Boston public media producer GBH and PBS LearningMedia together are launching a Civics Collection, a set of educational resources designed to encourage civic understanding and engagement among middle and high school students. Created by veteran educators and educational media producers with input from an Educator Advisory Group, a Youth Advisory Group, and a multidisciplinary Civics Leadership Council, these free, media-rich resources are designed to help educators engage students in a more dynamic way.
Today, fewer than one in four eighth grade students demonstrate proficiency in civics. Furthermore, only seven states require a full year of civics education in high school, while 13 states have no requirement at all.
“Students are struggling to acquire the civic knowledge and foundation necessary as they grow to be voting-aged adults,” said Seeta Pai, executive director of education at GBH. “The new collection will draw on media to engage students, spark their interest in civics, and promote the active learning of skills by connecting the basic principles from the nation’s founding documents to issues they care about in their everyday lives.”
“Engaging students in civics is essential to understanding how our country works,” said Lori Brittain, Vice President of PBS LearningMedia. “So, we are thrilled to provide free access to the new Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia. Each resource in the collection is designed to help students build the skills they need to shape their communities and understand their vital role in our democracy.”
The Civics Collection is designed to support students to acquire civic knowledge, develop civic understanding through applied historical and present-day examples, and engage and participate in civic affairs. It will include interactive resources to facilitate student learning about multiple perspectives and diverse viewpoints. Newly designed instructional support materials for both teachers and students will facilitate easy inclusion into existing curricula, and activities and readings will extend the learning and teach civics skills.
The Collection covers six key organizing topics including the foundations of American constitutional democracy, the structure of our government, the Constitutional amendments and interpretations, citizens’ rights and responsibilities, social and economic policy, as well as power and influence in the U.S. government. Each resource in the Collection is accompanied by teaching tips to guide teachers on how to best integrate the Collection into their curriculum, along with discussion questions that challenge students to reflect on the media. In addition, independent student activities focus on civic knowledge and skills which include identifying and applying civic knowledge, building media literacy, engaging in civil discourse, analyzing civic engagement, understanding the lawmaking process and assessing American democracy. Every single resource is grounded in one or more of this nation’s founding documents.
“Being a well-informed participant in our democracy starts with getting a solid foundation of civics in the classroom,” said Susan Goldberg, president and CEO of GBH. “The Civics Collection provides the resources educators need to prepare a new generation to fully understand what it means to be an American.”
At completion, the collection will contain over 180 resources, including videos sourced from trusted and popular public media brands and partners, exciting new digital video series featuring youth and civic change makers, as well as interactive timelines, maps, and images, and self-paced interactive lessons. For example, one resource encourages students to think about free speech through history, others have students analyze the evolving role of the federal government; or explore how laws designed to support specific groups, like people with disabilities, can benefit broader society (the curb-cut effect); or understand complexities in relationships between Indigenous tribal governments and the federal government; or see how elected representatives from both major parties think about important issues; or view models of – and practice – civil discourse across difference, and more.
“In order for America to remain a free and prosperous nation, it is important that rising generations understand our history, the sacrifices made to sustain our freedoms, and the role and responsibility of each citizen,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “CPB is proud to support the Civics Collection and other educational content that tells America’s exceptional and constantly evolving story.”
The Civics Collection follows the successful launch of the U.S. History Collection, also on PBS LearningMedia. Winner of the 2023 SIIA CODiE Award, the U.S. History Collection has over 1.7 million users and 12 million page views among educators and students as of June 2024. Data collected from a study conducted by an independent evaluator of 1,200 students across 86 classrooms and 17 states shows that students taught with materials from the U.S. History Collection showed greater gains in historical knowledge and historical thinking skills, and their teachers reported the collection helped students better understand multiple historical perspectives.
The Civics Collection was developed based on background and empirical research with hundreds of teachers and multiple rounds of input from an Educator Advisory Group, a Youth Advisory Group, and a multidisciplinary Civics Leadership Council.
The Collection is produced by GBH Education, with contributions from Georgia Public Broadcasting, KET, KQED, PBS, PBS News/News Hour, Rhode Island PBS, TPT, WFYI, WVIZ/Ideastream, and Wyoming PBS, as well as StoryCorps, Retro Report, A Starting Point, iCivics, the Center for Civic Education, the Bill of Rights Institute, the Tax Foundation, and NETA. Major funding for this project is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Germeshausen Foundation.
Both the Civics and U.S. History Collections are available free of charge to teachers nationwide.
