Well, new this morning, the National Education Report Card was released overnight. It is painting a concerning picture of our students. Academic performances have really slipped over this last year, but some scores hitting lows set in the early 2000s. The latest report card shows kids' history scores are now historically low. The nation's middle schoolers are struggling to explain major themes and events in the country's past and lack of basic understanding of the way government works. You're listening to Civics 101. I'm Nick Capodice. I'm Hannah McCarthy. And today, our second episode in collaboration with iCivics, talking about what Hannah and I learned at the Civic Learning Week National Forum in Philly. Today we are going to hear why, civics-wise, the kids are not alright. But it is not all doom and gloom today. People who are fans of civics and civic education, which I imagine is a large chunk of the people who listen to this very show, those folks are going to get some good news. So stick around. Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run, and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there, integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time, from startups to scale-ups, online, in-person, and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. This is what life sounds like in Hertfordshire. At Essex and Hart's Air Ambulance, we rely entirely on your generosity to keep us flying. Every day we react within seconds to bring life-saving care to those in our county who need it most. Please donate what you can today and help save a life. Such Essex and Hart's Air Ambulance. Alright everyone. So a few seconds ago I said the kids are not alright, but I should really take that back. They are alright and they always will be, at least according to Pete Townsend and the who, but in all honesty we could be doing a better job when it comes to helping them out, at least when it comes to civics. You've probably heard Nick or me talk about this before. When we look at federal dollars appropriated towards civic education, it is compared to what is appropriated for reading or math, a small, small amount. And to call one group out by way of comparison, the federal government spends about $50 per student per year on STEM education. Science, technology, engineering and math. Nick, what is the current spend on civics? The appropriation for fiscal year 26, which will end at the end of September, or at $23 million, which is about $0.46 a student. This is Sean Healy. Sean is the Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer at iCivics. He travels the country constantly to talk to state legislatures and individuals and he advocates for, you know, policy that improves civic education. At $23 million, like you said, it's not a small number, I know, but it is 0.03% of the $63 billion federal education budget. So I know that we do not spend a lot on civics education federally, but how well are we doing when it comes to civic education? Do we test it? Yeah, we sort of do. And this is all part of NAEP, which we refer to as NAEP, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which people also might know as the nation's report card. Civics assessment is not mandatory. States can opt in to see how proficient their students are at civics. But the data we get from NAEP is one massive nationwide assessment of how the United States is doing at civics. Since 2010, we've only done that with eighth graders. And you've seen the headlines, the proficiency numbers in 2022 was at 22% proficiency, which was a little lower than in the past. But that's kind of where we've been stuck in that range, really since the assessments been employed. And down to the state level, by our count, 29 states have some type of assessment in civics, but the majority of them are using some version of the US naturalization test, which is somewhat controversial. What are the main concerns with using the naturalization test? It requires a pretty low level of knowledge. So what are the colors of the stripes on the flag? Or what do they mean? For example, not saying that that's not important. But the concern is that if that's all we're teaching in civics, that's insufficient. 22% proficiency. Does that make it our weakest subject? So the only test that seems to worse on the nation's report card is American history. So we're at 15% proficiency there on the last test. So we see the two very much tethered, right? That US history and civics need to be taught in sequence and they speak to one another, but those are the lowest scores of all the subjects tested by NAEP. It speaks to the broader marginalization of social studies, right? And in particular, just imagine if we weren't teaching reading in math in K5, right? And we're in a place now where we're lucky if students are getting 20 minutes a day on social studies. I don't know about you, Nick, but my recollection of elementary school growing up was social studies was right there with the other subjects, right? It wasn't bigger, but it was very equivalent. And that is just not the case. I have a daughter in elementary school and they teach social studies like every other semester, so they alternate social studies and science. Did you have social studies in eighth grade, Hannah? I did. I did, too. I think there was some geography in there as well. I may have mentioned it in another episode, but our teacher started every class by asking us how you're doing, and we were supposed to shout, hungry. This was a reference to all the president's men, where Harry Rosenfeld is talking about Woodward and Bernstein. He won't sound the story bad. They both do. He knows a lot of people. Powered or hungry. You remember when you were hungry? So what happened? How did we get to 20 minutes a day on social studies and such low proficiency scores? Yeah, I mean, a big driver of this was No Child Left Behind, which goes back 25 years now. In many states, I'm here in Illinois, we had a state social studies test, and essentially that law said we're going to hold you accountable