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Credit: Flickr
Education Dive
Chief Justice Roberts urges focus on civics ed
Linda Jacobson@lrj417
Jan. 2, 2020
Dive Brief:
Writing that "civic education has fallen by the wayside," Chief Justice
John Roberts noted in the Supreme Court's 2019 year-end report what the
federal court system is doing to contribute to students’ knowledge of
how government works.
"Classroom-ready" materials, teacher training resources and
opportunities for students to participate in mock proceedings are among
the efforts led by the judiciary’s administration. Roberts also
highlighted how some appellate courts have made courthouses "available
as forums for civic education."
"Civic education, like all education, is a continuing enterprise and
conversation," he wrote. "Each generation has an obligation to pass on
to the next, not only a fully functioning government responsive to the
needs of the people, but the tools to understand and improve it."
Dive Insight:
The chief justice’s comments come as recent international test results
show teens in the U.S. — and across the world — are not showing
proficiency on tasks asking them to recognize the difference between
fact and opinion. Other studies have also shown U.S. students are
easily misled by online content.
“In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false
information on a grand scale, the public’s need to understand our
government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital,”
Roberts wrote.
Civics education — or the inconsistent access to it across districts in
Rhode Island — is also the key issue in a federal class action lawsuit
argued last month before the U.S Circuit Court in that state.
Roberts noted retired justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s iCivics, which
takes a video game approach, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s work to
further the program as additional efforts to teach civics through a
medium students enjoy. State courts are also supporting students’
knowledge of the legal system. The Ohio Supreme Court, for example,
recently introduced a curriculum for high school students that focuses
on court cases relevant to teens’ lives.
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