Improving civic education and increasing youth engagement in the United States requires work at every level from all members of society. Civic leaders—elected officials, policy makers, heads of influential organizations, and others—are in a unique position to promote and champion vital, substantive improvements.
Civic learning is often treated as an afterthought; something to be tacked onto more “important” subjects if time allows. However, educating students to be responsible and active citizens is a primary purpose of schooling. An effective civics education also teaches English/Language Arts and skills required for today’s workforce: collaboration, deliberation, public speaking, and more.
The ongoing crisis in Washington, D.C., has once again laid bare the deep polarization and partisan divisions among our elected leaders. This political climate makes civic education both more challenging and increasingly important: teaching tomorrow’s leaders to be informed, responsible citizens emerges as a vital long-term solution to political dysfunction.
CIRCLE Calls New College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Social Studies Framework a Step in the Right Direction
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE), the preeminent youth research center based at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, applauded the new College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards released earlier today by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). Read More >
Today, CIRCLE released Working Paper #78, “Building an Evidence-Based Practice of Action Civics: The Current State of Assessments and Recommendations for the Future” by Jessica Gingold, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Gingold assembles evidence for “action civics” as a field and describes the organizations that engage youth in (or assess) action civics programs. She examines Read More >