Civics Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Jack Miller Center Unveils ‘ContextUS,’ a New, Online Civics Library

May 31, 2023 RealClearWire

ContextUS is the Jack Miller Center’s newly published, free online library that provides citizens with the content to gain that necessary civic knowledge. This state-of-the-art resource gives teachers, students, and scholars access to more than 700 core texts of the American political tradition, paired with the most up-to-date technology in library science, to transmit a civic education in self-government to the next generation of Americans.

U.S. History and Civics National Test Scores Plunge to Lowest Levels on Record

May 3, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

U.S. Education Department data released on Wednesday finds national eighth-grade test scores in U.S. History and civics dropped to their lowest level on record last year. Compared to 2018, average test scores on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card (National Assessment of Educational Progress – NAEP) declined in both subjects. Additionally, scores dropped for lower- and middle-performing students in civics, and across five selected percentiles, except the 90th percentile, in U.S. History.

Commentary: A Republic if You Can Teach It

December 4, 2022December 3, 2022 RealClearWire

President Biden has a civics lesson that he is fond of and regularly repeats. It is about how the United States is unique in the world because of the founding ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

“Unlike every other nation on Earth, we were founded based on an idea,” he notes before adding that “while we’ve never fully lived up” to those principles, “we have never given up on them.”

Commentary: Civics Education Is More Important Than Ever

March 16, 2022March 15, 2022 RealClearWire

At its founding, American K-12 public education was meant to prepare young people to be active participants in our democratic republic. That should still be its highest purpose, especially when it comes to teaching civics.

Historically, public schools held fast to the principle that effective education must be non-partisan. Knowing they had great power to influence young minds, teachers used to be careful to choose content and pedagogies that restricted their ability to impose their personal political views on schoolchildren.

Today, maintaining non-partisanship is more important than ever in classrooms. Sadly, it’s increasingly dishonored. Civics has become a hot-button issue of late, particularly after remote learning allowed more parents to see what their children were actually being taught. Many were not happy with what they saw, and the debate over civics education is symptomatic of the larger divide that has become such a looming threat to American society.

Commentary: America’s Civics and History Class Failures

June 4, 2021June 3, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Six former U.S. education secretaries, who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents, are sounding the alarm about the grave danger our constitutional democracy faces. Years of political polarization have culminated in riots in our cities spanning months, along with the storming of the U.S. Capitol. These events point to a root cause of our plight: our failure to provide sound civics and history teaching in America’s K-12 schools.

Minnesota Rep Wants to Require Districts to Report Percentage of Students Who Pass Civics Exam

February 7, 2020February 11, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

A Minnesota Republican plans to introduce a bill that would require school districts to report the percentage of students who pass a basic civics test.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. Highlights Civic Education in Year-End Report

January 3, 2020January 2, 2020 Jordyn Pair

In his annual year-end report, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Roberts, Jr., focused on civics education, calling for increased confidence in and education about the judicial system.

Commentary: In Restoring Civics, Start With the Basics

November 29, 2019November 28, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

In a bit of good news for this Thanksgiving, it appears that many would-be shapers of education policy are plugging for the return of civics to the curricula of schools and colleges.

Rhode Island Students Do Their Homework, Sue State Over Lack of Civics Education

August 15, 2019August 14, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

A group of Rhode Island students who have done out-of-class homework are trying to get the court system to rule they have a right to receive a well-rounded education that includes civics.

Commentary: America’s Gun Culture Cultivates Civic Virtue

April 8, 2019April 7, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Aaron Tao Many people are often surprised to learn that I am a gun owner and firm defender of the Second Amendment. After all, I, a first-generation Chinese-American immigrant, do not fit the stereotype of the typical American gun owner. Of all of America’s cherished freedoms, the natural and…

Commentary: A Great Civic Awakening to America’s ‘Founding Virtues’

April 1, 2019March 31, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Annie Holmquist When it comes to the direction of society Americans (surprisingly) agree: things are not getting better. That’s the conclusion one quickly draws from a recent Pew Research report which asks what America will look like in 2050. As the chart below shows, Americans think the country will be less…

Commentary: Parents, Smart Government Requires Teaching Children Civics

October 27, 2018October 27, 2018 Admin

by Brad Johnson In the fall of 2012, I excitedly began my senior year government class. I was about to sit through a course on our system of government while also watching it play out right before my eyes on its biggest stage during the 2012 election. Much to…