools will keep
giving short shrift to history, geography, and civics.
So this is a positive step, as
was the bipartisan support back in 2003, Senate Bill 36, requiring completion
of a civics course for graduation.[1] And yet today, eleven years later, can we be
satisfied with what most Colorado students are expected to learn about our
government and the meaning of citizenship? How to ask for more—in a local
control state? No answers here, but I will gladly take
suggestions. My purpose here is simply to offer 10 points that make the case that civics should be an essential part of
the K-12 curriculum in our schools—in the hope this will encourage others
to push for much-needed change.
1.
“Student
Mastery of Civics Ed Goes Untested,” Education Week, Oct. 17, 2012
This article captured key
points from a recent report by the Center for Information and Research on Civic
Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). “… 39 (states) require high school students
to take at least one course in U.S. government and civics to graduate; all but
two, Colorado and Iowa, require social studies coursework.” (Our state does
require a course on civics for graduation, but has no “social studies
requirements.”) It continued:
…
only eight states have standardized tests specifically in civics education at
the high school level, and Ohio and Virginia alone require students to pass
them to graduate…. It also says only 21 states mandate that students take a
social studies test—the broader discipline that includes history, geography,
and civics—and only nine require that they pass it to earn a diploma. That
number is down from 34 states that conducted regular assessments in 2001.
“I think the state of civics and citizenship education has been in
disrepair for the past decade, jammed into the corner of the attic like an
old bicycle with a flat tire.”
Rick Hess, resident
scholar and director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise
Institute;
co-author of the new book Making
Civics Count.
|
And most of those tests,
according to the findings, are weakly linked to state standards and do not test
deeper knowledge of the subject matter at hand.
The findings help document what many in education have been saying since
the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act more than a decade ago. An emphasis
on reading and mathematics, driven by the law’s testing and accountability
requirements, has cut into the time and attention devoted to some of the other
subjects.
“I
think in a big, deep way, civics and preparation for citizenship has been left
out by policymakers, who think in terms of preparation for college and for a
difficult labor market but don’t think of civics as part of this,” said Peter
Levine, the executive director of CIRCLE at Tufts University.
(Education
Week, Oct. 17, 2012, p. 18 - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/10/11/08civics.h32.html)
2. The
National Center for Learning and Civic Engagement (NCLCE) here at the
Denver-based Education Commission of the States provides an analysis of
civic education across the country. Like
the report (above) from Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning
and Engagement, the NCLCE 2013 report did not criticize Colorado per se. But it too reveals far more attention to the
issue in many other states.
A. “Since 2003, NCLE periodically has conducted
a comprehensive 50-state civic education policy scan to identify adopted
policies that encourage, support, and advance civic learning and engagement for
P-20 students. Whether and how state policymakers include civics in state policy
is imperative, not only to ensure that students learn the civic knowledge,
skills, and dispositions necessary to be educated and engaged American
citizens, but also to send the message ‘that preparation for active, informed
citizenship is the co-equal purpose of education along with preparation for
higher education and career.’
“While
the role that civic education plays in public schools has been reduced in the
past 50 years, the civic education field continues to make significant strides
in identifying best practices
for
civic education. As evident in NCLCE’s most recent 50-state policy scan, some
states have recognized such best practices by enacting policy on ‘civics,’ ‘citizenship
education,’ and ‘social studies.’” (http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/08/99/10899.pdf)
Last week I met with Paul Baumann, the Director of NCLCE at ECS, who
spoke of states like Florida and Tennessee where meaningful new efforts around
civics education are under way. He told
me of states where the Secretary of State has played a lead role in pushing for
a stronger civics requirement of K-12 schools,
of a State Supreme Court Justice in California who initiated efforts leading to a state task force to improve
civics education, and of legislative changes made in Massachusetts and
Illinois. At the NCLCE website we read,
too, of recent policy changes in Virginia and other states to strengthen civic
education. Surely Colorado could look to
and learn from these efforts.
B.
NCLCE’s 50-state survey, “High
School Graduation Requirements - Citizenship Education,” includes a number of
states, including Colorado, where two-sentences suffice to summarize
expectations. But if you look through the national survey, you will be struck
by how specific and rigorous the expectations are in many other states—in
contrast to our own. I offer two other states here as examples; see also Alabama,
Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington.
