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The article profiles three U.S. states including Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts at various stages of revising civics education requirements in their states and what they've learned along the way. Topics include emphasis on civics at the middle school level in Florida, addition of a brand-new requirement for a semester of high school civics in Illinois and with Massachusetts being the first state to require each middle and high school to include at least one student-led civics project.

The article reports that several U.S. states were granted federal funding through the U.S. federal Race to the Top competition in August 2010, including Hawaii, Florida, and Massachusetts. The challenge of each state to put the $4 billion to use to reshape teacher-evaluation systems, fix struggling schools, and establish data systems is discussed. The fairness of the judging strategy of the states' applications by the U.S. Education Department on criteria is discussed.