Civic Education Policy Change: Case Studies of Florida, Tennessee, and Hawaii

Doug Dobson, Executive Director of the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government at the University of Central Florida and one of the bill’s biggest champions, the purpose of the legislation was to “return civics to the Florida curriculum in a systematic way, in hopes that by doing that we strengthen Florida’s overall civic health and the level of civic involvement across the state. [...] Following the passage of the 2006 legislation, the Florida Association of Social Studies Supervisors (an organization dominated by teachers) and the Florida Council for the Social Studies began advocating for legislation to include civics in the FCAT. [...] Originally, it was proposed that students would have to pass the civics EOC assessment in order to receive credit for the course, regardless of the grade the teacher assigned the student. [...] According to Janis Kyser, a leader of the Tennessee Center for Civic Learning and Engagement (TCCLE), the purpose of the bill was to provide a foundation for students to engage in a local community-based issue and to encourage the teaching of “deeper civics.” As Kyser explained, “In order to do the assessment, students would have had to be actively involved in a local community issue.” It would no. [...] and the completeness of it, the rigor of it, varied depending on who and how messages were being delivered.” Although the proposal to eliminate the course mandate was defeated, interviewees still indicate that social studies and civics may not be a priority for the Hawaii Department of Education.