Giving Compass' Take:

• In a recent study, research from surveys shows a significant learning gap between students' grades in civic education, (social studies classes) and other courses in the curriculum such as math and reading. Moreover, the gap between white students and black students has grown significantly when it comes to civic education.

• Why is civics education important? Especially with the polarizing effects of the current federal administration?

• Read more about the importance of teaching social studies to advance civic engagement. 

Student performance in civics has improved over the past two decades, even as the gap in civic knowledge has grown along class and racial lines during that period. That’s the conclusion of a new study released by the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy. Its Report on American Education, an annual publication exploring trends in the nation’s schools, focuses this year on social studies and civics education.

The study’s most striking findings relate to American students’ achievement on civics as measured on standardized tests like the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often referred to as “the nation’s report card.”

Since 1998, the disparities in NAEP civics scores between white or affluent students and their black or poor classmates have grown. This, despite a nationwide push to close achievement gaps, which has helped to bring minority students’ test performance somewhat closer to that of their more advantaged peers in other subjects.

The study goes on to examine the comprehensiveness of civics and social studies instruction by state, measuring the prevalence of high school civics requirements, extracurricular activities, media literacy, and opportunities for service learning. Civics experts increasingly make the case that study of government, history, and democratic processes is inadequate to ensure that students are being prepared for the demands of citizenship, and that teaching must be paired with participatory elements such as community service.

Analysis of student surveys shows that a disturbing number of students, among all racial and income groups, report “never” participating in civics activities like writing a letter to a local newspaper, participating in classroom activities like mock trials, or going on field trips.

Read the full article about civic education by Kevin Mahnken at The 74