for student performance in reading and math. So many states, Jettison, assessments and other subject areas. As they say, unfortunately, in the current year, if you don't test it, you don't teach it. So schools are punished and rewarded for student performance and reading and math. So that's where the attention lies. And I think it's also fair to say some of the retrenchment and the teaching of civics and social studies proceeded. No Child Left Behind. So this didn't just start in 2001, 2002. It's controversial, right? So broadly, American support, teaching American history and civics, that's a 90-10 issue. But then when you get into what we teach, how we teach, that's more controversial, right? And unfortunately, at this moment, if it's too hot to touch, you might put it over there, right? So it's the combination of not being a priority from the perspective of policy and then in some corners being considered too hot to handle. Nick. What? It's a grim picture. Yeah, some people may consider civics and US history too hot to handle, but it is us. I don't mean you and me, Nick Capitice and Hannah McCarthy. I mean, civics is about understanding how we are governed, how we operate, how we got here, how we negotiate with each other, talk to each other. Do you have any good news? I tied you. And the good news is that while federal support and programs focused on civics is frankly rather anemic, there is a title shift at the state level. This spring, we've been tracking over 240 bills in 40 states that impact civic education. And some of those big ones are already across the finish line. Many states are already adjourning. Just as we're recording this just yesterday, Alaska passed legislation that requires a high school course in civics, an assessment in civics, and a civic diploma seal. Mississippi adopted a high school course requirement. Civic diploma seals just exploding. What are civic diploma seals? This is something that at the start of this year about a dozen states did where they recognized high school students for excellence in civics by putting a state seal on their diploma. So 10 more states are currently in the process of adopting states of exiles. They have either signed it into law or it is currently in a bill moving through the legislative process. It's not crazy to say we could see 50 state adoption of civic diploma seals by 2030. The reason I think they're spreading so quickly is there are several reasons, but one, pretty easy to adopt. We're not mandating a new course. This is voluntary. So it's more of a carrot approach versus a stick approach. It aligns with what lots of other states are doing with respect to putting forth portraits of a graduate. And so 26 states have already put forth these portraits. And they are not overly civic, but there are certainly civic skills or competencies that they prioritize. So information literacy, for example, the ability to have conversations across ideological divides, engagement in communities. These are often part of graduate portraits and civic seals very much aligned with those. So I think we're moving to a place where civic competencies are prioritized and schools and districts and states will need to think of young people's civic development, not just in a single high school class, but over a K-12 trajectory. So that's a really positive development. So these seals aren't just proof that you know the three branches and that Marbury versus Madison established judicial review. They are evidence that you are someone who does the work of being a citizen. You're informed. You participate in your community. Yeah. And if you're leaving high school, this can go on your resume or your college application, but whatever. All right. So that is good news. Number one, here is the second shift. We are, for the first time in decades, changing how we assess civics. The National Assessment Governing Board approved a week ago expansion of the NAEP civics assessment as soon as 2028. So they were just in the field this spring doing the eighth grade assessment again. But come 2028, they're going to do the eighth grade assessment and they're going to do it expanded to allow state level data, which we've never had for civics. We have that in reading and math. States have to opt in, so some may not. But in having that data, we'll be able to compare how states are doing relative to one another with respect to civics. So that's kind of the other side, the kind of carrot stick approach, civic seals and this new NAEP assessment. Also kind of inside baseball, but they are going to revise the framework. Meaning what? They're rewriting the questions? Yeah. They're going to be linked to the current assessment and the show notes just in case any of you out there want to take a crack at it and see how well you do on sample questions versus an eighth grader. But these questions, Hannah, they have not been revised in a long time. How long? For an NAEP civics, so it hasn't been revised since the 1990s. The 1990s? My so-called life in Buffy. Blossom in Beverly Hills, 90210, Hannah. Just a little bit is changing our politics since then. It's not, it's very focused on institutions. The three branches of government, et cetera. But doesn't recognize, I think, the fact that our democracy has become increasingly digital, right? So the way we engage in democracy is so different. It is very, you know, it's probably the best characterization of the framework is it is a mile wide and an inch deep. So as we teach about the three branches of government, for example, it's not just important that we can name the three branches of government, but can we talk about how they interact with one another, right? These divided and shared powers. And then, you know, this is a very right conversation in this moment. How is that balance of power evolved over time? Like that's the level of conceptual understanding we'd like to see this new framework encompass. And the reason this is so important is that we read that big scary national 22% proficiency number. But like we so often say in