ED470039 2002-10-00 Improving Civic

Education in Schools. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Development Team

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Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest......................... 1

CURRENT DEFICIENCIES................................................... 2

IMPROVING THE CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY OF CIVIC

EDUCATION............................................................... 2

INTERNET SOURCES......................................................... 3

REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES..................................4

ERIC Identifier: ED470039

Publication Date: 2002-10-00

Author: Patrick, John J.

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education Bloomington

IN.

Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC

Digest.

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT

ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

Civic education is the teaching of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to become

a responsible and effective citizen of a representative and constitutional democracy.

Since the founding of the United States of America, civic education has been part of the

ED470039 2002-10-00 Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest. Page 1 of 6
core curriculum of elementary and secondary schools. In recent years, however,

leaders in education, government, and the general public have expressed concerns

about the quality and outcomes of civic education in American schools (Galston 2001,

218-220). They have called emphatically for renewal and reform of civic education in

schools. This Digest discusses (1) the current deficiencies of civic education in schools,

(2) research-based recommendations for improving content and pedagogy of civic

education, and (3) Internet resources on improving civic education in schools.

CURRENT DEFICIENCIES.

The outcomes of civic education in schools are unsatisfactory. Results of the 1998

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in civics revealed gross

deficiencies in the civic knowledge of students. Most students in grades 4, 8, and 12

failed to reach the proficient level of achievement, which, as specified in the NAEP

framework, indicates competence in civics. Twenty-one percent of fourth grade

students, 21% of eighth grade students, and 22% of twelfth grade students reached the

proficient level. Another way to look at the overall findings is to consider the large

proportion of students that failed to reach the assessment's basic level of achievement:

31% of fourth graders, 30% of eighth graders, and 35% of twelfth graders scored below

the basic level (Lutkus and Others 1999).

The scant, superficial civic knowledge of young Americans is related to their generally

low levels of political participation and civic engagement, deficiencies in democratic

attitudes or dispositions, and underdeveloped democratic citizenship skills. Researchers

have found strong relationships between knowledge of democratic principles,

processes, and institutions and (1) propensity to vote or otherwise participate in political

life, (2) orientation to political tolerance and political interest, and (3) competence in

cognitive and participatory skills of democratic citizenship, such as the capacities to

analyze public issues and to cooperate with others in a group project (Galston 2001,

223-226).

IMPROVING THE CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY

OF CIVIC EDUCATION.

How can civic educators improve the teaching and learning of civic knowledge as a key

to the development of civic skills and dispositions? What recommendations can be

derived from the research literature?

1. Increase the exposure of students to content in civics by (a) including it in courses in

U.S. history, world history, literature, and other subjects in the curriculum, (b)

emphasizing civics in the social studies curriculum in the primary grades (K-3), and (c)

requiring of all students a civics course in middle school and a government course in

high school. The justification for a stronger curricular emphasis on civics is that

students' achievement of civic knowledge is related to the number of courses taken, the

breadth and depth of topics studied, and the amount of time spent on lessons and

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Page 2 of 6 ED470039 2002-10-00 Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest.
homework (Niemi and Junn 1998).

2. Systematically teach students to analyze public issues and to participate

democratically in making public policy decisions in response to the issues. This kind of

learning experience in civics and government courses is likely to develop among

students the cognitive and participatory skills and dispositions necessary for citizenship

in a democracy (Vontz, Metcalf, and Patrick 2000).

3. Create and maintain a classroom climate that is conducive to free and open

exchange of opinions about public issues and other controversial topics. This kind of

classroom practice is related to the development of such civic dispositions as tolerance,

civility, propensity to participate, and political interest (Baldi and Others 2001; Hahn

1998; Torney-Purta and Others 2001).

4. Encourage students to participate in extracurricular activities involving civic

engagement and political participation. There is a strong, positive relationship between

democratic participatory experiences in school-based organizations and the

development of the skills and dispositions of democratic citizenship (Baldi and Others

2001; Torney-Purta and Others 2001; Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995).

5. Foster a democratic ethos in the school. There is a positive relationship between a

democratic school climate and development of democratic civic disposition and

behavior among students; less authoritarian climates are linked to more democratic

political attitudes and behavior (Baldi and Others 2001; Torney-Purta and Others 2001).

6. Conjoin content and processes in the teaching and learning of civic knowledge, skills,

and dispositions. Civic dispositions and skills, both intellectual and participatory, are

inseparable from a body of civic knowledge or content. In order to think critically and act

effectively and responsibly in response to a public issue, learners must understand the

terms of the issue, its origins, the alternative responses to it, and the likely

consequences of these responses. This understanding is based upon the knowledge of

learners. The application of this knowledge to explain, evaluate, and resolve a public

issue depends upon the cognitive process skills of learners. Both academic content and

process -- civic knowledge, disposition, and skills -- must be taught and learned in

tandem to fulfill the mission of civic education, which is to develop individuals who can

establish, maintain, and improve democratic governance and citizenship in their country

and throughout the world (Niemi and Junn 1998; Vontz, Metcalf, and Patrick 2000).

INTERNET SOURCES.

The following World Wide Web sites include information on civic education in schools

and its implications for the improvement of instruction and the achievement of students.

