Civics in American Public Schools: State Constitutions and the Right to an Education

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dc.contributor.authorHarris, Carissa Joan-Zallen
dc.contributor.committeechairHult, Karen M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberMoore, Wayne D.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBrians, Craig L.en
dc.contributor.departmentPolitical Scienceen
dc.date.accessioned2013-08-06T08:00:25Zen
dc.date.available2013-08-06T08:00:25Zen
dc.date.issued2013-08-05en
dc.description.abstractA literal reading of the United States Constitution finds no mention of education.  Because no fundamental federal mandate exists to provide public education for citizens, the Tenth Amendment gives states the authority for public education policy.  Because states have different constitutional standards for education, civics requirements have little national consistency.  This thesis explores the connections between state constitutional provisions for public education and graduation requirements for civics in each state. The research examined how state constitutions address education policy and whether states with language specifically connecting education to the maintenance of democracy required more stringent civics requirements for students to graduate from secondary school.  Further investigation explored whether and how state constitutions in Minnesota and Wisconsin appeared to influence the development of graduation requirements.  Indeed, Minnesota, whose constitution connects education to the maintenance of democracy, had a curriculum policy process far more rooted in its constitutional traditions than did Wisconsin, which had no such constitutional language or curriculum process.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Artsen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:1469en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/23688en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectU.S. Constitutionen
dc.subjectCivic Educationen
dc.subjectPublic Schoolsen
dc.subjectState Education Policyen
dc.subjectState Constitutionsen
dc.titleCivics in American Public Schools: State Constitutions and the Right to an Educationen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplinePolitical Scienceen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen

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