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Civic education is being taught in almost all U.S. schools, but students aren’t given the chance to volunteer, engage with their communities or have civic dialogue, according to a new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education.
Research has shown that students need both instruction and experiences to be active participants in the country’s democracy, according to the authors of “A Mile Wide, an Inch Deep: The State of Civic Learning in U.S. School Districts.”
The center used data and interviews from 345 district leaders to get a look at what civic education looks like in America’s classrooms.
While 90% of school districts embed civics into required courses, only 35% offer opportunities for students to participate in civic learning opportunities outside the classroom and only 13% require community engagement or civic action projects, according to the report.
“Districts, states, and civic learning advocates should focus on making deeper civic learning possible by providing clearer goals, stronger professional learning, shared instructional resources and more consistent opportunities for students to practice civic skills,” said authors Lisa Chu and AK Keskin in the report.
The researchers also found that only 13% of districts required professional development for teachers on how to discuss controversial topics.