COLORADO:
Public schools are required to teach a course on
the history and civil government of the state of Colorado and the United
States, to include the history, culture and contributions of minorities.
Satisfactory completion of this course is required for high school graduation.
(C.R.S. 22-1-104) rev. 09/2008
MINESOTA:
Students are required to complete 3.5 credits,
"encompassing at least United States history, geography, government and
citizenship, world history, and economics --OR-- three credits of social
studies encompassing at least United States history, geography, government and
citizenship, world history and one-half credit of economics taught in a
school's social studies, business, or agricultural education department."
(Minn. Stat. §120B.024.4)
"The commissioner in the 2010-2011 school year must revise and align the state's academic standards and high school graduation requirements in social studies to require that students satisfactorily complete the revised social studies standards beginning in the 2013-2014 school year. The commissioner must implement a review of the academic standards and related benchmarks in social studies beginning in the 2019-2020 school year." (Minn. Stat. § 120B.023) rev. 09/2008
"The commissioner in the 2010-2011 school year must revise and align the state's academic standards and high school graduation requirements in social studies to require that students satisfactorily complete the revised social studies standards beginning in the 2013-2014 school year. The commissioner must implement a review of the academic standards and related benchmarks in social studies beginning in the 2019-2020 school year." (Minn. Stat. § 120B.023) rev. 09/2008
OHIO:
"Requirements for graduation from every high
school shall include twenty units earned in grades nine through twelve and
shall be distributed as follows: (6) History and government, one unit, which
shall include both of the following: (a) American history, one-half unit; (b) American
government, one-half unit; and (7) Social studies, two units." Beginning
with students who enter ninth grade for the first time on or after July 1,
2012, the required study of American history and American government shall
include the study of all of the following documents: (1) The Declaration of
Independence; (2) The Northwest Ordinance; (3) The Constitution of the United
States with emphasis on the Bill of Rights; and (4) The Ohio Constitution.
(Ohio Rev. Code Ann § 3313.603(B)) rev.
09/201
3.
Addendum
A offers a useful comparison and contrast between
Colorado and Massachusetts in their expectations for civic education.
4.
Addendum
B offers a useful comparison and contrast between
the expectations in the Colorado
Academic Standards and the guidelines in
the Core Knowledge Sequence, used by over 60 Colorado schools. (I taught in three
of them: two charter schools, one a Catholic school.) Our local control state does not need to
impose anything as specific as the Core Sequence in civics (or, specifically,
civil rights—see page 9). Remember, “districts are required to
adopt local standards that meet or exceed the Colorado Academic Standards.”[2] Charter
schools—like the two where I taught—have the freedom to commit to a curriculum that
exceeds the expectations of the district.
No state control. A choice.
Three years ago, in Another View #76, “Colorado scores an F on our history
standards – and what we can do about it (without spending a dime),” I
contrasted our state standards—which FAIL TO MENTION WORLD WAR II—with the
specific information in the 7th grade Core Knowledge Sequence. What I wrote then applies just as well for
civics today:
“I believe many schools and teachers would
be glad to have a list of essential names, places, events, and critical ideas
to address (which is hardly ‘dictating curricula,’ true?) It is challenging enough to prepare the best
units and lesson plans; I certainly wanted some choices as a teacher, but I was
sure there were folks brighter than me who could come up with the big picture,
the essentials of what to teach.” Addendum B, pages 8 and 9, offer such a
list for eighth grade.
5.
Addendum
C presents the findings from the National Assessment of Education Progress’s measurement of student understanding on civics. NAEP
has conducted three such national tests in the past fifteen years. Its most recent assessment in 2010 found fewer
than 25% of 8th and 12th grade U.S. students proficient
in civics.
6.
Addendum
D quotes from E Pluribus Unum: A call for a
renewed focus on civic education in our schools.
7. Addendum E
quotes from a variety of sources making the case for teaching civic education
and our history.
8.
Will
colleges and universities teach civics? Not likely!
