Poster #90 - Power, Policy, and Civic Education

• In Event: Saturday Poster Luncheon

Abstract

Since 2021, 29 states have proposed or approved policies that restrict classroom discussions (Schwartz, 2024). These policies target issues deemed controversial, including current events and the topics of race, gender, and the history of slavery in the United States (Alexander et al., 2024; Rogers et al., 2022; Schwartz, 2024). In addition to restricting civic discussions, some states have also sought to ban effective civic education practices such as service learning and action civics (Schwartz, 2024). For example, several states have proposed or adopted versions of the model legislation entitled “The Partisanship Out of Civics Act,” that aims to restrict discussion of race and current events as well as ban course credit for service learning and student advocacy (Kurtz, 2021; Schwartz, 2024). Scholarship suggests these restrictive policies are likely to reinforce and exacerbate existing racialized and economic barriers to civic education, going against decades of research attempting to reduce these disparities (Andolina & Conklin, 2020; Blevins et al., 2018; Davis Smith et al., 2023; Gould et al., 2011; Levine & Kawashima-Ginsberg, 2017; Levinson, 2014).

The purpose of this study is to understand the design features and objectives of the “Partisanship Out of Civics Act” (Kurtz, 2021a) and the restrictive education policies modeled after it to better understand how state level policymakers are attempting to control aspects of civics teaching and learning in United States schools. I will use critical policy analysis as the primary framework and methodology for this study. Additionally, I will incorporate concepts from democratic education to support my analysis of the “Partisanship Out of Civics Act” (POCA). This study aims to fill gaps in the literature on restrictive education policies by illuminating the policy design features and objectives used in the recent wave of policies aimed at restricting civic learning and instruction. 

This study will be guided by the following questions (Maxwell, 2013): (1) What are the objectives and policy design features of the “Partisanship Out of Civics Act”? (2) What is the nature of state policies modeled after the “Partisanship Out of Civics Act”? To further explore the state policies modeled after the POCA, I will answer the subquestions: (2a) What are the policy objectives and design features of these policies?; (2b) Which aspects of teaching and learning do these policies attempt to control? (2c) How are power dynamics reflected in these policies?

Author

• Mallory Lineberger, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author