American Political Science Association: APSANET. The APSA site includes papers

presenting research on civic education, scholarly essays on recommendations for the

ERIC Resource Center www.eric.ed.gov

ED470039 2002-10-00 Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest. Page 3 of 6
improvement of practice in civic education, and links to sources of data and papers

pertaining to notable research projects such as the IEA Civic Education Study and the

NAEP in civics: http://www.apsanet.org/.

Center for Civic Education (CCE). The CCE Web site contains papers on theory,

research, and practice in civic education. There also are links to other useful sites, such

as Civnet, which provides information on international civic education projects:

http://www.civiced.org/.

Center for Information and Research in Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE). The

Center promotes research on the civic engagement of Americans between the ages of

15 and 25. CIRCLE funds research that has implications for those who work to increase

young people's engagement in politics and civic life. CIRCLE is also a clearinghouse for

relevant information and scholarship. The Center's Web site includes reports and

papers on research in civic education: http://www.civic youth.org/.

National Alliance for Civic Education (NACE). Launched in 2000, NACE is an alliance of

organizations committed to the advancement of civic knowledge and engagement. The

NACE Web site includes reports on research and practice in civic education with many

links to other sites on civic education: http://www.puaf.umd.edu/NACE/.

REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES.

The following list of resources includes references used to prepare this Digest. The

items followed by an ED number are available in microfiche and/or paper copies from

the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). For information about prices,

contact EDRS, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia 22153-2852; World

Wide Web edrs.com; telephone numbers are (703) 440-1400 and (800) 443-3742.

Entries followed by an EJ number, annotated monthly in CURRENT INDEX TO

JOURNALS IN EDUCATION (CIJE), are not available through EDRS. However, they

can be located in the journal section of most larger libraries by using the bibliographic

information provided, requested through Interlibrary Loan, or ordered from commercial

reprint services.

Baldi, Stephane, and Others. WHAT DEMOCRACY MEANS TO NINTH-GRADERS:

U.S. RESULTS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL IEA CIVIC EDUCATION STUDY.

Washington, DC: NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS, 2001. ED 454

152.

Galston, William A. "Political Knowledge, Political Engagement and Civic Education."

ANNUAL REVIEW OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 4 (2001): 217-234.

Hahn, Carole L. BECOMING POLITICAL: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON

CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION. Ithaca: State University of New York Press, 1998. ED 426

920.

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Page 4 of 6 ED470039 2002-10-00 Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest.
Hahn, Carole L., and Judith Torney-Purta. "The IEA Civic Education Project: National

and International Perspectives." SOCIAL EDUCATION 63 (Nov.-Dec. 1999): 425-431.

EJ 607 342.

Hebert, Yvonne, and Michel Page. "Research Initiatives in Citizenship Education."

EDUCATION CANADA 40 (Fall 2000): 24-26, 27. EJ 613 646.

Lutkus, Anthony, and Others. NAEP 1998 CIVICS REPORT CARD FOR THE NATION.

Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 1999. ED 435 583.

Niemi, Richard G., and Jane Junn. CIVIC EDUCATION: WHAT MAKES STUDENTS

LEARN. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998. ED 431 658.

Obenchain, Kathryn M. AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC

CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: IMPLICATIONS FOR

SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER EDUCATION. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of

the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA, April 13-18, 1998. ED

431 639.

Patrick, John J. and Sheilah Mann, Eds. "Introduction to Education for Civic

Engagement in Democracy." EDUCATION FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN

DEMOCRACY: SERVICE LEARNING AND OTHER PROMISING PRACTICES.

Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education,

2000. ED 447 065.

Torney-Purta, Judith, and Others. CITIZENSHIP AND EDUCATION IN

TWENTY-EIGHT COUNTRIES: CIVIC KNOWLEDGE AND ENGAGEMENT AT AGE

FOURTEEN. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational

Achievement, 2001. ED 452 116.

Verba, Sidney, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady. VOICE AND EQUALITY:

CIVIC VOLUNTARISM IN AMERICAN POLITICS. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press, 1995.

Vontz, Thomas S., Kim K. Metcalf, and John J. Patrick. PROJECT CITIZEN AND THE

CIVIC DEVELOPMENT OF ADOLESCENT STUDENTS IN INDIANA, LATVIA, AND

LITHUANIA. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science

Education, 2000. ED 447 047.

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This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S.

Department of Education under contract number ED-99-CO-0016. The content of this

publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of

Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations

ERIC Resource Center www.eric.ed.gov

ED470039 2002-10-00 Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest. Page 5 of 6
imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. ERIC Digests are in the public domain and

may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

-----

John J. Patrick is Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science

Education, Director of the Social Studies Development Center, and Professor of

Education, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Title: Improving Civic Education in Schools. ERIC Digest.

Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs)

(071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);

Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education,

2805 East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington, IN 47408. Tel: 800-266-3815 (Toll

Free); Fax: 812-855-0455; e-mail: ericso@indiana.edu; Web site:

http://ericso.indiana.edu.

Descriptors: Citizenship Education, Democracy, Educational Change, Elementary

Secondary Education, Instructional Improvement, Internet, Public Affairs Education,

Social Studies, Student Needs, United States Government (Course)

Identifiers: ERIC Digests

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