The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 15, 2024

What do you think of when you hear the word “civics”? For most adults, civics likely conjures distant memories of a high school course in which they memorized the three branches of government and other constitutional trivia. Unfortunately, that experience of civics hasn’t changed much. What is the result?

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ED Surge

MARCH 26, 2024

When longtime educator Zachary Cote first read about the release of ChatGPT about 15 months ago, he says his first instinct was to be “concerned” about its impact in the classroom, worried that students might simply ask the AI tool to do work for them. Cote is not alone in pinning hopes on AI to help the teaching of civics.

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ED Surge

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Fortunately, in light of democracy’s fragility, there has been a steady increase in initiatives from federal and state governments to incorporate civics education in K-12 classrooms. In 2020, California adopted a State Seal of Civic Engagement that high school students can earn upon graduation.

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The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 1, 2021

Peyton’s testimony is an example of “action civics,” a growing, if controversial, trend in American education of which Massachusetts is the undisputed leader. They liken it to a laboratory in science class, where students learn civics by doing civics. Credit: Christopher Blanchette.

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The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 29, 2020

Now they are demanding a greater role in school policy and the decisions that shape their educations. They are also seeking to use this moment to educate teens about elections and voting and turn them into lifelong voters. Andrew Brennen, National Geographic education fellow. Credit: Alison Yin for The Hechinger Report.

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Teaching American History

OCTOBER 22, 2024

Many students enter high school government classes knowing very little about the way the American constitutional system really works. If given only a textbook account of American government, they leave the course still unaware of what self-government requires. Citizens must understand and support it.

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Government Teaching Civics American History 98

Teaching American History

OCTOBER 22, 2024

Many students enter high school government classes knowing very little about the way the American constitutional system really works. If given only a textbook account of American government, they leave the course still unaware of what self-government requires. Citizens must understand and support it.

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Government Teaching Civics American History 98

Political Science Now

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

The co-editors of a forthcoming edited collection in the APSA-De Gruyter Teaching Civic Engagement Series invite authors to submit chapter proposals for a new volume, Teaching Civic Engagement in Challenging Times: Global Perspectives on Democratic Education for All.

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Global Perspectives Civic Engagement Civics Teaching 39

Dangerously Irrelevant

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

The long-term future of our system of government depends not only on restoring a supermajority of citizens who demand democracy but also on ensuring that that percentage exists across the generations. government, civics, and the problems and promise of democracy. Civics is a great place to start. Des Moines ).

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ED Surge

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

In 2020, California’s State Board of Education adopted criteria and guidance to award a State Seal of Civic Engagement to students who demonstrate excellence in civics education. In my 20 years as an educator, I have seen firsthand how service-learning engages students as they become leaders in their communities.

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Civic Engagement Civics K-12 Education 139

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 15, 2024

As a parent and as a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, I’ve seen firsthand how important civic knowledge is to young people — and how it is lacking. Nationwide assessments reveal that civic knowledge hasn’t improved since 1998, with only 23 percent of eighth graders performing at or above the “proficient” level.

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The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 26, 2018

School systems are failing their students with outdated and inconsequential civics education that is only focused on facts and memorization. The simple multiple-choice questions found on most civics tests require memorization of unconnected facts in order to pass. government. Photo: Carl Juste/TNS via ZUMA Wire.

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Let's Cultivate Greatness

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Its easy to focus on just the President when teaching the Executive Branch, but its important also to stress the role of the four million other people who make up this branch of government. Here are some of my favorite lessons and activities for teaching the executive branch in my high school Civics and Government class.

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Civics Government Critical Thinking Social Studies 52

Dangerously Irrelevant

JANUARY 6, 2021

suburbs and whose parents worked for the federal government, today’s events have been… challenging. I think that what I will say here is: Policymakers, you know how you’ve minimized the importance of history, government, and civics in all of your education reform efforts over the past couple of decades?

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Social Studies Civics Government History 145

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

After all, walking out of school to vote or to support your friends’ constitutional right to do so is evidence they learned something in civics class, their grades notwithstanding. As the philosopher John Dewey wrote in his classic book Democracy and Education in 1903, “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”.

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The Hechinger Report

MARCH 12, 2024

Related: Teaching ‘action civics’ engages kids – and ignites controversy Sanes is at the far end of the teaching spectrum when it comes to promoting climate activism, not to mention discussing controversial issues of any kind in his classroom. The thing we’re doing very poorly is give kids the knowledge they need to become good citizens.”

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Teaching Civics K-12 Civic Engagement 139

The Hechinger Report

MAY 19, 2024

Once the site of an Indian boarding school, where the federal government attempted to strip children of their tribal identity, the Native American Community Academy now offers the opposite: a public education designed to affirm and draw from each student’s traditional culture and language. We’re leading these schools.

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Charter School Heritage K-12 Education 139

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 14, 2020

The Hechinger Report is collaborating with The New York Times to produce Bulletin Board, page 2 of the Times ’ s education supplement, Learning. Her goal was to collect enough learning resources, she said, “that students or parents would be able to find learning sites and lessons that would meet their education needs.”.

Education 120

Education Civics Civic Engagement Psychology 120

Political Science Now

AUGUST 8, 2024

Schattschneider Award is presented annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA) to honor the best doctoral dissertation in the field of American government. Citation from the Award Committee: The E. Employing a national field experiment, Willeck used an array of data to assess the impact of active civics education.