If
a solid understanding of our government and citizenship is not expected in our
K-12 public schools, can we hope that it will be an essential part of freshman
or sophomore year in our institutions of higher education? No. The
American Council of Trustees and Alumni’s “What Will They Learn?” revealed that
only 18% of the 1,100 colleges and universities surveyed require a course in
American history or government. (http://www.goacta.org/executivesummary/what_will_they_learn_2013_14_executive_summary).
Major
higher education institutions in Colorado appear to be part of this national
pattern. “What Will They Learn?” found these
Colorado colleges did not require U.S. Government or History: Colorado State University,
Fort Collins (http://whatwilltheylearn.com/schools/2802),
the University of Colorado at Boulder (http://whatwilltheylearn.com/schools/2782),
or the University of Denver (http://whatwilltheylearn.com/schools/2956).
9.
That report included a letter of
introduction from Harry R. Lewis, former Dean at Harvard University:
“If
I may, let me draw your particular attention to one area. Many studies have
shown that our college graduates are ignorant of the basic principles on which
our government runs. For starters, most cannot identify the purpose of the
First Amendment, what Reconstruction was, or the historical context of the
Voting Rights Act. If you peruse this website, you will see why: the vast
majority of our colleges have made a course on the broad themes of U.S. history
or government optional. This is especially dangerous in America, where nothing
holds us together except our democratic principles. If universities don’t pass
them down, our children will not inherit our nationhood genetically. They can
receive that heritage only through learning. That’s one key reason that during
the college search you must ask: what will they learn?” (http://whatwilltheylearn.com/deans-letter).
10. “In Teaching America,
more than 20 leading thinkers sound the alarm over a crisis in
citizenship—and lay out a powerful agenda for reform.
“… Their message: To remain America, our country has to
give its kids a civic identity, an understanding of our constitutional
system, and some appreciation of the amazing achievements of American
self-government. But we are failing. Young Americans know little about the
Bill of Rights, the democratic process, or the civil rights movement. Three
of every four high school seniors aren’t proficient in civics, nine of ten
can’t cut it in U.S. history, and the problem is only aggravated by
universities' disregard for civic education. Such civic illiteracy weakens
our common culture, disenfranchises would-be voters, and helps poison our
politics.”
New Frontiers in
Education, 2011
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 |
Looking for schools where this is more than just “nice in theory”? Teaching America’s editor David Feith
has worked closely with the Harlem-based Democracy Prep Charter Schools,
which first opened in 2006, and now has 14 schools. “… authentic civic
education has been an essential part to our overall academic success…” Its
CitizenshipFirst initiative aims “to remind educators, policymakers and all
Americans that the founding purpose of education was to prepare our nation’s
young people for self-government…. Restoring the civic mission of education
must be an urgent national priority.”
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Addendum
A
From Colorado Department of Education - State
Standards/Social Studies/Civics
Prepared Graduate
Competencies in Social Studies
The prepared
graduate competencies are the preschool through twelfth-grade concepts and
skills that all students who complete the Colorado education system must master
to ensure their success in a postsecondary and workforce setting.
The four
standards of socials studies are history,
geography, economics, and civics.…
(Our revised
standards in civics teach) “the complexity of the origins, structure, and
functions of governments; the rights, roles and responsibilities of ethical
citizenship; the importance of law; and the skills necessary to participate in
all levels of government” (p. 3).
Colorado’s standards for civics begin with
a statement that, if adequate, is hardly compelling, when compared to that from
either Massachusetts (see next page) or Virginia.
Civics
has an impact on every individual daily through the work of city councils,
state legislatures, Congress and school boards. Civics teaches students the
complexity of the origins, structure, and functions of governments; the rights,
roles, and responsibilities of ethical citizenship; the importance of law; and
the skills necessary to participate in all levels of government.
Civics
is a foundational component of the educational experience and critical to the
continued success of our society. A democratic and free society relies on the
skills, intelligence, engagement and virtue of its citizens. Our students will
one day be responsible for strengthening our civic culture based on the
knowledge they learn at school, their own values, and their choices for action.
Democracy demands that they have these tools to be responsible contributors to
civic culture.
