Important constitutional issues are presented in a manner appropriate for use in the classroom. Case studies and events from the history of Iowa are used to illuminate the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Freedom of expression and students' rights are discussed in "The Black Armband Case"; free exercise of religion as won by the Iowa's…

This essay explores the various definitions of "civitas" and how those definitions have valuable lessons for people. "Civitas" means both a political community or government, especially as found in a republic, and the kind of citizenship a republic requires. Specifically the paper examines the role of government in education…

The essays in this special issue of The Civic Arts Review address three fundamental issues concerning civic education: clarifying the meaning given to the word citizen; the nature of a liberal democratic political community; and (given diversity and pluralism), how educators can cultivate civic-mindedness and communal responsibility. An…

The eight chapters of this theme issue report on analyses of civics education in 17 secondary schools in 6 countries. The analyses focused on national policies on civic education, the impact of these policies on the school curriculum, and the implementation of these policies in school practices. Overall, studies suggest that schools are…

This special issue is intended to help teachers educate students about today's important U.S. Supreme Court and other judicial decisions, the legal issues they involve, and their impact on students' lives. The issue focuses upon the 1995 term of the Supreme Court and the tendency for the justices to vote unanimously. An overview of the cases and…

Three articles on civic education are included in this theme issue. "Civic Education: While Democracy Flourishes Abroad, U.S. Schools Try to Reinvigorate Teaching of Citizenship," provides an overview of the status of civic education in the United States. "Civic Education: Schools Aim to Link Knowledge, Active Lessons in Citizenship" features…

Civics is a subject usually taught only in grades 4, 8, and 12. This article supports the teaching of civics in every grade, every day. The article offers a list of topics for an elementary school civics and government curriculum and suggests an informal elementary school civics curriculum consisting of activities during the school day that…

The goal of civic education should be to develop competent, responsible citizens whose words and actions uphold and enrich the constitutional democracy of the United States. Being a good citizen requires proper knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This forum offers five articles: (1) "Educating Responsible Citizens" (Ivor Pritchard;…

This theme issue of "The Docket" is devoted to national standards and their effects on education reform. National standards may provide the first real opportunity for schools to address the issues of student assessment and achievement. As the touchstone for educational equity, they may be the first real opportunity for teachers to…

This essay chronicles the move toward national standards in the content areas and examines the civics lessons to be learned from the debates. The paper notes the contradiction found in historically advocating local control and support of schools, moving toward the setting of national education goals and standards with little attention paid to…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Civics Assessment measured student knowledge, intellectual and participatory skills, and civic dispositions at the fourth grade level. This publication describes fourth graders' performance based on 30 questions from the fourth-grade assessment. Twenty-three of the thirty questions were…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Civics Assessment measured students' knowledge, their intellectual and participatory skills, and their civic dispositions at the 12th-grade level. This publication describes 12th graders performance on 38 questions from the 12th-grade assessment. Thirty-one of the thirty-eight questions…

A series of articles celebrating the Bicentennial of the Constitution is presented in two volumes. The first article in Volume 1 is an interview by Bernard Murchland with Barbara Jordan discussing the effectiveness of the original Constitution. The second article, "If I Were President," is an interview by Bernard Murchland with Studs…

Descriptions of college programs that integrate civic issues and responsibilities are provided, along with an essay entitled "Liberal Education's Civic Agenda," by Arthur Levine and David Haselkorn. The essay recommends a curriculum that emphasizes such things as basic skills and problem solving, and values and ethics. The program…

This newsletter is designed to be of help to the English as a second language community. This volume includes the following articles and features: "Stress: Helping Refugees Cope"; "BEST Gets Better"; "Integrating English Literacy and Civics"; "Summit Stirs Many Into Action"; "TESOL-AEIS on the Internet"; "Civics for Adult Immigrants"; "BEST Gets…