For the Nation’s Report Card: Civics 2010, from the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 30,000 fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders “responded to questions designed to measure the civics knowledge and skills that are critical to the responsibilities of citizenship in America’s constitutional democracy.” While scores for the youngest grade rose over the past decade, middle schoolers held steady and high-schoolers even took a step back. Only 24% of twelfth graders were deemed “proficient” in civics and (moving over to the History tests) just “12% of high school seniors demonstrate a solid grasp on their nation’s history.”

In yesterday’s “Answer Sheet,” Mark Phillips, professor emeritus of secondary education at San Francisco State University, had an incisive response to these frustrating numbers. First, he rightly pointed out that “the ability to name each of the amendments to the Constitution” (which most adults cannot do either) is perhaps not as important as a strong theoretical grasp of the US’ economic structure or the balance of powers. He went on to ask:

Why should they want to learn more about our political and economic systems? Why should they care about the Constitution? And why should we expect them to have any faith in their power to affect change?

[...] Students’ sense of empowerment can be enhanced by increased knowledge and skills, but must also include opportunities to actively apply them. Project-based social studies education that gives students simulated experience with politics and economics can help. A focus on deconstructing television news and providing an ongoing corrective to its miseducation, is critical. School policy changes that involve students in the governance of schools and in community projects would help teach hands-on social studies.

To which I can simply say: good point. While all academic subjects need not have a precise practical application, subjects certainly can become more intriguing when they are found out in the world — rather than just on the test. In other words, high school seniors can memorize every amendment to the Constitution, but very few will retain that information unless they can see and appreciate how often those amendments crop up in everyday life: on television, on the Internet, in their communities. Moreover, with the sheer volume of information now available on television and on the Internet, who can blame students for not being quite sure what is “right?”

So perhaps the question is not, how can we make civics education more effective? But rather, how can we make it more interesting and empowering? And does it begin with teaching debate, rather than memorization?