other episodes, Hannah, states do education, right? Not the federal government. And if we can see which states are doing better at civics and which states need help, that can make a big change. But I have to add states have to opt into this voluntarily. So whether they do or not will remain to be seen. Did Sean say if there was any indication that a lot of states would do this? We cannot know for sure. But he is pretty hopeful. The call hasn't happened yet. But we heard from our friends at Nagbee that they had an informational meeting and 45 states showed up. So that was surprising and really encouraging. What I didn't point out with those civics seals programs is there are red states, there are blue states, there are purple states, you know, that there's there's this broad adoption. And that's really encouraging to me. All right, Nick. So that is how we in terms of states are changing policy to improve civic education. But what about the kids themselves? How did they think they're doing? Well, I'm going to share some students thoughts, three students to be exact, three people who also happen to be among the brightest civic minds I have ever encountered in my whole life right after a quick break. All right, so just the other day, I took a bus from Portland, Maine, where it was cool and breezy to Manhattan, New York. And as we're pulling into the city, I look out the window at all the breezily dressed people gliding around and I realize, oh no, I forgot to check the weather. So there I am, melting my way down 43rd Street and this effortless creature crosses my path, wearing a dress so perfectly cool and light and chic. And I think to myself, I want that dress. And then I think to myself, wait a minute, I know that dress and I know where to get it. And that would be quints. 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And you can donate what you can to the next generation of solar panels. And you can donate what you can to the next generation of solar panels. And now, sitting on stage with some of the most accomplished people I've ever met, who happen to be children, I'm starting to feel bad about myself. If you're an adult in this room and you hear what these kids have done already, you might feel a little bit of that too. But far more than that, you'll feel really good about the future. This is from a panel at the Civic Learning Week National Forum, where fellow Civic explainer Ben Sheehan, he's the host of Civics Made Easy on PBS, check it out. Ben was interviewing some very accomplished high schoolers on what kind of policies they cared about, what they're up to in their schools. So they got off the stage and I was able to snag them for a few minutes to hear what they are seeing in the classroom. I talked to Ava June Tackett. I'm Ava June Tackett and I'm a sophomore at Johnson Central High School in Johnson County, Kentucky. To Shreya Raman. Hi, my name is Shreya Raman. I go to Basis Aotuk, Yama Junior in Phoenix, Arizona. And to Ben Curran. I'm Ben Curran, I'm a current sophomore from Olentonji Liberty High School. I'm in Powell, Ohio, that's the suburb of Columbus, Ohio. So I started my civics journey, I guess, in the National Civics Speed through the Chamber of Commerce Foundation. And my speech and essay was over improving civics education in schools. Again, I got to create a community problem-solving project called Young Government. I got to write a children's book called Honestly Abe. I've advised for the Arizona Board of Education, the Charter School Board, and the Governors' Commission. I've given a TED Talk and I work in politics, so I managed my first ever campaign of 14. We lost. I think really three formative experiences I've seen through my civic identity, the first one being filmmaking. So when I was in seventh grade, I realized Ohio was a leader in national opioid deaths. So I created a documentary about that, trying to raise awareness, break the stigma. I was fortunate to win first prize in a national competition, hosted by the C-SPAN Network. And ever since then, I've been creating a lot more documentaries on a variety of different civic issues. So I asked them first, what's it like where you go to school? Like, what do you feel personally about how things are going in your civics classroom? Teachers are terrified to teach civics because, like I said, it is so polarized. And I'm from Kentucky, which, and it's no secret that Kentucky is one of the most polarized states in the nation. But teachers are scared of the Facebook posts that follow. They're scared of the classroom switches that happen. And it leads to the not teaching civics because it's safer to not. But when you think about it, it's not safer because if you don't teach basic principles and how to be involved, then you face a nation that is not educated. And that is the scariest thing that our nation is facing is people that are, they don't know what they're talking about. I'm a teacher's assistant, a TA for AP government. And so the class is an ITAN. They're such curious kids. They're all freshmen because my school makes all of us take AP government as freshmen. And they're so curious about especially what's going on with current events and how that relates to the curriculum. And I watch my government teacher get all these questions and there's always a sense of like, what will parents say? What will administrators say if I talk about this issue, especially when you're asking about something like current events? Like what's going on internationally? What's going on domestically in America? And teachers are so scared to talk about it because even though it's such vital information, there's always going to be a parent out there or an administrator or a policymaker out there who's going to see it as brainwashing children, which I don't think informing children is brainwashing them. When a student asks in class what's happening with this legislation, what's happening with this country, they're asking because they want to know they're curious about the world around them. And it's so dangerous telling