Policy Backgrounders

The State of Civics Education in the US

September 27, 2023

Since 2004, Congress has designated September 17 as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day; all schools that receive federal funding must observe the day through programming for students. The measure was motivated by growing concern over the decline in civic knowledge and engagement in each new generation—a decline that continues today. Similarly, CED’s new Solutions Brief, The 2024 Election: Rebuilding Trust, highlights the importance of civics education: “Civic illiteracy not only diminishes trust in government and heightens polarization, but it threatens the economy as well; an informed and active citizenry makes for a strong economy and a strong workforce. Business has an important role to play as communities search for best practices in educating and engaging the younger generation in civic life.” Concrete action needs to be taken:

• At the high school level, 13 states do not have civics course requirements and only 7 states require a full year of civics or government.
• One in six US adults are unable to name a branch of government and only 1 in 20 adults could name the five rights protected by the First Amendment, according to an annual Civics Knowledge Survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania in 2023.
• Fewer than one quarter of US eighth-graders performed at or above proficiency level on the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam in civics. While nearly half of the students assessed reported taking a class in 8th grade mainly focused on civics, only 29 percent had teachers whose primary responsibility was teaching civics and/or US government.
• Legislative leaders have sought to boost civic education through several measures in recent years. Sixteen states passed laws to support civic education at the K-12 level in the past two years. And in 2022, Congress increased support for K-12 civics education to $23 million from $7.75 million through the end-of-year omnibus appropriations bill.