JMC Founding Civics Initiative
We are Recapturing the Teaching of High School Civics and American History
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Advocates have long been highlighting the failure of civics education to equip students with necessary knowledge for life in a democratic republic. And we see the results in the form of misinformation, misdirected anger, and violence. Less than half of Americans know enough about our nation to pass the citizenship test, let alone have a real understanding of our founding documents and ideas.
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For 16 years the Jack Miller Center has focused on building an academic network across colleges and universities; recruiting nearly 1,000 professors on more than 300 campuses, reaching more than one million undergraduate and graduate students.
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The current crisis in civics education, however, requires intervention before students finish high school. Working with our partner professors and institutions, JMC launched the Founding Civics Initiative in 2016 to re-ground high school civics and American history curricula in our nation's founding principles.
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This initiative fosters the teaching of a comprehensive, honest history of America, educating students about the great successes as well as the great pains in our nation's efforts to achieve the vision the framers gave us in our Declaration:
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"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
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Building a Coalition to Strengthen Civics
To strengthen our efforts, JMC is bringing together other organizations working on this common goal so we can combine our efforts into a major, unified strategic plan. Most recently, we launched a two-year project in Florida in collaboration with the Bill of Rights Institute and the Ashbrook Center to reach teachers across the state.
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JMC's Founding Civics Initiative addresses this problem by supporting secondary educators in their own study of our nation's founding documents and ideas. We sponsor graduate courses, week-long summer institutes, and seminars for middle and high school teachers across the country.
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Growing National Program for Teachers
This summer JMC's high school efforts expanded to its fifth region, providing innovative courses and professional development for teachers in Chicago, New York City, Wisconsin, Virginia, and now, Florida. We are also currently in talks with officials in Texas, working toward similar programming.
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Chicago
Our high school initiative began in Chicago as a three-year pilot project in 2016. Its success has enabled expansion throughout the region and has paved the way for our other programs around the country. This Chicago-based initiative was launched in collaboration with The Newberry Library, Lake Forest College, the University of Chicago Graham School, and JMC partner professors in the Chicago area.
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This summer's Graham School program, led by University of Chicago professors, covered topics from ancient Greek and Roman political thought to American political party development to the three branches of government. Support for this program was generously provided by the Brinson Foundation.
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The 2020 Newberry Library program, made possible by a gift from Paula and John Lillard, focused on the history of slavery in America and the movement towards greater equality with the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation.
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New York City
For the 3rd consecutive year, JMC partnered with New York City-based Civic Spirit to host a week-long program in August for middle and high school teachers from religious schools. The virtual format of the institute allowed teachers from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas to join. This cohort of teachers will continue to meet throughout the 2020-21 academic year.
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Wisconsin
JMC introduced its first statewide initiative in Wisconsin in 2019. Working with the University of Wisconsin system of campuses, social studies teachers across the state will now have access to graduate courses and professional development seminars centered around founding documents and ideas as well as new curriculum development.
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Virginia
Thanks to a generous gift from Paula and John Lillard, JMC sponsored a week-long program in June for Virginia teachers through the University of Virginia. The seminars deepened their understanding of philosophical origins of American principles, founding documents, and political movements.
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Florida
This year, in collaboration with the Bill of Rights Institute and the Ashbrook Center, JMC launched an unprecedented two-year program that will engage half of all high school teachers across the state of Florida. Programming began in July with four half-day sessions that combined scholar led discussions with classroom applications on topics including historical origins of rights and the Federalist and Anti-Federalist debates.
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Coming Together
Civics education is about creating responsible and capable citizens who can strengthen our democracy. The democracy proposed by the Founders in the Declaration of Independence is based on liberty and equality for all.
If we educate our children about this beautiful vision, and the history of our constant efforts to realize that vision, then our young people will be prepared to carry American democracy forward rather than let it perish or work to destroy it .
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History can always teach us something about the present, but only if it remains a priority. Without knowledge of our predecessors' struggles, we have no basis to make important decisions about our country's future.
JMC supports those teachers who are championing education in America's history and its founding principles. Our growing network of more than 900 dedicated professors are making a difference on hundreds of campuses across the country. So far, they have taught more than one million students. Will you help us reach more?
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.
We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
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