The idea that American schools have a distinctively civic mission has been recognized since the earliest days of the Republic. Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and others realized that the establishment of well-constructed political institutions was not in itself a sufficiently strong foundation to maintain constitutional democracy. They knew that ultimately a free society must depend on its citizens-on their knowledge, skills, and civic virtues. They believed that the civic mission of the schools is to foster the qualities of mind and heart required for successful government within a constitutional democracy.
Americans still believe that schools have a civic mission and that education for good citizenship should be the schools' top priority. The 28th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll conducted in 1996 asked respondents what they considered to be the most important purpose of the nation's schools, apart from providing a basic education. "To prepare students to be responsible citizens" was considered "very important" by more people than any other goal. Nationally 86 percent of those with no children in school and those with children in public schools were in agreement; the percentage in agreement shot up to 88 percent for nonpublic school parents. When Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup conducted a follow-up poll of just teachers the results were the same. (Landon, 1996.) Eighty four percent of America's teachers said "to prepare students for responsible citizenship was "very important," while another 15 percent called it "quite important."
A survey which compared results from the United States with those of eleven other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also is revealing. (U.S. Department of Education, 1997.) When Americans were asked which qualities or aptitudes schools consider "essential" or "very important," 86 percent said "being a good citizen." Unfortunately, when Americans were asked if they had confidence that schools have a major effect on the development of good citizenship only 59 percent said that they did. How justified is that lack of confidence? A brief review of recent research affords some disconcerting evidence.
- The nation's oldest and most comprehensive assessment of the attitudes of freshmen at 464 institutions is conducted annually by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1997, (Sax & Astin et.al. 1997), its most recent report, found that "this year's college freshmen exhibit higher levels of disengagement-both academically and politically-than any previous entering class of students."
- The 1997 freshmen demonstrate the lowest levels of political interest in the history of the survey. A record low 26.7 percent of today's freshmen believe that "keeping up to date with political affairs" is a very important or essential life goal (compared to 29.4 percent last year and a high of 57.8 percent in 1966). Similarly, an all-time low 13.7 percent of freshmen say they frequently discuss politics (compared to 16.2 percent last year, and a high of 29.9 percent in 1968). The percent of students who desire to "influence the political structure" has also dipped to 16.7 percent, from 17.7 percent last year and a high of 20.6 percent in 1993. While the percent of students working on a local, state, or national political campaign increased from 6.6 percent to 8.2 percent between 1996 and 1997, this figure remains at only half of the record high 16.4 percent reached in 1969. Finally, the percent of freshmen who frequently vote in student elections continues on a dramatic decline from 76.9 percent in 1968 to 21.3 percent in 1997 (compared to 23.0 percent last year).
- Students' disinterest in politics is paralleled by their increasing disinterest in activism. In the five years since students' interest in activism peaked on the 1992 survey, many indicators of activism have declined. The percent of students who say that "becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment" is a very important or essential life goal declined steadily from 33.6 percent in 1992 to 19.4 percent in 1997. Commitment to "helping to promote racial understanding" fell to its lowest point in a decade (31.8 percent, compared to 34.7 percent last year and a high of 42.0 in 1992). The percent who consider it very important or essential to "participate in a community action program" also declined to its lowest point in a decade (22.8 percent, compared to 23.7 percent last year and a high of 30.4 percent in 1975). Finally, the percent of students who are personally committed to "influencing social values" fell to its lowest point in nearly a decade (37.6 percent, compared to 39.0 percent last year and a high of 43.3 percent in 1992).
- In a survey conducted in late 1997, (National Constitution Center, 1997), more than 90 percent of Americans agreed that "the U.S. Constitution is important to me" and that "I'm proud of the U.S. Constitution." The National Constitution Center was created by Congress in 1988 to increase Americans awareness of the document. The Center measures public awareness by conducting surveys. Those surveys have shown that "people have an appalling lack of knowledge for a document that impacts their daily lives." According to Mayor Edward G. Rendell of Philadelphia, current chairman of the Center, more than three quarters (83 percent) admit that they know only "some" or "very little" about the specifics of the Constitution. For example, only 6 percent can name all four rights guaranteed by the First Amendment; 62 percent cannot name all three branches of the Federal government; 35 percent believe the Constitution mandates English as the official language; and more than half of Americans don't know the number of senators.
