The Civic Knowledge Divide

"We are in danger of losing a generation of citizens schooled in the foundations of democracy--and of producing high school graduates who are not broadly educated human beings," warns Dr. Judith L. Pace in her commentary at Education Week on December 18, 2007.

Pace goes on in this commentary to make comments that reinforce what has been mentioned in other "blog postings" at this site and that is that squeezing out social studies occurs disproportionately in low-performing schools with large minority and low-income populations. Yet, these are the very students who could benefit the most from a rich curriculum that encourages civic participation. By not providing them with this opportunity, another inequality divide is created between the haves and the have nots. As Pace indicates, studies point to a glaring gap in civic knowledge based on test scores correlated with socioeconomic background and race or ethnicity.

Although diverse opinions are crucial to a democracy, opinions formed without the proper background civic knowledge will lead to unwise decisions and thus, pave the way for "potentially dire consequences for our democracy."

Pace ends her commentary with a reminder from Linda Darling-Hammond that we who are practitioners and scholars must educate our government about what all our children need in order to be well educated.

Reference
Pace, J. L.(2007). Why we need to save (and strengthen) social studies. Education Week. Retrieved on December 19, 2007 from the World Wide Web: www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/12/19/16pace.h27.html?print=1