The framers of the US Constitution realized that democracy would only work when citizens are included in making decisions. Civic responsibility means not only to possess knowledge of government, but to learn about processes and institutions that are effective in improving community conditions, developing skills necessary to participate in policymaking processes, and developing a mentality that includes performing lifelong service for the common good. However, a lack of civic engagement and civic literacy is widespread among American youth, according to a study directed by Kenneth Tolo of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

Sadly, many state policymakers and educators give lip service to the importance of civic education and fail to provide the students with the civic education that they deserve. Students often do not have the civic knowledge, higher-order civic intellectual skills, and civic dispositions necessary to connect civics facts and concepts to the responsibilities of citizenship. The National Assessment of Educational Progress assessed students’ knowledge, skills, and performance in Civics. The 1998 assessment was based on a newly developed civics framework. In order to perform well on the assessment, students needed not only to identify and describe factual information, but also to explain, analyze, evaluate, and take and defend a particular position. The goal of this new NAEP civics assessment is to measure how well American youth are being prepared to meet their citizenship responsibilities.
The 1998 assessment found:

• About 70 percent of the students in all three grades were at or above the Basic level in civics performance.
• About 25 percent of students at each grade level performed at or above the "Proficient" level.
• Two percent of the students at grades 4 and 8 performed at "Advanced”.
• 4 percent at grade 12 performed at the highest achievement level, "Advanced”.

The remaining 30 to 35 percent of the students at each grade performed below the Basic level.

Illinois, Kentucky and North Dakota are among ten states with the lowest percentage of their standards’ for Civic Intellectual Skills written in the highest level category of the NAEP framework. In these states 0% of national standards statements fall into the highest-order thinking skills category.

Illinois law requires a test on topics related to civics but does not require a specific course of instruction. The statute simply requires that "American patriotism and the principle of representative government, as enunciated in the American Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the proper use and display of the American flag shall be taught.” The statue then follows with the assessment provision: "No student shall receive a certificate of graduation without passing a satisfactory examination upon such subjects.”

Brain research shows that the emotional well being of a person is the strongest predictor of achievement in school and on the job. Therefore, young people need learning experiences that engage positive emotions. The Compact for Learning and Citizenship, the Education for Commission of the States K-12 service-learning project, attained data about where states are institutionalizing service learning into public schools. Their analysis found that:

• 23 states make no mention of service learning in any state policy.
• 5 states proposed legislation relating to service learning (2000) but none of the bills passed.

For example, Illinois has not institutionalized service learning into its education policy. It is mentioned in Illinois Administrative Code, Title 47 Ch. IV. Part 610 (2000). Selection criteria for proposals for the Illinois AmeriCorps program include the "ability to provide…service learning and other education opportunities…to members.”

Nationally, federal legislation is being considered in the House with H.R. 1557 which would permit local education agencies to use funds from the innovative education program to support some community service programs and Senator Lamar Alexander’s legislation entitled "American History and Civics Education Act" (S 504) which passed the Senate 90-0 on June 20 and is expected to receive House consideration shortly. The Paul Simon Civic Education Act is expected to be introduced in the House.

The Center for Civic Education, CCE, has articulated the principles that should guide the development and implementation of state civics standards and related policies in every state.

•  "Education in civics and government should not be incidental, but be a central purpose of education.
•  "Civics and government is a subject equal in importance to other subjects.
•  "Civics and government should be taught explicitly and systematically from Kindergarten through twelfth grade whether as separate units and courses or as part of courses in other subjects.
• Each state’s set of civics policies should include requirements that ensure that civic education is a part of every student’s learning experiences repeatedly through grades K-12.

In states that already have statewide assessments in subjects other than civics, these assessments clearly drive resource allocation. What is assessed receives the time, attention, and funding; consequently, testing other subjects but not testing civics ensures that civics content will be marginalized and virtually ignored by many school administrators and teachers

By integrating civics content throughout standards covering other topics, states emphasize that civics is not to be relegated to one small part of students’ instructional program but can be infused throughout the curriculum. The question remains, however, whether civics will be integrated in other courses. The CCE feels it is essential that each state incorporate a strong commitment to civic education in its statutes and other state education policies.

Civic education should have attention and resources comparable to other core subjects. A state truly committed to improving the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions of its citizenry must put the assessment of civics on an equal footing with that of other subjects. State policies must ensure that, whatever assessment system is used by the state this system makes absolutely clear to all educators in the state that civic education is a high priority. While I agree that it is particularly difficult to place additional mandates on the school systems around the country, I believe if we do not take the time and resources today to educate our children about the relevance of the United States Constitution; how it affects them and the responsibility that it takes to protect it, we may effectively miss our window of opportunity only to see damage done to this document, damage that will shortly become irreparable.

Nancy Salvato is a middle school teacher in Illinois and an independent contractor for Prism Educational Consulting. She is the Educational Liaison to IL Sen. Ray Soden and she works with national and local organizations furthering the cause of Civic Education. She is a columnist for American Daily, The Common Voice, GOP-USA, OpinionEditorials and The New Media Journal.us. Her writing has been recognized by the US Secretary of Education. She has been published in The Washington Times, The Washington Dispatch, Iconoclast, Free Republic Network & Townhall.com., as well as other nationally and internationally published media outlets.