Teaching America The Case for Civic Education

by Feith, David J.; Andrew, Seth; Bahmueller, Charles F.; Bauerlein, Mark; Bridgeland, John M.; Cole, Bruce; Dershowitz, Alan M.; Feinberg, Mike; Graham, Senator Bob; Hand, Chris; Hess, Frederick M.; Hickok, Eugene; Kazin, Michael; Kyl, Senator Jon; Lefkowit

• ISBN13: 9781607098409
• ISBN10: 1607098407
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-11
• Publisher: R&L Education

Summary

Teaching America responds to a crisis in citizenship. To remain America, our country has to give its kids a civic identity, an understanding or" our constitutional system, and some appreciation of the amazing achievements of American self-government. But we are failing to do soùa failure that weakens our common culture, disenfranchises would-be voters, and helps poison political discourse. That's why this book gathers more than twenty leading thinkers to diagnose our civic illiteracy problem, explain its terribly high stakes-and lay out a powerful agenda for reform. Book jacket.

Author Biography

David Feith is an assistant editorial features editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he edits op-eds and writes mainly about foreign policy and education reform. He was twice a Robert L. Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal Mid. later worked as an assistant editor at Foreign Affairs magazine. Feith chairs the Civic Education Initiative, which he cofounded while in college to promote a national agenda for strengthening civic knowledge.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Civic Education, Devalued	p. xi
Preface: Keeping the Republic	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Making the Case
The Democratic Purpose of Education: From the Founders to Horace Mann to Today	p. 3
My Immigrant Tale: Assimilation and the Road to Success	p. 15
The Right to Know Your Rights: Civic Literacy, the Miranda Warnings, and Me	p. 27
Safeguarding American Exceptionalism: An Uninformed Citizenry Risks Ceding Excessive Power to Government	p. 33
From the White House to the Statehouse-Policymakers' Lessons Learned
Civic Nation: My White House Mission after September 11	p. 41
Civic Literacy and No Child Left Behind: A Lesson in the Limits of Government Power	p. 51
A Failure of Leadership: The Duty of Politicians and Universities to Salvage Citizenship Senator Bob Graham, with Chris Hand	p. 61
Forgetting Martin Luther King's Dream: How Politics Threatens America's Civil Rights Memory Secretary	p. 69
Revolutionary Ignorance: What Do Americans Know of the Original Tea Party?	p. 81
Core Curriculum: How to Tackle General Illiteracy and Civic Illiteracy at the Same Time	p. 89
In the ClassroomùWhat Works, What Doesn't
Fighting Civic Malpractice: How a Harlem Charter School Closes the Civic Achievement Gap	p. 99
The KIPP Approach: Be the Change You Wish to See in the World Mike Feinberg	p. 111
The Wisdom of Twenty Thousand Teachers: Strengthen State Requirements, Stop Marginalizing the Founders	p. 119
Teaching Political Sophistication: On Self-interest and the Common Good	p. 127
Among the Ivory TowersùFighting Civic Neglect on Campus
Good History and Good Citizens: Howard Zinn, Woodrow Wilson, and the Historian's Purpose	p. 141
Talk Is Cheap: The University and the National ProjectùA History	p. 151
Don't Believe the Hype: Young Voters Are Still Disengaged, and Universities Have Few Incentives to Fix It	p. 161
Donor Intent: Strategic Philanthropy in Higher Education Admiral Mike Ratliff	p. 171
A Vision for the Twenty-First Century
After the Digital Explosion: Education and Civil Liberties in the Internet Age	p. 183
How School Choice Enhances Civic Health: Vouchers and Informed Politics	p. 193
Education versus Indoctrination: What Separates Sound Policy from State Overreach?	p. 203
Letter to President Obama: A Policy Approach for the Federal Government	p. 209
Index	p. 219
About the Editor and Contributors	p. 229
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