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Evidence Matters | Civic Education: Creating Both Readers and Leaders
October 9, 2024
In our last post, we highlighted not only the need for more in-depth civic education opportunities for our students, but also how in doing so, we might develop students who not only are more engaged citizens, but who are also better readers. Because, as research on the foundational building blocks of literacy continues to show us, these two seemingly unrelated topics are, in fact, inextricably linked.
In 2020, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute published a study which demonstrated that while time spent on civic education can enhance traditional literacy skills within the English/language arts curriculum, more time spent on English/language arts during the school day does not necessarily lead to reading improvement among students. Similarly, in 2021, results from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study clearly showed that social studies is the only subject with a “clear, positive, and statistically significant effect on reading improvement.” In an article published by the National Council for Social Studies that same year, the authors highlighted that while the most common solution to stagnant reading scores in the United States has been to increase the amount of time devoted to the “literacy block” each day, the data do not bear out the expected benefits. In reality, what we have seen is a continued need to reevaluate how we are dividing up our instructional time in order to get the most bang for our buck.
So what is it about civic education that enhances literacy beyond traditional ELA instruction?
As a whole, both social studies curriculum have been shown to significantly contribute to students’ background knowledge in a way that traditional reading and writing curriculum does not. And this a critical data point, because research also tells us that sufficient background knowledge is crucial for students to make meaning from what they are reading. In a study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology in 2023, researchers reported significant positive effects from a literacy intervention which focused on thematic content lessons in science and social studies for first and second grade students. Based on the results of the study, researchers concluded that “a sustained content literacy intervention that aligns content and instruction across grades can help students transfer knowledge to novel reading comprehension tasks.”
Put another way, providing students with a greater amount of in-depth content exploration across subject areas uniquely positions them for greater comprehension capabilities when they are presented with unfamiliar reading passages. Larger amounts of time spent on civic education could not only lead to students who are better informed and more active citizens, but who are also better able to understand and evaluate what they are reading. The ultimate win-win.
In a country where the approach to problem solving is often to just do “more”— more time, more money, or simply more hand-wringing—the voices who are calling for something that is simply different are often drowned out. Most scholars agree that the conditions in our current political climate demonstrate a continued need for more engaged and informed citizens. At the same time, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees with the idea that we must also do a better job providing all students with the foundational literacy skills required to be a contributing member of society. It turns out that in the case of social studies and civic education, we just might be able to get two for the price of one.
Kelly Gregory is the Riley Institute’s Director for Public Education Projects and Partnerships and previously taught for 11 years in South Carolina public schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Special Education. She also holds a National Board certification as an Exceptional Needs Specialist. She can be reached at [email protected].