From Classroom to Citizen: American Attitudes on Civic Education

Posted by on February 25, 2005

American Public Schools Receive Grade of ‘C’ for Teaching Civics

A survey entitled From Classroom to Citizen: American Attitudes on Civic Education
http://www.representativedemocracy.org/CivicEdSurveyReport.pdf found that America’s public schools received a ‘C’ grade in their efforts to teach civics, while students gave their schools a grade of ‘C-‘ when asked to rank their civic awareness and engagement. Also among the survey findings: most Americans believe that civic education should be a “central purpose” of public schools, and schools can effectively teach civics. Of the 1,219 adults surveyed, 9 out of 10 believe civic education is important in the maintenance of a democratic system, and 90 percent want policymakers to become involved in the process of encouraging civic education in public schools. The survey was released last month at the *The Second Annual Congressional Conference on Civic Education. http://www.representativedemocracy.org/