Prepared Graduates
The
prepared graduate competencies are the preschool
through twelfth-grade concepts and skills that all students who complete the Colorado education
system must master to ensure their
success in a postsecondary and workforce setting.
Prepared
Graduate Competencies in the Civics standard are:
·
Analyze and practice rights, roles, and
responsibilities of citizens.
·
Analyze the origins, structure, and functions of
governments and their impacts on societies and citizens.
From Massachusetts History and Social Science
Curriculum Framework
Our cultural heritage as Americans is as diverse as we are, with
multiple sources of vitality and pride. But our political heritage is one – the
vision of a common life in liberty, justice, and equality as expressed in the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution two centuries ago.
To protect that vision, Thomas Jefferson prescribed a general education
not just for the few, but for all citizens, “to enable every man to judge for
himself what will secure or endanger his freedom.” A generation later, Alexis de Tocqueville
reminded us that our first duty was to “educate democracy.” He believed that all politics were but the
playing out of the “notions and sentiments dominant in a people.” These, he said, are the “real causes of all
the rest.” Ideas, good and bad, have
their consequences in every sphere of a nation’s life.
Our call for schools to purposely impart to their students the learning
necessary for an informed, reasoned allegiance to the ideals of a free society
rests on three convictions:
·
First,
that democracy is the worthiest form of human governance ever conceived.
·
Second,
that we cannot take democracy’s survival or its spread or its perfection in
practice for granted. Indeed, we believe that the great central drama of modern
history has been and continues to be the struggle to establish, preserve, and
extend democracy at home and abroad. We know that very much still needs doing
to achieve justice and civility in our own society. Abroad, we note that only
one-third of the world’s people live under conditions that can be described as
free.
·
Third,
we are convinced that democracy’s survival depends upon our transmitting to
each new generation the political vision of liberty and equality that unites us
as Americans. It also depends on a deep loyalty to the political institutions
our founders put together to fulfill that vision. ….
The kind of critical thinking we wish
to encourage must rest on a solid base of factual knowledge. The central ideas,
events, people, and works that have shaped our world, for good and ill, are not
at all obsolete. Instead, the quicker the pace of change, the more critical it
will be for us to remember them and understand them well. We insist that
without this knowledge, citizens remain helpless to make the wise judgments
hoped for by Jefferson.
First,
citizens must know the fundamental ideas central to the vision of the 18th
century founders, the vision that holds us together as one people of many
diverse origins and cultures. Not only the words … but the sources, the
meanings, and the implications of the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, the Federalist papers, the Bill of Rights.
Second,
citizens must know how democratic ideas have been turned into institutions and
practices, the history of the origins and growth and adventures of democratic
societies on earth, past and present. How have these
societies fared? Who has defended them and why? Who has sought their undoing
and why? What economic, social, cultural, religious, and military conditions
have helped to shape democratic practice? What conditions have made it
difficult, sometimes even impossible, for such societies to take root? Again,
it is indispensable to know the facts of modern history, dating back at least
to the English Revolution, and forward to our own century’s total wars; to the
failure of the nascent liberal regimes of Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and
Japan; to the totalitarianisms, oppressions, and mass exterminations of our
time. How has it all happened?
Third, citizens in our
society need to understand the current condition of the world and how it got
that way, and be prepared to act upon the challenges to democracy in our own
day. What are the roots of our current dangers, and of the choices before us?
For intelligent citizenship, we need a thorough grasp of the daily workings of
our own societies, as well as the societies of our friends and our adversaries,
and of those who live amid poverty and violence, with little freedom and little
hope.
This is no small order…. How can we avoid making all of this unto
nothing more than just another, and perhaps longer, parade of facts, smothering
the desire to learn?
We believe that the answer is to focus upon the fateful drama of the
historical struggle for democracy.
