Grant Applications for State Civic Education Coalition Advocacy Now Open
Member Spotlight: PBS Student Reporting Labs
Quarterly AI Lens: Relationship With Media
Civic Holidays
On the Road with CivxNow
In the News
New Members
Make K–12 Civic Education Universal Post-Election
Democracy is on the ballot next week. In this final sprint to Election Day, a stunning 82% of registered voters believe democracy is not working as well as it should or at all, according to a December 2023 poll conducted by Hart Research on behalf of CivxNow partner More Perfect. Reciprocally, voters rank “protecting basic rights and freedoms” and “protecting and improving democracy” among the most important issues in the 2024 Election.
Reciprocally, voters rank “protecting basic rights and freedoms” and “protecting and improving democracy” among the most important issues in the 2024 Election.
Ninety-two percent of voters agree or strongly agree that democracy is facing serious threats today.
A significant percentage (43%) said schools failing to teach civics and the value of citizen involvement in our democracy is a major problem.
A leading indicator of this challenge is an age gap in the data among those who strongly agreed with the statement, “Our democracy needs improvement, but it is still the best system of government there is.” Fifty-eight percent of those age 65-plus strongly agreed versus 34% of 18-34 year olds..
Too many young people are losing faith in our country as political division, distrust, and polarization undermine our constitutional democracy. Regardless of Tuesday’s outcomes, our nation desperately needs to come back together, and the best way to strengthen democracy is to teach it. As our nation turns next to its 250th birthday, this means civic education that is relevant, meaningful, and engaging for each new generation – civic education that inspires a belief in our country, and instills in youth a sense of belonging and a confidence to shape the world around them and work with others to solve problems together.
Both party platforms endorse stronger K–12 civic education. For Democrats, this means investments in “evidence-based programs and pedagogical approaches” and “qualified, first-class, well-trained, passionate educators.” Republicans seek to “promote love of country and authentic civic education,” including “support(ing) schools that teach America’s founding principles.”
Democrats and Republicans alike should therefore commit to universal student access to high-quality K–12 civic education with a bipartisan platform that includes:
A full year of civics course in high school (currently offered in only six states);
A semester-long civics course in middle school ((currently offered in only five states);
Dedicated instructional time for civics in grades K–5 (currently offered only in New Hampshire); and
Public funding for high-quality civics curriculum and materials, teacher training, and student programming.
Public funding is essential for civics’ prioritization in our nation’s K–12 schools.
While the federal government invests more than $50 per student each year in STEM subjects, it spends less than 50 cents on civics.
The next Congress should reintroduce the bipartisan Civics Secures Democracy Act (CSD) come January and collaborate with the new administration to enact it in the first 100 days. CSD would increase the federal investment in civics to $18 per student, with the bulk of the funding directed towards local school districts.
Presidential elections are a sacred democratic ritual in the United States. By voting, we Americans affirm our belief in the strength and sustenance of our constitutional democracy. Our institutions are threatened and our citizens feel disempowered, but we agree on the long-term solution: universal access to K–12 civic education. May the victors of both parties throughout our federal system make this a top priority when the dust settles from election 2024.
Research Roundup: Report Reveals US History Teaching Marginalized, not Politicized
U.S. history teachers do not systematically engage in indoctrination, politicization, or “deliberate malpractice” according to a comprehensive report published last month by the American History Association (AHA). Instead, “a lack of resources, instructional time, and professional respect represent far clearer threats to the integrity of history education across the United States.”
Titled American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools, AHA studied US history standards and relevant statutes in all 50 states, while conducting a deeper dive in nine states. They also surveyed 3,000 middle and high school teachers, interviewed 200 teachers and administrators, and analyzed hundreds of instructional materials.
Key takeaways from the study include:
While teaching cultures vary by state and school district, “professional norms” and “shared commitments” prevail nationally, where “…secondary school US history teachers…are concerned mostly with helping their students learn central elements of our nation's history.”
Teachers are committed to partisan neutrality and developing an understanding of the nation’s founding documents to foster students’ civic development.
Outside of designated hotspots, teachers don’t report consistent political pressure on their craft.
In hotspots, administrators play an important role in defending teachers and the principles that undergird their instruction.
As is true with civics, standardized testing is a double-edged sword for US history.
Testing provides clarity, prestige, and resources, but also a narrowed curriculum.
State agencies have more influence on local curricular decisions in states with required tests, but across states “teachers have substantial discretion in deciding what they teach, how they teach it, and what materials they use.”
Twenty-one states require testing in US history.
State US history standards vary in their focus on skills (10 states), content (9 states), or both (31 states), with the combination of content and skills preferred among historians.
Social studies is often treated as a subject to build transferrable skills and US history teachers embrace this by placing the most value on critical thinking skills (97% of those surveyed) and informed citizenship (94%).
They are less enthusiastic about serving “…as an extra period of ‘nonfiction literacy’ training for the next ELA exam.”
Because US history teachers must cover a broad range of content, expertise is uneven, and there’s a profound need for ongoing professional learning opportunities and higher-quality instructional resources.
The field of American history and civics owes AHA a debt of gratitude for this illuminating study. The sense is that most of the findings mirror those of civic learning, including CivxNow’s annual state policy scan tracking course requirements, standards, and assessments, among other variables. We must elevate an accurate portrayal of the state of history and civics instruction, and provide educators with the professional support that educating for democracy demands.
