A recent report from the University of Southern California digs into American attitudes about civics education, breaking down the differences between Democrat and Republican adults, including attitudes on topics such as DEI.
“Agreement Across the Aisles” was released by the USC Dornsife Center for Applied Research in Education and shows that citizens of both parties share beliefs about civics education, even as they disagree on what civics education should involve.
The findings are underscored by one item which finds that fewer than 10% of Americans say they “know a lot” about civics education. Overall, half of U.S. adults say they “know nothing” about civics education.
Asked to grade U.S. public schools A through F in preparing students in four areas, 40% gave schools an A or B for schools’ preparation of students for college success. For being good workers or being good citizens, just under 30% gave schools an A or B. For the broader goal of being prepared for adult life, only 16% of respondents gave schools top marks.
In all four categories, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to give failing grades. The poll also found that adults considered college success the least important priority and rated being prepared for adult life the highest.
It’s worth noting that respondents were asked to rate the nation’s schools; other polls, such as the Phi Delta Kappa annual poll of attitudes toward public schools regularly find that people rate their own local schools higher than the nation’s schools as a whole.
Respondents were asked to pick the top three civics education topics from a list of eleven. “How U.S. Government Works” was ranked top by Democrats and Republicans, but on other topics there were some stark differences. “Racism in the U.S.” was a priority for 41% of Democrats, and 12% for the GOP. Voting requirements was in the top three for 28% of Republicans, but 14% for Democrats. “Contributions of women” was at the bottom for everyone; 12% for Democrats and 6% for Republicans.
A comparison to 2021 numbers shows that Republican support for almost all of the topics on this list has grown (contributions of historical women or racial/ethnic minorities are the exceptions). Democrat support, which was already high, has stayed pretty much in place.
Respondents were asked to choose the top three “learning activities” from a list of sixteen. There was considerable more agreement on this list than the previous one. Learning about the Constitution and detecting false information on line topped the list. Contrary to what one might expect, “evaluate different arguments on a topic” scored high for both parties, as did honoring veterans and military service. The only low-scoring option on the list was “join a local protest during school time.” The pme item with a large spread was reciting the Pledge of Allegiance; Republicans 84% and Democrats 44%.
Another section considered questions of students and university actions around controversial free speech issues. Republicans showed more support for institutional actions over the speech rights of students. But for the combined results, the least popular university action (take an official position) ranked higher than the most popular student action (demand divestment). Shouting down speakers, protest messages on property, and disrupting graduation were all hugely unpopular among respondents. Student protest on campus is not popular.
When it comes to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs for universities, Republicans were far less supportive than Democrats, showing some of the largest gaps in the entire study. But even 50% of GOP respondents felt that requiring DEI training is always or sometimes appropriate.
When it comes to managing disagreements about education issues in communities, respondents preferred approaches that involved community members such as school boards forming committees with community members or at least making decisions in public with public input. District leaders making decisions privately then sharing them with the community was by far the least popular approach.
The study overall suggests that Americans are not nearly as divided on civic education issues as one might expect. The details and specifics of the study make interesting reading for those concerned about the civic education of students in a highly polarized civic atmosphere.
The study’s authors are Anna Saavedra, Morgan Polikoff, Daniel Silver, Amie Rapaport, Marshall Garland, and Jacob Scollan-Rowley. The survey involved households from USC’s Understanding America Study, with invitations going out to 5,200 households evenly split between those with at least one K-12 and those with none.