- When asked to identify the causes of American ignorance of the document which they profess to revere and which they acknowledge matters a great deal in their daily lives, Rendell faulted the schools failure to teach civics and government. He said he believed Americans lack of knowledge stems partly from an education system that tends to treat the Constitution in the context of history, rather than as a living document that shapes current events. (Morin, 1997.) U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley was equally dismayed by the results of the National Constitution Center's study. In a press release issued September 15, 1997, Riley said
- Riley went on to say that:
- The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a survey mandated by the U.S. Congress to collect and report information about student achievement in various academic subjects. NAEP sometimes is called "The Nation's Report Card," because for more than 25 years it has provided Americans with information about how much and how well students are learning in mathematics, science, reading, history, geography, and other subjects. Currently NAEP is assessing civics. Results of the 1998 survey will not be available until late 1999 or early in the year 2000. The 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Report Card in Civics, however, revealed that students have only a superficial knowledge of civics and lack depth of understanding. For example, only 38 percent of 8th graders knew that Congress makes laws; and nearly half of high school seniors did not recognize typical examples of the federal system of checks and balances. Although half of the high school seniors tested displayed a detailed knowledge of major government structures and their functions, only six percent demonstrated a more developed understanding of a wide range of political institutions and processes.
- The same NAEP Report Card also showed that although some students made gains in civics proficiency across the twelve year period separating the 1976 and 1988 assessments, most did not. At age 17, the performance of students attending schools in each of the types of communities studied-advantaged and disadvantaged, urban and other-declined significantly. There were significant gaps in the performance of most students. Particularly disturbing were the disparities among subpopulations. Eighth and twelfth grade males were more likely than their female peers to reach the highest levels of civic proficiency as defined by NAEP. The percentages of Black and Hispanic students who reached the uppermost levels of proficiency were far smaller than the percentage of White students who did.
- Over the past decade, dozens of studies, commissions, and national reports have called attention to the failure to ensure that America's classrooms are staffed with qualified teachers. The National Commission on Teaching & America's Future (1996) in a particularly hard-hitting report noted that:
This poll suggests to me that most Americans seem to regard the Constitution like a family heirloom that is kept protectively in an upstairs sock drawer but never taken out and examined. I believe this lack of knowledge about how the Constitution functions leads to many of the discontents in our nation and current levels of distrust toward our national government.
The U.S. Department of Education is one of the leading contributors to current efforts to overcome this lack of awareness about how our democracy functions. The Department... support(s) the work of the Center for Civic Education, the "We the People" organization and the many efforts by our nation's civics teachers to educate our young people about our democracy. It is clear to me, however, that we have to do much more to keep the spirit of the Constitution alive for all Americans.
Although no state will allow a person to fix plumbing, guard swimming pools, style hair, write wills, design a building, or practice medicine without completing training and passing an examination, more than 40 states allow school districts to hire teachers on emergency licenses who have not met these basic requirements. Some pay more attention to the qualifications of veterinarians treating the nation's cats and dogs than to those of teachers educating the nation's children and youth.
Teacher expertise, as research has consistently and repeatedly shown, is one of the most telling factors in raising student achievement. One extensive study found that nearly 40 percent of the differences in student test scores were attributable to differences in teacher expertise, as measured by college degrees, years of teaching experience, and scores on teacher licensing examinations. Further, teacher expertise was of more significance than that of any other factor, including parent education, family income, or other socioeconomic characteristics.
A recent review of research on one of the least recognized causes of poor quality teaching (Ingersoll, 1998) is sobering. The problem is out-of-field teaching, or teachers being assigned to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. It is more widespread and more serious than has been recognized. It happens in well over half of the secondary schools in the nation in any given year, both rural and urban, affluent and low income. Low income public schools, however, have a higher level of out-of-field teaching than do schools in more affluent communities. Studies also show that recently hired teachers are more often assigned to teach subjects for which they are not trained than are experienced teachers. Lower-achieving classes are more often taught by teachers without a major or minor in the field than are higher-achieving classes. Junior high and middle school classes also are more likely than senior high classes to be taught by less than qualified teachers.
More than half of all secondary school history students in the country now are being taught by teachers with neither a major nor a minor in history. No data currently are available on the subject matter qualifications of teachers of civics and government, but one could surmise that the numbers of teachers with majors or minors in political science or allied fields would be even less.
In an effort to ensure that teachers are qualified for the subjects they will teach, some states have begun to test applicants for teaching positions. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in 1997 that about one half of the nation's school districts now require passage of state tests of basic skills while 39 percent require passage of state tests of subject knowledge. While those efforts are a step in the right direction, they fall short of the goal of assuring that all children are taught by teachers who not only have in-depth knowledge of the subject they teach but who also have the skills and the enthusiasm to teach it well.