… Advocates of democracy remain, as
before, prey to extremists of Left and Right, who are well-armed with force and
simple answers. The ongoing, worldwide struggle for a free center of “broad,
sunlit uplands,” in Churchill’s phrase, is the best hope of the earth, and we
would make it the heart of a reordered curriculum for history and social
science. (http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html)
Addendum B
Colorado State Standards vs. Core Knowledge Sequence –
Expectations for 8th graders
EIGHTH GRADE is chosen in part
because I am familiar with what my 8th graders in a Core Knowledge
school (see next two pages) were asked to study. The following comes from the Core Knowledge
Sequence, a curriculum guide, so it is bound to be far more specific than state
standards; however, I believe it represents a useful contrast to the vague
state expectations, and indicates what more districts and schools might add to ensure
teachers commit to a civics curriculum with real substance. I also choose 8th
grade as it appears that in Colorado’s state standards on civics, this grade is
the most thorough, especially on matters pertaining to understanding the
constitution. (Fifth grade is another
grade with a fairly specific list of expectations. Our high school guidelines—see
footnote—are nebulous.[3])
Colorado
State Standards - Social Studies - Standard 4: Civics
Prepared graduates: Analyze and
practice rights, roles, and responsibilities of citizens
Grade Level Expectation – 8th Grade - Concepts
and skills students master:
1.
Analyze elements of continuity & change
in the United States government & the role of citizens over time
Students
can:
- Describe instances in which major
political, social, economic, or cultural changes occurred and the reasons
for the changes
- Analyze the changing definition of citizenship and give
examples of the expansion of rights
- Describe examples of citizens and
groups who have influenced change in United States government and
politics
- Evaluate the result of various
strategies for political change over time
- Analyze primary sources supporting
democratic freedoms and the founding of our government. Documents to
include but not limited to the Declaration of Independence, Constitution,
Bill of Rights and explain how they provide for both continuity and change
- Examine ways citizens may
effectively voice opinions, monitor government, and bring about change
nationally
Prepared Graduates: Analyze origins, structure, & functions
of governments &
their impact on societies and citizens
2. The place of law in a constitutional system
Students
can:
- Discern various types of law
- Evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of rule of law
- Describe and engage in various
means of conflict management
- Explain the role and importance of
the Constitution
- Discuss the tensions between
individual rights, state law, and national law
- Explain how state and federal
court power of judicial review is reflected in the United States form of
constitutional government
- Use a variety of resources to
identify and evaluate issues that involve civic responsibility, individual
rights, and the common good
From Core Knowledge Sequence
History and Geography: Grade 8
Central themes of the history guidelines in
grades seven and eight are growth and change in American democracy, and
interactions with world forces, particularly nationalism and totalitarianism.
Fundamental principles and structure of American government are reviewed in a
civics unit in this grade. (p. 204)
VII. Civics: The Constitution—Principles
and Structure of American Democracy (p. 209)
• Overview of the U.S. Constitution
James Madison
Founders’ view of
human nature
“If it is
a ‘mastery’ we are shooting for, I would hope no student would be allowed out
of the eighth grade unless he or she knew by heart the First Amendment, which
is, after all, the binding legal answer to the question concerning the
permissible extent of freedom of expression….
There are only forty-five words in the First Amendment, and I cannot
imagine that the brains of our students would be damaged by learning them,
and in the order in which they are written.”
Neil Postman, The End of Education, pp.133-134.
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Concept of popular
sovereignty, the Preamble
Rule of law
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Enumeration of powers
Separation of church and state
Civilian control of the military
• Bill of Rights
Amendments
protecting individual rights from infringement (1-3)
Amendments
protecting those accused of crimes (5-8), Miranda ruling
Amendments
reserving powers to the people and states (9 and 10)
Amendment process
Amendments 13 and
19
• Legislative branch: role and powers of
Congress
Legislative and
representative duties
Structure of the
Congress, committee system, how a bill is passed
Budget authority,
“power of the purse”
Power to impeach
the president or federal judge
• Executive branch: role and powers of the
presidency
Chief executive,
cabinet departments, executive orders
Chief diplomat,
commander-in-chief of the armed forces
Chief legislator,
sign laws into effect, recommend laws, veto power
Appointment power,
cabinet officers, federal judges
• Judiciary: Supreme Court as
Constitutional interpreter
Loose construction
(interpretation) vs. strict construction of U.S. Constitution
Concepts of due
process of law, equal protection
Marbury v. Madison,
principle of judicial review of federal law, Chief Justice John Marshall
From Core Knowledge Sequence
The 8th Core
Knowledge Sequence in History and Geography includes several other units as
well[4]. I present details from one specific unit, “The
Civil Rights Movement,” as it is particularly helpful in asking students to explore
key issues of what it is to be a citizen in our country. As an English teacher, I had my 8th
grade students reading Core Knowledge recommended readings from Booker T. Washington,
W.E.B. Dubois, Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., and
Malcolm X. Their speeches, memoirs, and
essays could be understood in large part because—down the hall, in their social
studies class—the content in the curriculum was first-rate.
