Making Civics Count: Citizenship Education for a New Generation

"By nearly every measure, Americans are less engaged in their communities and political activity than generations past." So write the editors of this volume, who survey the current practices and history of citizenship education in the United States. They argue that the current period of "creative destruction"--when schools are closing and opening in response to reform mandates -- is an ideal time to take an in-depth look at how successful strategies and programs promote civic education and good citizenship. "Making Civics Count" offers research-based insights into what diverse students and teachers know and do as civic actors, and proposes a blueprint for civic education for a new generation that is both practical and visionary. The contents of this books include: (1) Introduction (David E. Campbell); (2) What Students Know About Civics and Government (Richard G. Niemi); (3) Education for a Civil Society (Peter Levine); (4) Preparing Pluribus for Unum: Historical Perspectives on Civic Education (Michael C. Johanek); (5) Diversity and Civic Education (Meira Levinson); (6) How to Enrich Civic Education and Sustain Democracy (James Youniss); (7) Dry to Dynamic Civic Education Curricula (Anna Rosefsky Saavedra); (8) Expanding Preservice Teachers' Images of Self, Students, and Democracy (Keith C. Barton); (9) Professional Development as a Tool for Improving Civic Education (Diana Hess and John Zola); (10) Digital Opportunities for Civic Education (Joseph Kahne, Jacqueline Ullman, and Ellen Middaugh); (11) Civic Education in Traditional Public, Charter, and Private Schools: Moving from Comparison to Explanation (David E. Campbell); and (12) Conclusion: The Third "C": College, Career, and "Citizenship" (Meira Levinson).