Grant Applications for State Civic Education Coalition Advocacy Now Open
We are pleased to announce the opening of our fifth annual round of regrants to support state civic learning coalitions to improve K–12 civic education policy. This year, CivxNow is allocating over $200,000 to help state coalitions develop meaningful, bipartisan civic learning policies and practices aligned with the CivxNow State Policy Menu.
Successful applicants will receive funding awards up to $25K to develop shared policy agendas, implement advocacy strategies, and build awareness among target audiences.
Key Dates and Deadlines:
Pre-application calls: September 1 through October 30, 2024
Request for proposals (RFP) opens: October 8, 2024
Applications due: November 15, 2024, by 5 p.m. ET
Applicants notified: November 22, 2024
Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) sent and funding disbursed: December 2024
Regrant period ends: December 5, 2025
Grant reports due: February 28, 2026
The grant application deadline was accelerated so that coalitions receive funding in advance of legislative sessions and are therefore able to better time grant activities. For more information about the CivxNow Advocacy Grant Program and to access the application, click here.
Member Spotlight: PBS Student Reporting Labs
In a world where public trust in media is declining, we must strengthen youth media consumption skills, and also empower them to produce media. Our partner PBS News Student Reporting Labs (SRL) meets these needs. SRL is a hands-on student journalism training program that connects young people to real-world experiences and educators to resources and a community of practice.
SRL’s new podcast On Our Minds: Election 2024 is a special seven-episode election podcast season for young people, by young people. Co-created with 26 teens from 15 states, On Our Minds focuses on the issues and impacts of the election for young people. It includes interviews with America’s youngest political candidates and covers topics like how students’ conceptions of America have changed, the Electoral College, who gets to vote and make decisions, free speech, and censorship, and how to tackle election disinformation.
Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Quarterly AI Lens: Relationship With Media
CivxNow recognizes that AI isn’t just changing how people shop and work, it’s changing how we teach, learn, and experience democracy. In March of this year, our coalition released the reportUncharted Waterswhich discusses these implications and includes seven lensesto guide our nation’s AI education investments.
Each quarter we spotlight our organizational members’ work through one of those lenses. This month, check out what partners like AllSides, Alterea, Mental Immunity Project, NAMLE, and NLP are doing to acknowledge AI’s implications for young people as consumers and producers of media.
Civic Holidays
Each month, our coalition members join the nation to celebrate key civic holidays and elevate the role education plays in preparing young people to strengthen our nation’s constitutional democracy. In the next month, we will celebrate several important civic holidays for our field that coalition members have been working hard to support:
New Voters helped bring a variety of organizations across our field together to discussElection Day; partners are working to engage youth and teach them about the importance of this holiday;
The Lincoln Presidential Foundation is helping our partners and the field celebrate Thanksgiving with an extra helping of learning.
We thank these organizational leaders and all of our coalition members for lifting up civic learning during these holidays and look forward to celebrating them with you.
On the Road with CivxNow
Illinois Democracy Schools Convening
Late last month, educators from 90 Illinois Democracy Schools convened in Naperville, IL, for a day of exploring civic learning across the K–12 curriculum. This year’s theme, “How Should We Live Together: Promoting Civility and Civic Engagement Across the School System,” was timely in the lead-up to a contentious and consequential election, and threaded throughout plenary and breakout sessions throughout the day. Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy Shawn Healy led a breakout session on teaching the 2024 election and introduced the opening plenary session.
NAMLE’s AI Literacy Summit
NAMLE’s AI Literacy Summit took place on October 25th, the culminating event of the 10th anniversary of U.S. Media Literacy Week! Part of NAMLE’s recently launched AI Literacy Initiative, this event convened educators, students, scholars, NGOs, and industries to cultivate perspective diversity in the discussion about how media literacy education can be most effective in the age of AI.
CSIS’s Building Civics Concepts in STEM and the Tech Sector
On October 22, the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project held a public event to preview an upcoming report on “Building Civics Concepts in STEM and the Tech Sector.” The conversation among technology, civics, and government experts examined the role tech sector leaders can play in fostering a better understanding of America’s constitutional democracy. CivxNow’s Shawn Healy joined Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), CSIS’s Suzanne Spaulding, President of the Paladin Global Institute Kemba Walden, and Meta’s Daniel Sutherland, among other distinguished panelists. Watch the recording here.
In the News
With the election just days away, civics is in the news:
We remain deeply appreciative of member efforts and all that we accomplish together. Our goal is to aggregate and activate large networks of support to expand and re-imagine civic education as a force for civic strength. To our members, thank you for your partnership.
If your organization is interested in joining CivxNow or in learning more, please contact us atCivxNow@icivics.org.
Our Mission
CivxNow is a coalition of partners from diverse viewpoints working to create a culture shift that elevates civic education and engagement as a national priority in order to protect and strengthen America’s constitutional democracy. This includes building a shared commitment to ensure that all young people are prepared to assume their rights and responsibilities to participate in civic life and address the issues facing students, their families, and communities in our increasingly dynamic, polarized, and digital society.
To achieve this goal, CivxNow advocates for bipartisan federal and state legislation that supports implementation of state and local policies that reimagine and deliver relevant, inclusive, and engaging K–12 civic learning, both in- and out-of-school.
A Team Effort
The CivxNow team produces this newsletter each month.
We are grateful for the energy, time, and guidance of the CivxNow Advisory Council and to many, many others who support individual projects.
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