Advancing American Civic Education and Constitutional Understanding Among K-12 Students
As a nonpartisan outreach center under the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, the Center for American Civics supports K-12 students' knowledge of American civics and civil discourse skills while partnering with state and national civic education efforts to cultivate an enduring understanding and appreciation of American constitutional principles and institutions.
The Center for American Civics (CAC) works towards this mission in three main fields.
Teacher Professional Development
The CAC hosts teachers for professional development workshops at ASU, and offers onsite workshops as well, where teachers can learn content from the faculty of ASU’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership through lectures, and receive training in pedagogical strategies that research has shown to be effective in building civic knowledge and civic skills, centering on analysis of primary sources and inquiry-based dialogue as the main means of learning. The CAC has two master teachers with almost four decades of combined classroom experience on staff who design and provide this training.
Upcoming Professional Development
High-Quality Civic Education Resources
The Civic Literacy Curriculum is a free resource for teaching and learning American civics that provides students with a deep knowledge of U.S. history and American civics. It contains over 500 free lessons, including the historical background, annotated primary texts, discussion prompts, and other tools to make it easy for teachers and students. This curriculum features lessons for K-Adult Learners created by practicing educators from our Civic Literacy Cohort. Unlike most currently available civics programs, the CLC focuses on civic knowledge, how the Constitution’s structure operates, and the founders' ideals underlying our system of government.
Civic Literacy Curriculum Civic Literacy Cohort
In partnership with the Arizona Constitution Project, we have developed engaging resources for Grades 3-12 focused on Arizona government and history. These materials include podcast episodes, grade-level appropriate background readings, discussion prompts, and lessons designed to help students explore Arizona’s constitutional principles, governance, and rich historical heritage. Explore our resources to bring Arizona’s civic story to life in your classroom!
Arizona Government and History Lessons
Connecting the Civilian and Military Communities
The CAC operates the Veterans Inspiring Patriotism (VIP) program, through which a network of American military veterans are available to visit schools in their local area to provide lessons or presentations on a variety of topics, including American civics and constitutionalism, American history, the American military, and what life is like in the armed services.
We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor