Civic Education

Statistics

Studies show that students who receive a robust civic education are four times more likely to volunteer in their community, are more to vote, discuss politics at home, and are more confident when speaking with their elected representatives.
According to the Council of Chief State School Officers, since the enactment of No Child Left Behind, 44% of schools have reduced time allotment for social studies and civics. Students that low-income communities have significantly less access to social studies in Elementary School.
The Department of Education shows that around 10% of student time is spent studying social studies, including civics and government, and only 23% of American 8th Graders are proficient in civics, according to the most recent NAEP assessment.
Only 36 percent of adults surveyed by the Annenberg Public Policy Center in 2014 could name all three branches of government, with 35 percent of participants unable to name any branch of government.
A 2015 study conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that Americans have a near all-time low level of trust in the federal government, with only 19 percent of respondents agreeing that they trust the federal government all or most of the time, and a 2016 Gallup poll indicated 37 percent of Americans surveyed had little trust or confidence in their states.�

Do you feel like your education prepared you to be an informed and engaged resident of Fayette County?
What are elements of your civic education that you regularly put to use?
What do you wish you learned as part of your civic education?
Where you can go for continuing civic education?
What needs to change in order to build more civically empowered residents?