III. The Civil Rights Movement
(p. 206)
• Segregation
Plessy v. Ferguson, doctrine of “separate but equal”
“Jim Crow” laws
• Post-war steps toward
desegregation
Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in baseball
Truman desegregates Armed Forces
Adam Clayton Powell, Harlem congressman
Integration of public schools: Brown v. Board of Education (1954),
Thurgood Marshall
• Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa
Parks
You might ask: Why add this? Isn’t the Civil Rights Movement something other than Civic Education?
My answer: Is it? In fact, isn’t a study
of this movement a great opportunity to examine citizenship—where denied, and
how achieved—especially for citizens of color, throughout our history?
“When the architects of our republic wrote
the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was
to fall heir…. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this
promissory note insofar as her citizens
of color are concerned.” (italics mine)
“I Have a Dream,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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• Southern “massive resistance”
Federal troops open schools in Little Rock, Arkansas
Murder of Medgar Evers
Alabama Governor George Wallace “stands in schoolhouse door”
• Nonviolent challenges to
segregation: “We shall overcome”
Woolworth lunch counter sit-ins
Freedom riders, CORE
Black voter registration drives
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
March on Washington, “I have a dream” speech
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Selma to Montgomery March
• President Johnson and the
civil rights movement
The Great Society, War on Poverty, Medicare
Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, affirmative action
• African American militance
Malcolm X
Black Power, Black Panthers
Watts and Newark riots
• Assassinations of Martin
Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy
ANOTHER COMMENT CONTRASTING OUR
STANDARDS and the CORE SEQUENCE: Among the names and places listed above in
the Core Sequence for 8th grade, nowhere in the Colorado social
studies standards—for all grades—is
there mention of James Madison, John
Marshall, church and state, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Montgomery Bus Boycott, Selma, or Birmingham. The Civil Rights Movement gets
one mention—for high school students:
“Analyze the complexity of events in United States history.
Topics to include but not limited to the suffrage movement and the Civil Rights Movement.” The Bill of Rights is mentioned three times
in 123 pages, but there is not one word on
the other amendments.
Addendum C
From NAEP’s
Executive Summary of its 2010 national assessment in civics
In 2010, 72% of 8th graders scored at the BASIC level, and
just 22% of 8th graders achieved the PROFICIENT level. For 12th graders, 64% scored at
the BASIC level; only 24% were PROFICIENT.
“Nationally representative samples of about 7,100 fourth-graders, 9,600
eighth-graders, and 9,900 twelfth-graders participated in the 2010 National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in civics. At each grade, students
responded to questions designed to measure the civics knowledge and skills that
are critical to the responsibilities of citizenship in America’s constitutional
democracy. Comparing the results from the 2010 assessment to results from two
previous assessment years shows how students’ knowledge and skills in civics
have progressed over time. [We see] students making progress in civics at grade
4 but not at grades 8 and 12.
“In comparison to earlier civics assessments in 1998 and 2006, the
average score in 2010 was
• not significantly different from the score in either year at grade 8,
and
• lower than the score in 2006 but not significantly different from the
score in 1998 at grade 12.”
Trend
in 8th and 12th grade NAEP civics average scores, given
1996, 2006, and 2010.
Grade 8
|
Grade 12
|
|||||
1998
|
2006
|
2010
|
1996
|
2006
|
2010
|
|
150
|
150
|
151
|
150
|
151
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148
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What
are students studying in civics?
·
88% of fourth-graders had teachers who reported
emphasizing politics and government to a small extent or more in social studies
classes in 2010.
·
78% of eighth-graders reported studying about
Congress in 2010.
