Participating in a democracy is learned behavior. It takes years to develop the ability to understand the complexity of issues, to negotiate the challenges of political change and to act effectively on behalf of the common good. One doesn't simply acquire this knowledge and learn these skills through a senior elective civics course in high school.…

The superintendent of the Hudson Public Schools in Massachusetts describes educators' challenges to educate disaffected and disaffiliated youth. Recent research shows that prosocial behavior is stimulated by unity of one's sense of self and one's morality, sense of connectedness to others, and sense of meaning arising from contributing to…

Because the national education agenda is focused on standards, testing, and accountability, schools are at risk of narrowly defining their mission as improving test scores. In this environment, it is easy to forget that public education serves a larger civic mission. Preserving and promoting a democratic society was the founding precept of the…

In this article, the author discusses the pedagogical negligence on civic education after 9/11 due to the No Child Left Behind Policy resulting in several counterproductive restructuring of curricula, which include the creation of a core ninth-grade course in civics, integrated service learning across the curriculum, and the restructuring of…

Hudson, Massachusetts, an industry-based, socioeconomically diverse community with 2,800 students in six schools, developed a comprehensive preK-12 service-learning program. Parent support, ongoing professional development, curriculum planning time, administrative support, and sustained funding have helped the program achieve districtwide…