teachers they have to squash that curiosity for the sake of not being controversial because controversy is not a bad thing. Everything is controversial. We're seeing a lot of polarization. That is undeniable. Party-specific advocacy. So what our students do, or 32 high school undergrad and med students, they come to us. They bring us a specific bill that's being worked on or trying to be passed through the House or Senate. And they tell us, hey, I support this issue or I don't support this issue. And it's usually never party-based. It's more just based on the issue like, do I like the implementation of this bill? Or do I not? Maybe it's teaching kids more about specific issues or specific policies. I think that specificity is the way to drive out polarization and to foster a better civic education. Then I said to them, look, you are three of the most civically engaged students in the nation. You've either written a book, you've made a documentary, you've run a political campaign. What advice would you give to a fellow student who feels that they don't have the opportunity you've had? Someone who maybe feels like, hey, great, when I'm 18, I can vote. But politicians don't seem to care that much about young voters and young voters don't have a good turnout. Maybe this is someone who feels a little disenchanted by politics in general. What would you say to that student? When you talk about the inherent pessimism surrounding people in terms of political efficacy, I really want to emphasize that pessimism does not bring inefficiency. One of the best things you can do as an informed citizen is being able to critique the country you love. And so whether it's through basic civic actions like voting or things like volunteering for a campaign, phone banking, going door-to-door for a cause that you really care about, those are all things that's available to everyone. I cannot stress enough how every political candidate in your state is going to have and look for volunteers to phone bank, to go door-to-door and talk about certain issues. I've done that so many different times. I help lead phone banking now. There will always be an opportunity to advocate for a cause that you really care about. So I really think it's important to emphasize that civics isn't always politics. Politics has turned into kind of a dirty word in America right now because we are so polarized more than ever before. And so civics is not, it can be politics. Don't get me wrong. I mean being involved in the campaign is great and that's wonderful work that you're doing. But civics is on a more general scale anything to impact your community. And that's what kids need to realize is when they talk to, whenever they go play basketball with their friends from other school districts, that's civics because you're making a connection. Civics is being involved, making the connections of people in your community and not letting the word community be limited to where you're at. Children are inherently very innocent right? We are super like enthusiastic, engaged. I have a family friend who's a three-year-old who will just go on and on and on about a variety of topics. But I think it really means that just like we care, like we are like pretty much involved. So that isn't really the problem. It's more just knowing how to get involved. So I think the way to know how to get involved is to just like see the impact that you know society has on you. It's not a problem of them being interested or like wanting to help out their community because I'm sure they do. It's more just like knowing that they can do that and how to do that. So I think giving students the tools to you know maybe how to reach out to a local policymaker or giving them the tools to advocate maybe on social media. There's so many different avenues today especially you know living in the 21st century to be civically engaged and I think it's just teaching our children just how to use those tools. I know a lot of people who from less fortunate backgrounds who always talk about how they don't have time time for politics or time for civics because they're trying to put food on the table for their family. You fix that issue by advocating politically, by having civic engagement. If you're struggling to put food on the table, if you're watching your parents struggle to make a living the way you fix that systemically is by advocating for policies to raise the minimum wage or for more affordable healthcare. That's how you make a difference and no matter what issue you're struggling with there will always be a political avenue for you to take to fix that issue. Nick you called this episode why kids are having a tough time. But it feels like not only are the kids alright, maybe because of them the rest of us are going to be. Do you think I could use like a who sample or would I get in the trouble for that? That's it for this who this episode on how students feel they're doing in the civics classroom. This episode is made in collaboration with iCivics by me and Nicape DiCie with you Hannah McCarthy. Thank you. Our staff includes producer Marina Henke, producer Dana Cattaldo and executive producer Rebecca Levoie. Music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions, Epidemic Sound and the wondrous Chris Sabrisky. Civics 101 is production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio. By the way New Hampshire just signed a bill doing the civics seals. True story. Check it out Sid. See you later. Music in the background. Have you ever wondered why Reese Witherspoon founded Hello Sunshine or where Kevin O'Leary got his start? Or even how Alex Earl became the most accessible founder to someone who may not even consider this space? Enter the Founder Mindset, the new podcast from Harvard Business School Foundry hosted by me, Reza Satchu. As a leading educator in entrepreneurship I've built multiple high profile companies and mentored thousands of students and founders through the realities of starting and scaling ventures. 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