·
67% of twelfth-graders reported studying about
the U.S. Constitution in 2010.
“[8th
grade] students were asked if they studied certain topics specifically related
to civics during the school year.” Here
is the “percentage of students assessed in eighth-grade NAEP civics, by
student-reported civics topics studied during the 2010 school year.”
·
U.S. Constitution 82%
·
Congress 78%
·
Political parties, elections, and voting 75%
·
State and local government 70%
·
How laws are made 70%
·
Court system 64%
·
President and cabinet 62%
·
Other countries’ governments 40%
·
International organizations (such as the United
Nations) 33%
“Examples of skills demonstrated by students performing at each level
in 8th grade:
Basic: identify a right protected by the First Amendment.
Proficient: Recognize a role performed by the Supreme Court.
Advanced: Name two actions citizens can take to encourage Congress
to pass a law.”
All information and most all words quoted from The Nation’s Report Card – Civics 2010, (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2010/2011466.pdf).
Addendum D
From E Pluribus Unum – A call for a renewed focus
on civic education in our schools
Six years ago a
report from the Bradley Project on America’s National Identity, E Pluribus Unum, spoke to a concern
that—given the acrimony over immigration since then—has only grown more vital
today. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
David McCullough called the report "the clearest, most powerful summons
yet, to all of us, to restore the American story to its rightful, vital place
in American life and in how we educate our children. It couldn't be more
timely and important."
The Denver Post’s Dan Haley captured
key points from E Pluribus Unum in his
column (“Divided we stand,” 6/15/2008), and he encouraged readers to take a look
at the report. I offer several quotes that
still ring true, a reminder that, six years later, the case for a renewed focus
on civic education is unchanged.
“America is facing an identity
crisis. The next generation of Americans will know less than their parents know
about our history and founding ideals. And many Americans are more aware of
what divides us than what unites us. We are in danger of becoming not ‘from
many, one’—E Pluriubus Unum—but its opposite, ‘from one, many.’
UPDATE: On the 2010 NAEP, the percentage of 12th
grade students who reported studying the U.S. Constitution in 2010 was lower
than the percentage in 2006.
|
“A history is to a people what biography is to an individual. ‘History,’
wrote President John F. Kennedy, ‘is the means by which a nation establishes
its sense of identity and purpose.’ But America’s memory appears to be slipping
away. On the 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics
Test, the majority of eighth graders could not explain the purpose of the
Declaration of Independence. Only five percent of seniors could accurately
describe the way presidential power can be checked by Congress and the Supreme
Court.
UPDATE: According
to Freedom in the World, in 2012,
117 of 195
polities were electoral democracies.
|
“… In 1910, ten nations were democracies; by 2005, one hundred nineteen
of the world’s one hundred ninety countries had become democracies. As
commentator Fareed Zakaria notes, ‘Democracy has gone from being a form of
government to a way of life.’ The democratic ethos is critical to American
identity and, since no American is a born democrat, democracy must be taught in
families, schools, universities, communities, and the workplace.
“… Civic education is central to the perpetual renewal of American
self-understanding. It promotes national identity and national unity by
describing American democratic institutions, enumerating the obligations of
citizenship, analyzing our founding documents, and reminding Americans not only
of their rights but also of their responsibilities—to be informed, to vote, to
serve on juries, to participate in voluntary associations. Forty of our state constitutions stress the
importance of civic education.
“John Adams advised, ‘Children should be educated and instructed in the
principles of freedom’—a statement endorsed by all the founders. Since democrats are made, not born, public
schools in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries assumed an obligation to
teach principles of freedom in what came to be called ‘the civic mission of
schools.’
“But today American civic identity is threatened by a lethal combination
of ignorance and apathy, and the civic commitment of schools needs to be
renewed.”
Addendum E
Statements
made in support of a greater commitment to civic education in K-12 schools
From
Dr. Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York:
“One of the
most promising approaches to increase young people’s informed engagement in our
national life is school-based civic education. After all, understanding and
actively participating in our civic life was one of the principal missions
given to American schools from the very beginning. In creating our nation, the
founders realized that they had brought something new into the world in which
all citizens were meant to play a vital role.”
