Idaho is expanding its efforts in civics education with more hands-on learning, an updated civics test, and new course offerings. Idaho State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield says it’s all designed to better prepare students to be informed and engaged citizens.
“I talk a lot about preparing our students for life beyond the classroom walls, and I can't think of a subject that helps prepare our students for citizenship,” Critchfield said.
Superintendent Critchfield recently released an op-ed about the updates. She says the more attention the state puts on the subject, the better prepared students will be to become contributing citizens.
“We're neighbors, we elect people, policymakers, business owners. Having those foundational skills and knowledge about what your responsibilities in government are. And then also, how do you fit into this overall piece and then contribute to what has been contributed to you? It's this great biosphere of folks that went before us. What do we do now? How do we contribute to the future? Those are things that our students need to understand,” she said.
She emphasizes that civics isn’t just another subject—it’s vital to sustaining democracy.
“Civics education is a foundational part of our free society. It's how we maintain and sustain the republic that we have. And we don't do that without educating our kids on how that works,” Critchfield said.
Critchfield adds that civics education is a responsibility shared by the whole community.
“Parents, educators, local leaders. We're watching how our children work and solve problems and how we talk about finding solutions in our day-to-day lives. And we want the next generation to be engaged citizens, and we want to model what that responsibility looks like,” she said.
You can learn more about the changes to civics education at sde.idaho.org.