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Civic Education

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Essay
Improving Media Literacy in Middle School
Middle schoolers can be savvy users of news and information—when they know where to look. But they're also easy marks for misinformation, disinformation, and trolls. Helping them find their way in today's media landscape is important both for their futures and for the future of democracy.
Sep 6, 2022
Blog
What You Can Do to Help Stop Truth Decay
Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts in American public life, isn't a problem that any one person can fix. But there are simple steps that individuals can take to help counter it.
Mar 29, 2022

Explore Civic Education

News Release
Most U.S. Social Studies Teachers Feel Unprepared to Teach Civic Learning, a Gap That Could Contribute to Truth Decay
Only one in five social studies teachers in U.S. public schools report feeling very well prepared to support students' civic learning, saying they need additional aid with instructional materials, professional development, and training.
Dec 8, 2020
Article
Want to Rebuild Public Trust? Focus on Civic Education
Truth Decay—the diminishing role of facts in American public life—has led to political paralysis, the erosion of civil discourse, and widespread uncertainty. Investing in civic education could help turn the tide.
Dec 8, 2020
Blog
Restoring Public Trust, COVID-19 and Thanksgiving, Vaccinating Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on how the Biden-Harris administration can restore public trust, the risk of Thanksgiving becoming a super-spreader event, why teachers should be among the first to get a COVID19 vaccination, and more.
Nov 26, 2020
Commentary
Putting America's Civic Infrastructure on the Biden-Harris Agenda
Much like our bridges and roads, America's civic infrastructure has been allowed to crumble. This has allowed Truth Decay to set in. The new administration can begin to repair the deep fissures in our society by explicitly and implicitly rehabilitating the nation's civic infrastructure.
Nov 19, 2020
Report
The Drivers of Institutional Trust and Distrust
Trust in the government, news media, and other institutions has declined in the past two decades. What factors might explain this decline? And what else do we need to learn in order to begin rebuilding public trust?
Nov 17, 2020
Periodical
RAND Review: November-December 2020
Features explore the challenge of delivering effective treatments for veterans with co-occuring disorders; teachers, students, and the importance of civic responsibility in present-day America; and teaching and learning in the age of COVID-19.
Nov 16, 2020
Blog
'Vaccine Nationalism,' a Pandemic Election, Women in the Workforce: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on why 'vaccine nationalism' could be costly, how Americans feel about voting during a pandemic, why women are leaving the workforce, and more.
Oct 30, 2020
Essay
The Importance of Teaching Civic Responsibility in America
A survey of civics and social studies teachers asked what they teach, how they teach it, and what they think students need to know. Most said their students absolutely need to learn to be tolerant of different people and groups. And they want their students to see themselves as global citizens.
Oct 29, 2020
Blog
Truth Decay, Opioid Settlement Funds, Veterans Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on fighting back against Truth Decay, how to spend opioid settlement funds, China's lack of friends, and more.
Oct 23, 2020
Commentary
Think Tanks in the Era of Truth Decay
Truth Decay is the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life, and it cuts much deeper than any political party or demographic. It's why nonpartisan think tanks like RAND are as important now as they have ever been.
Oct 22, 2020
Report
Social Studies Teachers' Trust in Institutions and Groups
U.S. social studies teachers do not have a great deal of trust in many public institutions, such as news outlets and the government. This might have implications for how much they draw on or reference such institutions in their instruction.
Aug 24, 2020
Report
Social Studies Teachers' Perspectives on Key Civic Outcomes in 2010 and 2019
High school social studies teachers play an important role in fostering the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that students need to thrive after graduation. How have these teachers' perspectives on student civic development changed from 2010 to 2019?
Aug 3, 2020
Report
How Teachers Use Civics Instructional Materials
Teachers' instructional materials provide a window into civic education in schools. Where are public-school social studies teachers getting most of their instructional materials? And how are they using these materials to teach civics?
Jul 13, 2020
Report
2019 American Teacher Panel Civic Education Survey: Technical Documentation
As part of the RAND Corporation's Truth Decay initiative, researchers surveyed public-school social studies teachers about approaches to civic education. This report, one in a series of six, provides technical information about the survey.
Jun 29, 2020
Report
Understanding Media Use and Literacy in Schools
Schools can play a key role in fighting Truth Decay—the diminishing role of facts in U.S. public life—by teaching media literacy to students. How much emphasis do teachers and schools put on this subject?
Jun 29, 2020
Tool
Gun Policy Research for High School Students
When RAND's Gun Policy in America initiative released its first set of research tools in 2018, high school teachers reported that their students were keenly interested. This new unit plan, recommended for grades 10 to 12, is designed to help educators and students understand gun policy research.
Jun 11, 2020
Journal Article
Social Returns to Private Choice? Effects of Charter Schools on Behavioral Outcomes, Arrests, and Civic Participation
We add to the research on charter school effects by evaluating the impacts of secondary charter school attendance on 9th grade behavioral outcomes and individuals' propensity to commit crime and participate in elections as young adults in North Carolina.
Jun 5, 2020
Commentary
What Do You Do with a Problem Like COVID-19?
Over the last several decades, Americans' trust in their government and its institutions crumbled. Beyond that, the value of truth and expertise, the common bedrock of sound policymaking, was decaying in American society. COVID-19 might present an opportunity to correct some of these ills.
Apr 10, 2020
Commentary
How to Contain the Disinformation Virus
Like COVID-19, disinformation spreads only if we help it spread. While we have all been asked to stay at home as responsible citizens to contain the virus, we should also feel responsible for making it harder for disinformation to spread.
Apr 9, 2020
Q&A
Truth Decay in the Coronavirus Moment: Q&A with Jennifer Kavanagh
Jennifer Kavanagh, who wrote the RAND book Truth Decay about the diminishing role that facts play in making important public policy decisions, calls the unfolding situation with the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 a worst-case scenario.
Mar 17, 2020

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Research conducted by

RAND Education and Labor

Researcher Spotlight

Matthew Kubasak

Ph.D. Student, Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Matthew Kubasak is a Ph.D. student in the Research, Analysis, and Design stream at Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy analyst at RAND. He has a B.S. in applied and computational math and statistics and double majored in political science from the University of Notre Dame.
Ray Block, Jr.

Michael D. Rich Distinguished Chair for Countering Truth Decay

Ray Block Jr. (he/him) is the inaugural Michael D. Rich Distinguished Chair for Countering Truth Decay, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. The chair was established in honor of Rich, RAND's former president and CEO, who initiated RAND's Truth Decay work and made it an…

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