iCivics Inc.
Project Title
For general support
Date
Sep. 11, 2025
Duration
24 months
Description
Despite decades of research confirming the benefits of civic education, student proficiency has stagnated at twenty to twenty-five percent for more than twenty-five years. Declining public investment, politicized curricula, and rising polarization have exacerbated civic disengagement—particularly among youth, who increasingly report a loss of faith in democratic institutions. Founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2009, iCivics is the leading civic education organization in the United States, known for its accessible curriculum, bipartisan coalitions, and expansive policy reach. With Corporation support, iCivics will continue leading the CivXNow Coalition to advance bipartisan policies that restore civic learning to classrooms across all fifty states. Additionally, $500,000 of this general support grant will be dedicated to the Carnegie Civics Youth Fellowship—a national leadership and civic engagement initiative that will train young people to organize, advocate, and participate in efforts to improve democracy and civic education.
Website
Project Title
For core support for the CivXNow Coalition
Date
Dec. 14, 2023
Duration
24 months
Description
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, student proficiency in civic knowledge has stagnated at 20 to 25 percent over the last twenty-five years. This is due to the decline in civic education that has been ongoing for decades. The 2021 Harvard Youth Poll found that the majority of youth from ages 18 to 29 believe that U.S. democracy is “failing” or “in trouble,“ which has resulted in civic disengagement and a lack of trust in government. While decades of research confirm that civic education yields positive impacts on youth beyond the classroom, civic education reform is needed to ensure civics is taught in the classroom. Founded and led by iCivics, CivXNow is a coalition of over 310 cross-ideological partners throughout the country advancing civic education policies at state and federal levels. With Corporation support, CivXNow will advocate for expanded civic education in the K-12 school curricula.
Website
Project Title
For project support of iCivics Educating for American Democracy pilots on family engagement
Date
Sep. 15, 2022
Duration
23 months
Description
Over the last few years due to the ongoing pandemic, parents have increasingly assumed a greater role in their children’s education. Simultaneously, the battle over accurate social studies curriculum and instruction has been all too present in news across the country. As we think of how to best prepare our communities for this struggle, it is imperative that civic education begins a sustained conversation with parents to garner support for the field. iCivics exists to re-imagine civic learning in America. Founded in 2009, iCivics makes civic education relevant to new generations of Americans. With support from the Corporation, iCivics will engage families and community members in their Educating for American Democracy (EAD) pilots in three districts. Families in the process will be copartners in the efforts to advocate for accurate teaching of U.S. History and Civics. iCivics will alsooffer direct training to parent-advocates on best practices to elevate this work in their districts.
Website
Project Title
For general support
Date
Sep. 02, 2021
Duration
24 months
Description
The civic health of the United States has been in decline for decades. The leading cause of the problem is a near absence of civic learning in the K-12 education system. In recent decades, an increasing number of Americans have disengaged from traditional civic and political institutions that had historically provided citizens with a personal connection to current and local events of the day, ensuring that they remained engaged and active. The result has been especially profound among youth, who are now less likely than their older counterparts to vote and are more likely to express distrust in government and the democratic system of government. Established in 2009, iCivics leads the CivXNow Coalition: a network of more than 150 influential members calling for a civic education revival in America. The coalition’s goal is to affect systemic policy change to make high quality and equitable civic education a centerpiece of modern education nationwide. With renewed Corporation support, iCivics will continue to coordinate educators, students, parents, academics, policymakers, and others advocating for state and federal policy changes that bring civics back into the K-12 public education curriculum.
Website
Project Title
For a campaign to elevate civic education in the national political discourse
Date
Jun. 13, 2019
Duration
28 months
Description
Civic education in the United States has been remarkably underfunded at both federal and local levels. Civic knowledge has consistently remained at 20-25 percent proficiency among students, and many young people are inadequately prepared with the civic skills and dispositions necessary to become engaged citizens. Following her retirement from the bench of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor founded iCivics in 2009 to address young people’s growing lack of knowledge and engagement in America’s civic life. iCivics has become one of the largest scaled civic education content providers in K-12 education. With Corporation support, iCivics and its coalition of more than ninety partner organizations will develop a roadmap of policy recommendations and best practices for expanding civic education.
Website
Project Title
For field-building around the need for improved and expanded civic learning in K-12, through planning and launch of a National Commission on Civic Learning
Date
Jun. 14, 2018
Duration
12 months
Description
America’s cultural and political life is in upheaval, surfacing fundamental questions about the state of our democracy and democratic institutions. At the same time, civic education has been minimized in recent decades, such that many students finish their education with limited understanding of the fundamental civic, historical and political concepts of America, and limited experience engaging as a citizen. As a result, there is substantial momentum for innovative civic learning now. While interest is high, questions remain: What impact would an investment in civic learning have on our nation? What tools should we leverage to improve civic learning in our schools? How should we evaluate progress? What does civic learning that is relevant to students today look like? iCivics, founded in 2009 by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor after retiring from the bench of the United States Supreme Court, aims to lead a field-building effort to develop some of the tools to answer those questions and to launch a campaign to focus attention on the need for civic learning.
Website
Project Title
For support of an adult civic education initiative
Date
Mar. 08, 2018
Duration
18 months
Description
Beginning in the 1970s, civic education was sidelined across many curricula and state standards. As a result, many American adults today do not understand their systems of government, lack trust in government institutions, and demonstrate general apathy for elections and politics. In fact, three in four adults cannot name the three branches of United States government or name a single Supreme Court justice. Founded by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics is committed to ensuring that all young citizens receive the high-quality civic education they need for full participation in American democracy. Since 2009, iCivics has been using innovations in technology to make high-quality civic learning available and accessible to schools. Approximately, 84,000 teachers now reliably use the iCivics video game platform in their classrooms every year. With Corporation support, iCivics will extend its services to expand adult civic learning and promote parent-student civic education.
Website
Project Title
For a national convening on civic education
Date
Jun. 01, 2017
Duration
11 months
Description
In recent decades, an increasing number of Americans have disengaged from traditional civic and political institutions, including religious congregations, community-based organizations, and other volunteer-driven organizations. These associations had historically provided citizens with a personal connection to current and local events of the day, ensuring that they remained engaged and active. The result has been especially profound among youth, who are now less likely than their older counterparts and previous generations of young people to vote or to be interested in public policy issues. A major obstacle for those working to increase Americans’ civic knowledge is resources. As the public’s interest in civics has declined, so too has the funding community’s. Throughout the 2016 campaign season, however, public interest in civic education grew significantly. There is now a unique opportunity to reopen public discourse on the need for civic education. With Corporation support, iCivics will convene funders and civic leaders in an effort to increase awareness of the need for civic learning and engage new funders in this work.
Website
Project Title
For general support
Date
Sep. 12, 2013
Duration
12 months