civics

It’s Constitution Day!

Eduflack civics

Today, September 17, is Constitution Day. It recognizes the date that the U.S. Constitution was officially adopted as the law that governed our land.

As kids, many of us learned the Preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

As adults, we often forget the content of the seven Articles or even how many amendments there have been since its passage. Hopefully, we are aware of the Bill of Rights (those first 10 Amendments.)

As it is Constitution Day, I can’t help but think of my first job out of college. I was fortunate enough to work as an aide to U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV) both while at the University of Virginia and after graduation. Those who know the Senate know that Senator Byrd was one of the Constitution’s staunchest defenders. In his decades on the Hill, he never was without a pocket edition of the U.S. Constitution. He was known to pull it out during committee hearings, referencing our Founding Fathers’ words when witnesses would forget the basis on which this nation was founded.

I still have the pocket version of the Constitution Senator Byrd gave me when I worked for him as a foolish 20-year-old communications intern. Can’t think of today without thinking of the senior senator from the great state of West Virginia, who gave me my first job in communications.

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(And thanks to Anne Barth, another former Byrd staffer and state director extraordinaire, for the great photo reminder this AM.)

“The function of education …”

Eduflack civics

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I Have a Dream” — August 28, 1963
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” — April 16, 1963
“Where Do We Go From Here” — August 16, 1967

A Teachable Moment on Columbus Day

Eduflack civics, Parents

So Eduflack comes from a proud Italian-Amerian family (at least on my paternal side).  My paternal grandfather, the man I was named after, was born Ponzion Ricciardelli.  He was first generation American.  His family came in through Boston, instead of Ellis Island, and you can still find a slew of Ricciardellis stomping around Beantown.

He changed his name to Patrick Riccards in the 1950s, but the pride in our heritage never changed.  My father’s mother is both a Finelli and a Peron (yes, our family is partly responsible for Evita’s 15 and a half minutes of fame).  And as the genealogy goes, I am also descendent of proud Italians who fought on Garibaldi’s right hand in the liberation of Italy itself.
Over the weekend, my princesa, now in the first grade, began telling me all she learned this week about Christopher Columbus.  Typically, Columbus is another one of those pride points for an Italian-American family.  She told me about the three ships and how he sailed, and how he came to America to “discover a land for you and me.”
Those who know me know that both of my children are adopted from Guatemala.  And they know how proud we are of that, as a family.  Both my kids know they are adopted.  They both know about Guatemala  And they both fight us each week as they have to get up extra early for their weekly Spanish class before school starts.  We want them to be proud of their heritage, both that which they were born into and that into which they were adopted.
So imagine my surprise as I took this lesson as a teachable moment to remind my princesa of where she comes from.  First, I congratulated her for all that she had learned and the poem she had written about Columbus.  I then explained to her how she is descendent of the Mayan civilization, and the advances they achieved and how much they had done well before Columbus ever set foot on North America. 
We talked about what descendent meant, about what the Mayan did, and to remind he of where she came from.  She seemed to get most of it.  Asked a few additional questions, then went back to playing with her horses.
In years past, Columbus Day was always one of those great points of pride.  It is still true.  And while I am one of the last people who would ever be called “politically correct,” I found the need to explain, to make sure my kids shared the same pride about their heritage that I do, and understand that there is often more to the story than they might originally hear.
Heritage in an adopted family can be a tricky thing.  By blood, my kiddos are Guatemalan with Mayan ancestry.  On my paternal side, I have my proud Italian-American family.  On my maternal side, I am German-Irish-Scottish, with the Scots bringing a family tie to William the Bruce (of Braveheart fame) and of an alleged witch who was stoned to death in the village square.
The edu-wife offers up a paternal side of Russian Jews.  On her maternal side, she is descendent of an actual signer of the Declaration of Independence (from the Commonwealth of Virginia) and a pirate of the same era.  
We are the American melting pot.  So on this Columbus Day, I am proud of my heritage and equally proud of where my children come from.  I am proud of the Ricciardellis immigrating through Boston, and of my two kiddos immigrating through Houston as I helped them get sworn in as citizens in the bowels of Bush International Airport as they were seven and 13 months old.
Life is full of teachable moments.  I’m glad I was able to take advantage of this one and hope my kids will be able to share the same moment as they explain where they come from and what makes them who they are today, be it Mayan Guatemalan, Italian Catholic, Russian Jew, and pirate.
 

Downright Uncivil!

Eduflack Achievement gap, assessment, civics, NAEP

The new NAEP scores are here!  The new NAEP scores are here!  This morning, the National Assessment Governing Board released the Civics 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4, 8, and 12.  While trying to put a good spin on the data (civics knowledge for fourth graders is creeping up), the overall results were disappointing.  For the age group that such an assessment is most important — 12th graders — scores have slipped since 2006.

