Is Civics a constitutional right?
Recently students in the State of Rhode Island filed a federal lawsuit claiming that their Constitutional rights were being violated because they were not receiving a civics education.
In the College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) defines the subject of civics as follows:
In a constitutional democracy, productive civic engagement requires knowledge of the history, principles, and foundations of our American democracy, and the ability to participate in civic and democratic processes. People demonstrate civic engagement when they address public problems individually and collaboratively and when they maintain, strengthen, and improve communities and societies. Thus, civics is, in part, the study of how people participate in governing society
Below are some resources that will offer some insight into the debate.
In the College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) defines the subject of civics as follows:
In a constitutional democracy, productive civic engagement requires knowledge of the history, principles, and foundations of our American democracy, and the ability to participate in civic and democratic processes. People demonstrate civic engagement when they address public problems individually and collaboratively and when they maintain, strengthen, and improve communities and societies. Thus, civics is, in part, the study of how people participate in governing society
Below are some resources that will offer some insight into the debate.
Legal Resources
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Copy of the Rhode Island Lawsuit
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The United States Constitution
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General Resources The Center for Civic Education has also developed academic standards for a civic education. Click here. A 2018 paper published by the Brown Center Chalkboard offers some interesting research on civics education in the United States. Click here. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) civics assessment is designed to measure the civics knowledge and skills that are critical to the responsibilities of citizenship in the constitutional democracy of the United States. Read their report here. |