School-University-Community Collaboration for Civic Education and Engagement in the Democratic Project

The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (2011) lamented the "e;lack of high-quality civic education in America's schools [that] leaves millions of citizens without the wherewithal to make sense of our system of government"e; (p. 4). Preus et al. (2016) cited literature to support their observation of "e;a decline in high-quality civic education and a low rate of civic engagement of young people"e; (p. 67). Shapiro and Brown (2018) asserted that "e;civic knowledge and public engagement is at an all-time low"e; (p. 1). Writing as a college senior, Flaherty (2020) urged educators to "e;bravely interpret ... national, local, and even school-level incidents as chances for enhanced civic education and to discuss them with students in both formal and casual settings"e; (p. 6). In this eighth volume in the Current Perspectives on School/University/Community Research series, we feature the work of brave educators who are engaged in school-university-community collaborative educational endeavors. Authors focus on a wide range of projects oriented to civic education writ large-some that have been completed and some that are still in progress-but all authors evince the passion for civic education that underpins engagement in the democratic project.