When it comes to civics knowledge, only 27 percent of 4th graders scored proficient or better.  For eighth graders, only 22 percent scored proficient or better.  And just 24 percent of 12th graders hit that magic proficient level.  So less than a quarter of all students surveyed are able to demonstrate a proficient knowledge of civics, at least as the NAEP measures it.
What does that mean?  According to the information provided by the U.S. Department of Education, a proficient fourth grader is able to identify a purpose of the U.S. Constitution.  An eighth grader should recognize a role performed by the Supreme Court.  And those 12th graders should be able to define the term “melting pot” and argue if it applies to the United States.  To put it in further perspective, an advanced eighth grader should name two actions citizens can take to encourage Congress to pass a law, while an advanced 12th grader should be able to compare the citizenship requirements of the U.S. to other countries.
Clearly, we are not getting enough Schoolhouse Rock into our K-12 institutions.  Or maybe ED needs to rotate out Conjunction Junction from its hold music and start playing some of the civics segments from the legendary series.
Seriously though, the new NAEP scores offer up a few lessons that our policymakers and practitioners must consider:
* Is it adequate to measure civics education just once every four years, particularly when most states don’t have civics or social studies state assessments? 
* If it is adequate, then do we consider civics a priority?  At the end of the day, does it matter if a junior high student knows how a bill becomes a law?
* As the Common Core State Standards Initiative comes on line in the states, will its strict emphasis on English/language arts and math further marginalize civics education in the United States?
* Will we treat social studies as a core academic subject (as we do English, math and, usually, science) under the new ESEA?
No one questions the importance of English or math in getting our students college and career ready.  But at the end of the day, civics education helps make students “life ready.”  Without a “proficient” knowledge of history and government and related social sciences, how do we expect today’s students to participate in tomorrow’s representative democracy?  How do we boost voter participation rates, particularly of knowledgeable voters?  How do we develop a more participatory citizenry?
Then again, sometimes a trend line is just a trend line.  It’s not like we need to ride between Lexington and Concord (Massachusetts, of course) shouting about NAEP scores, do we?

We the People …

Eduflack civics

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will begin the day today by reading the U.S. Constitution into the record.  Experts say that this is the first time that the Constitution will be read, in its entirety, before the people’s Representatives.  

Throughout his career, one of Eduflack’s former bosses and mentors — Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia — was known never to be without a copy of the Constitution on his person.  Byrd and Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN) have long led the fight to ensure that civics remain a central part of our K-12 curriculum.  So in recognition of today’s reading and a former mentor’s commitment to the document that defines our model of government, Eduflack offers up the Preamble to the Constitution (which hopefully we all know by heart) as well as some interesting links related to the document.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  
Primary Documents in U.S. History (courtesy of The Library of Congress)

We’re Not Watching Our Schoolhouse Rock

Eduflack civics, polls

As it is the Independence Day weekend, there are two bits of information dear ol’ Eduflack simply can’t pass up.  The first comes to us from the Associated Press, where Lauren Sausser reported on a recent analysis of the original Declaration of Independence conducted by scientists at the Library of Congress.  Using the latest technologies, they can see that Thomas Jefferson accidentally used the word “subjects” instead of “citizens” when first declaring our independence, undoubtedly a force of habit after a lifetime under the rule of the monarch.  Like most good writers, he simply “erased” the error, replaced it with citizen, and the rest is history.  Guess that means there is still hope for us educators who can’t help but let works like phonics, scientifically based, AYP, and NCLB to slip through out lips.

While the University of Virginia graduate and all-around Jeffersonian in me was quite taken by the AP story (and talked about it most of yesterday), I was even a little more taken by the Marist University poll Eduflack read last evening.  Chalk it up to being the son of a political scientist or a whole host of reasons, but seeing polls on what Americans know about history and civics can be like watching a car wreck for me.
As this is Independence Day weekend, Marist decided to ask a very simple question.  In honor of this national holiday, the researchers asked, “On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day.  From which country did the United States win its independence?”
A whopping 74 percent of Americans were able to answer the question correctly (and please don’t make Eduflack give the correct answer).  Those from the Northeast knew far better than those from the South.  Those with higher household incomes were more knowledgeable than those with incomes below $50K.  America’s youth (those under 29) seem ignorant of such things.  And men know their early American history far better than women seem to.  
Of the 26 percent who do not know who the 13 colonies fought to win their independence, most simply declared themselves as “unsure,” or unwilling to hazard a guess.  But of those incorrect answers, the most prominent ones were France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain.
Fighting China or Japan or Mexico for our freedom definitely puts a different spin on Schoolhouse Rock’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” that’s for sure.  Maybe a quick look at that video can remind that 26 percent who fought who.
Regardless, hopefully these numbers remind us why we need to continue to fund the K-12 civics programs long advocated by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN)  the recently departed U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (WV).
Happy Independence Day!