When student Landon F. set out to understand why so few of his peers engaged in community activities and other forms of civic life, he found an answer he didn’t expect: His school, Frewsburg Central High School in western New York, offered no civics course. He decided to change that.
Landon organized a student petition committee, cultivated teacher advocates, and eventually presented to his school board. With support from a Carnegie Youth Fellowship through iCivics — a nonprofit that helps schools and students all over America engage in civics education — Landon also interviewed students from across the country about their civics education.
“Hearing how people from all over different parts of the country have different civic experiences is crazy to me,” he said. “You would think there would be a standard to this — civic education requirements, voting, basic engagement, etc. It really makes me think about what we need to do differently.”
Landon’s school isn’t an outlier. In the U.S., civics is often only a single semester in high school, if it’s taught at all, despite research showing that 92% of Americans think civic education is important for our country’s success. Research shows that strong civic learning encourages students to volunteer in their community, advocate for causes they care about, discuss local issues at home, and vote in elections. That’s the foundation that iCivics, a grantee of the Hewlett Foundation’s Education program, is working inside and outside the classroom to give every student in America.
Founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics develops free, high-quality educational games, curriculum and classroom tools that help young people understand and participate in democratic life. Every year, its resources reach 9 million students and are used by teachers in 80% of U.S. counties, across school size, in urban and rural districts, and in red, blue, and purple states.
“Civic education is one of the most powerful, underutilized levers we have for protecting human agency and constitutional democracy as the world shifts around us,” said iCivics CEO Louise Dubé. “We must act now to strengthen it on a national scale and reposition it at the center of our education system.”
iCivics designs its curricula to meet students where they are. Its Through Inquiry curriculum has students lead their own learning by asking compelling questions, evaluating primary sources, and completing a capstone project that brings what they’ve learned to life. And because curriculum is only as effective as the teachers who deliver it, iCivics also builds educator capacity through professional development offerings ranging from full courses to immediately actionable workshops.
Beyond curricular and teacher supports, games from iCivics guide students through the democratic process, ensure students understand the history of our nation and the rights they enjoy, demonstrate the consequences of their decisions, and help them develop the civil discourse skills they need to navigate diverse perspectives.
- In the game Neighborhood Good students step into a fictional neighborhood and pick a local challenge to tackle — such as decreasing food waste or supporting a local animal shelter. They meet with their neighbors, listen to their concerns and ideas, and use what they learn to build a plan to help. Students then see how working together benefits the community’s residents.
- In Investigation Declaration, students become special agents tasked with redrawing connections between Enlightenment ideas and the Declaration of Independence and identifying how those ideas spread across the Atlantic World over the course of a century.
According to Johns Hopkins research, iCivics resources build students’ critical thinking capacities. They also develop their ability to communicate, collaborate, evaluate information, and be creative — skills that will set them up to succeed in the economy of the future.
After using iCivics resources, students often voice things like: “I didn’t realize I had a role in this.” Teachers share that iCivics games and other tools also encourage students who once hesitated to participate to now raise their hands, engage in class conversations, and dive into their curriculum with excitement.
“No matter what plans students have for life after high school — whatever their career plans, however they may continue their education — all students will be members of communities where they will need agency to raise their voices and make an impact. Civics teaches skills, knowledge, and disposition that will be needed by all,” said Shannon Salter, iCivics Educator Network Teacher.
iCivics is also working outside of classrooms alongside advocates and policymakers to ensure more students are taught these skills. Their CivxNow project, the nation’s largest cross-partisan coalition working to prioritize civic learning in the United States, has encouraged more than 30 states to adopt over 50 civic education policies that teach students interactive and relevant K-12 political participation, civil discourse, and how to engage over disagreements.
At the national level, iCivics and the CivxNow coalition helped triple funding for K–12 civic education programs in the 2023 fiscal year, from $7.75 million to $23 million.
“With civic learning in and out of the classroom and iCivics’ resources and curricula at teachers’ and students’ fingertips, our nation’s young people are better positioned to contribute to the future of their communities, and help build and sustain a durable democracy that works for us all, across our differences,” said Melissa Chabran, Hewlett Foundation Education Program Officer.