A state civics coalition has concluded that civics education is in need of resuscitation and Arizona public schools have focused energy and resources on preparing students for high-stakes testing at the expense of teaching foundational principles of our democracy.

The Arizona Civic Education Study, which was authored by the Arizona Civics Coalition and The Center for Civic Education and Leadership, states that standardized testing is taking away from civics education because it is not a tested topic; the subject is being taught without relevance to students’ lives and teachers are already overstretched and overstressed by existing mandates to beef-up scores in reading, writing and math.

“We live in an era where everybody is teaching sustainability, which is wonderful, but what about the sustainability of democracy?” says Sherman Elliott, director of the Center for Civic Education and Leadership in ASU’s College of Teacher Education and Leadership. “The foundation of democracy starts in our public schools, and our findings prove that Arizona has pushed civics education to the backburner. We need to teach our children how to participate fully and responsibly as a citizen.”

The study was released a day before Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, a combined event that commemorates the formation and signing of the Constitution of the United States on Sept. 17, 1787. It also recognizes all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become U.S. citizens, which is celebrated nationally on Sept. 17.

Tom Horne, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, agreed in spirit with the study’s findings.