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.

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Civics Museum Education Government 123

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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Civics Education Civic Engagement K-12 133

Teaching American History

MARCH 11, 2025

Teaching government at Hilliard Darby High School in Ohio (a suburb of Columbus), Amy Messick helps students understand how our constitutional system works. She also encourages them to figure out their own political views and to actively engage in civic life. I can’t get students to put their phones away.

Government 96

Government Controversial Topics American History Civics 96

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 26, 2018

August 15, 2018 — The first day of school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. School systems are failing their students with outdated and inconsequential civics education that is only focused on facts and memorization. In short, they are demonstrating what real civic engagement looks like.

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Civics Civic Engagement Government High School 96

APSA Educate

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Over the past few years, the American Political Science Association and its members have renewed their commitment to high school civic education.

Civics 52

Civics High School Political Science Education 52

APSA Educate

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Over the past few years, the American Political Science Association and its members have renewed their commitment to high school civic education.

Civics 52

Civics High School Political Science Education 52

APSA Educate

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Over the past few years, the American Political Science Association and its members have renewed their commitment to high school civic education.

Civics 52

Civics High School Political Science Education 52

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.

Civics 128

Civics Teaching K-12 Social Studies 128

Passion for Social Studies

JULY 15, 2024

The Civics Posters and U.S. Academic Decor Honestly, high school students are going to daydream. Luckily, the Civics Posters and U.S. Civics Posters These posters are fantastic when looking for what to hang on the walls for government classroom decor! There are five posters that all focus on civics and government.

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Government Civics History Social Studies 130

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 12, 2024

Yancy Sanes teaches a unit on the climate crisis at Fannie Lou Hamer High School in the Bronx – not climate change, but the climatecrisis. He is unequivocal that he wants his high school students to be climate activists. “I I need to take my students outside and have them actually do the work of protesting.”

Teaching 137

Teaching Civics K-12 Civic Engagement 137

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 1, 2018

. There still aren’t enough students graduating from high school. Earlier this year, GradNation Acceleration grants from America’s Promise and AT&T were awarded to five programs in communities across the country that have successfully increased high school graduation rates while preparing students to succeed after graduation.

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High School Civics Economics Humanities 70

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. There is no better way to integrate SEL and civic engagement for the next generation of learners. SEL programs are not reported either.

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Civic Engagement Civics K-12 Education 138

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 5, 2018

Laci Hargrove, 18, who fell short of the high school credits she needed to graduate, moved straight from high school to a HiSET-prep program that also provides her with needed social supports. When Laci Hargrove turned 16, she was a sophomore in high school with nowhere near the credits she needed for her grade level.

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High School K-12 Tutoring Elementary School 74

Let's Cultivate Greatness

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Here are some of my favorite lessons and activities for teaching the executive branch in my high school Civics and Government class. With a few targeted activities, though, you can cover the president and the operations of the whole branch in just a couple of weeks. But first, lets go over what the branch does exactly.

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Civics Government Critical Thinking Social Studies 52

The Hechinger Report

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

The middle school exercise was almost not included in the study because researchers thought it was too easy, said Sam Wineburg, Stanford professor and lead author of the report. “We Information is clearly the basis for their civic agency and civic empowerment. We were stunned,” he said of the overall results.

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K-12 Civics Middle School Critical Thinking 145

Political Science Now

OCTOBER 1, 2024

This summer, the American Political Science Association partnered with Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) District’s Summer Rise Program to offer three high school students the opportunity to gain experience in political science knowledge production and higher education non-profits.

High School 50

High School Civic Engagement Civics Social Justice 50

The Hechinger Report

MAY 2, 2023

Students will carry these basic life skills across any career, any life situation and any form of civic participation for the long haul. These efforts all attempt to incorporate data analysis and computational technology into core school subjects, with a focus on mathematics, science and social studies.

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K-12 Civics Lesson Plan High School 143

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. Other student entrepreneurs have applied their hard-earned wisdom to improving virtual school, too. Credit: eLearn.fyi.

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Civics Digital Resources K-12 Lesson Plan 145

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 10, 2022

A 2019 report from the Stanford History Education Group found that high school students had “difficulty discerning fact from fiction online.”. After 40 years of teaching English to high school students in New Jersey, Olga Polites knows how critical media literacy education is in today’s digital age.

Teaching 136

Teaching Civics K-12 Social Science 136

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 12, 2023

On May 31, a school board meeting in Hernando County, Florida, made national news when more than 600 hundred people showed up and the meeting lasted until 2:30 a.m. The county had moved the meeting to the high school auditorium to accommodate a large crowd. Florida Gov.

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Civics K-12 Museum American History 145

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

We’ll never forget last year, when survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, became leaders instead of victims, taking their cause all the way to Washington, D.C., The public high school I attended — River Bluff High School in Lexington, South Carolina — has one answer.