From William Damon, author of
Failing Liberty – How We Are Leaving Young
Americans Unprepared for Citizenship in a Free Society (Hoover institution
press, 2011); professor of education, Stanford University.
“Preparing young people for responsible
citizenship in a free society is a crucial part of (the) obligation for adult
citizens in the United States. This
book’s main message is disclosed in its title: at the present time, we are
failing to meet this obligation for major sectors of our youth population, to
the detriment of their life prospects and those of liberty and democracy in our
society” (p. 2)
“In the United States today, the national
political leadership clearly believes that public schools should limit their
goals to teaching students elementary skills required for employment and
national competitiveness. Once called
the ‘Three R’s,’ such basic skills now are known as literacy and numeracy. The leadership’s operating assumption seems
to be that single-minded focus on these elementary skills—especially
numeracy—will prepare students for the ‘STEM’ subjects that open up careers in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“I
concur on the importance of ensuring that all our students master basic skills
in literacy and numeracy, for many reasons that include career opportunities
and national competitiveness. But the
narrow focus on these skills squeezes out other essential learning goals that
our schools need to accomplish for the sake of their students as well as our
society.” (p. 58)
From the historian Gordon
Wood:
“We
Americans have a special need to understand that our history is what makes us a
nation and gives us a sense of our nationality. A people like us, made up of
every conceivable race, ethnicity, and religion in the world, can never be a
nation in the usual sense of the term. It’s our history, our heritage, that
makes us a single people…. Up until recently almost every American, even those
who are new immigrants, possessed some sense of America’s past, however
rudimentary and unsophisticated. Without some such sense of history, the
citizens of the United States can scarcely long exist as a united people.”
From
David McCullough, author of John Adams, 1776, Truman, The
Greater Journey, and many other books.
“We are raising a generation of young
Americans who are by-and-large historically illiterate. And it’s not their
fault….” (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-13/features/0210130198_1_americans-talk-civil-war)
“I’ve
had numerous occasions where students don’t know the first thing about
historical figures, or even recognize their names—for example, General George
C. Marshall. It’s true of any number of historical figures and historical events.
They’ve never heard of them. They simply don’t know what happened, or why, or
who was involved. This is the case, I’d emphasize, in the very best
universities in the country.
“If
we raise one generation after another with very little interest in history and
even less knowledge, we’re accepting a creeping form of amnesia. We’re
forgetting the story of who we are, and how we came to be the way we are.”
Another View, a newsletter by Peter Huidekoper,
represents his own opinion and is not intended to represent the view of any organization
he is associated with. Comments are
welcome. 303-757-1225 / peterhdkpr@gmail.com
[1] [1]Two years later, perhaps an early sign that our
districts and schools needed another push (surprise, passing one bill wasn’t
going to do the trick!), new legislation added this: “22-1-104. Teaching of
history, culture, and civil government.
(6) (a) IN AN EFFORT TO
STRENGTHEN THE TEACHING OF CIVIC EDUCATION IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE STATE
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION, THE DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION SHALL ASSIST THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF THE STATE IN DEVELOPING AND
PROMOTING PROGRAMS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY STUDENTS THAT ADDRESS THE STATE
MODEL CONTENT STANDARDS FOR CIVICS AND PROMOTE BEST PRACTICES IN CIVIC
EDUCATION.”
[2] Colorado Academic Standards Fact Sheets
and FAQs, http://www.cde.state.co.us/standardsandinstruction/factsheetsandfaqs
[3] Analyze
origins, structure, and functions of governments and their impacts on societies
and citizens
Grade
Level Expectation – High School - 3 examples:
•
Describe the
origins, purposes and limitations of government and include the contribution of
key philosophers and documents
•
Analyze the role
of the founding documents and the evolution of their interpretation through
governmental action and court cases. Documents to include but not limited to
the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights
•
Evaluate the
effectiveness of our justice system in protecting life, liberty, and property
[4] Unit II. - The
Cold War; Unit IV. - The Vietnam War and the Rise of Social Activism; Unit V. -
The Middle East and Oil Politics; and Unit VI. -The End of the Cold War: The
Expansion of Democracy and Continuing Challenges.
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