Civic Participation Skills

The purpose of America’s public education system is rooted in the need for the public to be able to read and write, but the goals of the current system are shrouded by the cover of standardized testing. The push for testing throughout the states has transformed the way that teachers and administrators try to address the academic needs of their students; by “teaching to the test,” teachers can justify their curricular decisions because they are aligned with the goals set by the state board of education. Standards guide the curricular decisions made by teachers because they are aligned with the content of these tests. The idea that standards help teachers assess the knowledge that students have gained over an academic year is valid, but in practice …show more content…
Different perspectives on a topic can be obtained from a variety of historic and contemporary sources. Sources can be examined for accuracy. Content Statement:
16. The ability to understand individual and group perspectives is essential to analyzing historic and contemporary issues. Content Statements:
18. Participation in social and civic groups can lead to the attainment of individual and public goals.
19. Informed citizens understand how media and communication technology influence public opinion.
(Ohio Dept. of Education, 2009)
These content statements are grounded in the student’s ability to use metacognition as a tool for understanding government and citizenship, however these statements are very broad and give the teacher very little direction to guide their instruction. These standards involve skill based knowledge, which is difficult to assess through multiple choice tests. So not only do these standards need to be revised, but there also needs to be a more concise method for informing teachers within these standards how they should teach and assess these skills in the classroom to help students acquire them. These standards also ignore the importance of verbal communication and …show more content…
The interactions with their peers determine the types of communication behaviors they develop and display. Schools play a pivotal role in the development of communication behaviors; they are also responsible for protecting each student’s physical, mental, and emotional needs. By fostering good communication skills in their students, schools can eliminate some of the risks associated with student conflict because they are able to communicate issues with one another before they escalate to violent outbursts. Schools must rely on the social studies classroom to help address these peer conflicts though challenging students to investigate the topic civic participation and apply this knowledge to social