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Political Science Now

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

Zeemering , University of Georgia Service-learning courses help students to identify career opportunities and foster civic engagement, but links to projects with local governments may be difficult to forge. Read the full article.

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Civic Engagement Political Science Civics Government 47

Political Science Now

JULY 29, 2024

The workshop aims to provide a space where scholars and practitioners with a commitment to civic engagement can collaborate, build supportive relationships, and share practical guidance for leading community-engaged projects. Presentations will be recorded and shared on APSA Educate. non-profit, for-profit, or hybrid organizations).

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Civic Engagement Civics Political Science Community Engagement 64

Political Science Now

APRIL 22, 2025

Building faculty capacity outside the classroom includes both understanding governance processes and structures and creating cultures and conversations. She has been a Political Science educator for twenty-one years. We will continue the conversation with both APSA and WPSA Community College faculty members.

Political Science 41

Political Science Social Justice Civics Civic Engagement 41

The Hechinger Report

JULY 22, 2020

While the coronavirus highlights the pernicious crisis of mass incarceration, and mass protests highlight our dangerously outdated and racially biased penal system, we can’t help but notice that one solution isn’t included in the conversations often enough: higher education. Education has benefits that far exceed the tangible.

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Civic Engagement Education Civics Economics 113

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

Related: To fight teacher shortages, some states are looking to community colleges to train a new generation of educators The traditional perception of teachers as the sole arbiters of knowledge, dispensed within school buildings from 8 a.m. for 10 months a year, needs to be expanded. Fortunately, some innovators are providing inspiration.

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Tutoring Education K-12 Museum 125

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 18, 2018

We wanted to see what the United States could learn from an education system that consistently receives top marks from UNICEF , the OECD and the World Economic Forum. states are similar in population size and demographics to Finland, and education is largely run at the state level. Photo: William Doyle.

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Education Economics Civics Elementary School 112

ED Surge

MAY 20, 2024

Mysa’s tuition costs parents who don’t receive aid around $20,000 a year, comparable to what it costs the government to educate a student in a public school. The school doesn’t have grades, and it tries to give students a way to really pursue their educational interests. Ultimately, Fiske says, the goal is personalized learning.

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The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 22, 2020

eLearn.fyi is a database of more than 300 online resources, from a civics curriculum created by a former Supreme Court justice to engineering lessons for building a robotic arm. Our governments need to be working in partnership with tech companies to put the Netflix of online learning into action,” she added. “I Credit: eLearn.fyi.

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Civics Digital Resources K-12 Lesson Plan 145

ED Surge

APRIL 15, 2024

High-quality instructional materials (HQIMs) are educational resources designed to effectively support student learning. By using HQIMs, educators can enhance the quality of instruction , support differentiated learning and improve overall learning outcomes. She then earned her Ph.D. Just today, I asked myself, “Should I eat that?

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Social Studies Civics Pedagogy Geography 119

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 20, 2017

The answer starts in the classroom, where civics education often fails to inspire and engage students. In a system that all too often doesn’t solicit our input on anything beyond planning social events and fundraisers, too many of us become either oblivious or callous about the very concept of civic engagement. education policy?

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Civics Civic Engagement K-12 Government 99

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

Many working on an elementary education degree are given free rein to take whatever general education course interests them, and one called The Sexual Revolution of the 1960sno doubt proves more compelling to the average college student than a course entitled From the American Revolution to the Civil War.

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Political Science Now

MARCH 6, 2024

Join students, educators, policymakers, and leaders in the public and private sectors, during Civic Learning Week , March 11–15, 2024, to highlight and further energize the movement for civic education in states and communities across the nation.

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Civics Civic Engagement Government Teaching 55

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

A recent Brookings Institution report notes that students regularly discuss civics issues in class but have few opportunities for community engagement and participation in our democracy. In my junior year of high school, we explored educational inequity in South Carolina. The experience was transformational for me.

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Civics High School Community Engagement Social Studies 110

4QM Teaching

MAY 23, 2023

Is the Four Question Method applicable to civics education? As history / social studies people we’re often in contact with civic education advocates and organizations, and as a small organization interested in growing we’re sometimes advised to make a pitch for ourselves as civics educators.

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Civics U

JUNE 16, 2022

Civic education commonly teaches and equips people for engagement in governmental and political processes at national, state, and local levels. One test of good government is whether it is responsive to and good for communities and neighborhoods. A prefatory note: The ideas in this article are not new or original.

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Civics Community Engagement Government Economics 52

Political Science Now

JULY 16, 2024

Engaging Citizenship introduces foundational concepts in political science through the lens of citizenship, democracy, and civic engagement, highlighting the relevance of the discipline to students’ lives and encouraging them to become engaged and empowered citizens.

Political Science 55

Political Science Civics Civic Engagement K-12 55

Let's Cultivate Greatness

AUGUST 24, 2023

During the 2010s, one specific group, the Civics Education Initiative, made it their goal to have all 50 states make passing some form of the US Naturalization Test (the official name of the test) a high school graduation requirement. The Citizenship Test is the axis my Civics class rotates around. Now over a dozen do.

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Civics Government Geography Project-Based Learning 52

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 8, 2024

Engaging young people in democracy — getting them to follow the news and to vote — has always been a concern for educators and has always been a challenge. Related: Interested in innovations in the field of higher education? Subscribe to our free biweekly Higher Education newsletter.

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Civics Political Science Government Library 110