5/8/2023

Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal starts off with the Jack Miller Center’s coverage of the release of the National Assessment of Educational Progress results for eighth graders in history and civics. And the data is alarming. As JMC reports, “Civics scores fell for the first time” since testing on that topic began in 1998, and “history scores have been on the decline since 2014.” As Tom Kelly, JMC’s Vice President for Civics Initiatives, stated, “If we do not find ways to help our nation’s educators pass on our tradition of self-government, we will lose it.”

At the Washington Examiner, JMC President Hans Zeiger reports that the NAEP found that only 22% of students “were proficient in civics, and 13% were proficient in history.” He calls these results “a wake-up call to all Americans,” noting that “we can no longer afford to neglect the teaching of citizenship.” Students’ possessing knowledge in both history and civics, Zeiger writes, is “critical to acknowledging diversity and advancing inclusion in American society.” Especially in light of celebrating the semiquincentennial of American independence in 2026, teachers and parents must “ensure that America’s middle school, high school, and college students have the foundational civic knowledge and awareness of American history that is essential to citizenship in a constitutional democracy.”

Zeiger proposes a number of strategies that can help improve civic knowledge among students. These include states working to “improve high school graduation requirements in history and civics” and implementing “content-based professional development for teachers.” Parents and volunteers can get “involved in after-school and summer youth civics programs like the YMCA’s Youth in Government program and the American Legion’s Boys State and Girls State program.” Finally, he also recommends that parents “put pressure on their school boards and state legislators to make civics and history the priority it needs to be.” As he concludes: “We need to invest in the next generation of citizens and teach them that liberty is a precious heritage. We cannot allow the American civic tradition to go extinct.”