Civics 108

Civics High School Community Engagement Social Studies 108

Let's Cultivate Greatness

MAY 31, 2024

Teaching civics and government is different from teaching history—it really requires a different set of go-to lesson ideas and projects. So, if you are brand new to the subject and need to know everything about how to teach civics, or you’re struggling to find ways to go beyond the textbook, welcome!

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Civics Government Teaching Civic Engagement 52

Let's Cultivate Greatness

JULY 16, 2024

Once kids are in high school, there usually isn’t time or the need to spend a whole week solely doing relationship-building activities. I might tweak my “Welcome to Civics class” activities a little year to year, but here are my tried-and-true favorite ones to do to establish a great foundation.

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Civics Government High School Civic Engagement 52

ED Surge

MARCH 9, 2023

high school students. The report included data on school connectedness, which the CDC defines as “the feeling among adolescents that people at their school care about them, their well-being, and success.” Civic behaviors and attitudes support the broader community.

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Civics K-12 Social Justice Research 145

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

To fix this, we need to deepen our investments in civics and history instruction, bolstered by an emphasis on critical thinking skills. Only one-third of native-born Americans can correctly answer the basic civics questions required of naturalized individuals to achieve U.S. We are not setting our children up for success.

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Civics Education Critical Thinking History 123

The Hechinger Report

MAY 3, 2020

When my District of Columbia public high school, The School Without Walls, closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, all of my courses moved to an online platform. High school students like me might not be interested in the 2020 Census. The best civics lesson requires you to leave the classroom.

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Civics Civic Engagement Library High School 97

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 23, 2022

One idea that’s been gaining steam since last year is to break down barriers between high school, college and career to create a system that bridges all three. What would it look like to change the typical, or what we think of as the conventional high school experience and instead design something that was built for the modern economy?”

Education 139

Education K-12 High School Civics 139

Let's Cultivate Greatness

AUGUST 24, 2023

It seems like that’s precisely what’s happened now that the Citizenship Test is a high school graduation requirement in many states. I’ve heard many Government and Civics teacher friends in states that do require it talk about it being “one more thing” and “such a joke.” I want to share how I do it in my senior Civics class.

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Civics Government Geography Project-Based Learning 52

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 9, 2018

This was the launch of my civics engagement. Related: Making America whole again via civics education. People around the country talk a lot about the importance of civics education, how youth are the future and how we can effect change to create a stable and improved country. About voting? Related: Go vote.

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Civic Engagement Civics Elementary School History 92

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 20, 2017

Related: LISTEN: In this Kentucky town, refugees can choose a separate high school. The answer starts in the classroom, where civics education often fails to inspire and engage students. Far too many schools preach, rather than practice, democratic ideals. We need to learn civics from the ground up.

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Civics Civic Engagement K-12 Government 99

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. McHugh, Merrimack College (Discussant) Richard M.

Political Science 55

Political Science Civics Civic Engagement K-12 55

Let's Cultivate Greatness

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Political cartoons are the perfect basis for so many civics activities and topics, regardless of ability level. Over the years of teaching high school Civics and Government, I’ve used them in countless ways with my students. Here are my go-to favorite civics activities I use with political cartoons.

Civics 52

Civics Government Teaching High School 52

ED Surge

JANUARY 17, 2023

In Jessica Lander’s classroom at Lowell High School, every student is a recent immigrant or refugee. Lander teaches history and civics at this large public school in Massachusetts, and she says one of the most important strategies is to find ways to bring out her students’ stories in the classroom.

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Teaching Civics History Public School 122

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 10, 2020

Another troubling finding, from a survey conducted this spring by SimpsonScarborough: Forty-one percent of minority high-school seniors say it’s likely they won’t go to college at all in the fall or “it’s too soon to say,” compared to 24 percent of white high-school seniors.

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Civic Engagement K-12 Education Economics 141

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

Fewer than 20 percent of high school students knew that simply looking at one photo online is not enough research to gauge if something is really happening. And among middle school students, 80 percent did not understand that “sponsored content” on a news organization’s website is paid advertising.

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Civics Advocacy Elementary School Middle School 112

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

As a teacher and school-based leader, I always understood the necessity of advocating for students and helping them navigate life, and I tried to help other teachers change the trajectory of many lives. I taught my students to respect the power of civic engagement and social activism.

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Civic Engagement Education Civics K-12 133

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Sophia Joffe, a high school senior who launched a database for enriched remote learning, at her family’s home in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. Guiding high school peers through online learning maze. Credit: Brett Gundlock for The New York Times. – DELECE SMITH-BARROW.

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Education Civics Civic Engagement Psychology 120