Inadequate requirements and instruction in civic education Failure of students to do well on the NAEP study is a direct consequence of the widespread lack of adequate curricular requirements, teacher preparation, and instruction in civics and government. Research reveals most states and districts give lip service to civic education but do not actually include adequate requirements and instruction in the subject. Civic education works Good programs in civics and government produce good results. They are the solution to the shortcomings identified in the NAEP results. Research demonstrates outstanding gains in knowledge, intellectual skills, participatory skills, and commitments to democratic values and principles.
Civic education promotes involvement and participation.
Criteria to guide public policy in civic education Education in civics and government should not be incidental to the schooling of American youth but a central purpose of education essential to the well being of American constitutional democracy. Civics and government should be considered a subject on a level with other subjects. Civics and government, like history and geography, is an integrative and interdisciplinary subject. Civics and government should be taught explicitly and systematically from kindergarten through twelfth grade either as separate units and courses or as readily identifiable parts of courses in other subjects. Effective instruction in civics and government should include attention to the content of the discipline as well as to the essential skills, principles, and values required for full participation in and reasoned commitment to our democratic system.