Civics Education
It is unfair to chastise a generation for their lack of patriotism...
It is unfair to chastise a generation for their lack of patriotism if they’ve never been clearly taught why America was founded, how our government is supposed to function, and what their role in it should be.
We believe that if we restore authentic civics education in k-12 schools, it will make a significant impact on society going forward.
Our goal is to cultivate a civically virtuous society by empowering parents, teachers, and administrators to diligently screen the various curriculum providers to ensure their primary goal is to deliver high-quality content free of political ideologies or social justice agendas.
Dream
Every American high school student completes their education with a grasp of the functioning principles of our government, the reasons and methods behind the founding of America, and their responsibilities as citizens of the nation.
Reality
According to the National Civics Report Card 2022 Assessments:
- Only 13% of 8th grades scored proficient in US History
-Only 22% of American 8th graders scored proficient in Civics
Solution
We highlight the following organizations and the rich content they bring to ensuring our youth understand the meaning of freedom, the price that was paid to ensure individual liberties and rights and the importance of self-governance.
Civics Alliance
Freedom in Education is proud to be part of the Civics Alliance Coalition which is a dedicated group of organizations and citizens committed to restoring true civics education.
We will be partnering with American Birthright Standards to work with state departments of education to adopt the new American Birthright Civics and American History standards.
Freedom in Education, through our Teacher Coalition, has co-authored Constitution Week Lesson Plans for 12th grade. We look forward to co-authoring more K-12 American Birthright Standards lesson plans.
Civics Alliance has created strong civics standards for K-12 that parents can share with their school districts and school board representatives to demand better standards be adopted at the state level.
Civics Alliance has also provided a Civics Bill Tracker so you can see what is happening nationwide and in your state. Does your state need a strong civic bill? Also provided are model bills that you can champion, as a citizen lobbyist, to encourage your legislators to sponsor in your state.
Download the Civics Alliance Activist Toolkit here: AmericanBirthrightActivistsKit
American Heritage Education Foundation
American Heritage Education Foundation provides free lesson plans for K-12 dedicated to teaching “Americans philosophical heritage - including Bible based principles that shaped America's founding”.
Hillsdale Civics K-12 1776 Curriculum
Hillsdale offers a free set of lesson plans for teaching American History, Civics and Government for K-12 students here. You only need to provide basic contact information and the applicable grades to download.
Note - For parents who may need a refresher, Hillsdale offers a large variety of free online courses here.