Boston public media producer GBH and PBS LearningMedia are launching a Civics Collection, a set of educational resources designed to encourage civic understanding and engagement among middle and high school students. Created by veteran educators and educational media producers with input from an Educator Advisory Group, a Youth Advisory Group, and a multidisciplinary Civics Leadership Council, these free, media-rich resources are designed to help educators engage students in a more dynamic way.

Today, fewer than one in four eighth grade students demonstrate proficiency in civics. Furthermore, only seven states require a full year of civics education in high school, while 13 states have no requirement at all.

“Students are struggling to acquire the civic knowledge and foundation necessary as they grow to be voting-aged adults,” said Seeta Pai, executive director of education at GBH. “The new collection will draw on media to engage students, spark their interest in civics, and promote the active learning of skills by connecting the basic principles from the nation’s founding documents to issues they care about in their everyday lives.”

“Engaging students in civics is essential to understanding how our country works,” said Lori Brittain, Vice President of PBS LearningMedia. “So, we are thrilled to provide free access to the new Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia. