Are We Teaching Enough Civics in Schools?

Do you ever worry that core subjects are getting lost in the muddle of all the other stuff that is becoming part of the accepted curriculum in K-12 schools? I’m purposely not naming any of those because that’s not the subject of this article so I don’t want to distract (but feel free to add your thoughts in the comments). One of the becoming-forgotten subjects I have begun to fear is Civics so I loved this article from Commonwealth Magazine on how this understanding our our form of government in America is not forgotten, in fact taught well:

Mass. getting good grades on civics, history

AS THE COUNTRY engages in a heated debate over what civic education should look like, a new report by The Thomas B. Fordham Institute suggests that the nation should emulate the model we’ve developed here in the Commonwealth.

The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021 grades every state on their civics and history standards that guide teaching and learning in these content areas. Massachusetts earned a grade of A- (the highest grade earned by any state) and is listed as one of only five exemplar states.

Read on…

For more websites that teach civics for MS and HS, check out these:

1. Argument Wars
2. Civics games
3. How Laws are Made
4. Law Craft
5. Public Policy and the Executive and Legislative Branches Quiz
6. Public Policy Flashcards
7. Public Policy Matching
8. Three Branches of Government Review
9. What’s inside Buckingham Palace

Constitution

1. Interactive Constitution--from the Constitution Center
2. Primary Source Documents
3. Videos about the Constitution from the Constitution Center

Elections

Executive Branch

1. Executive Command
2. What’s Inside the White House–a video

Juries

1. We the Jury

Legislative Branch

Supreme Court and the Courts

1. Court Quest–game created by iCivics and shared via BrainPop
2. Overview of the Supreme Court–video, quiz; for older students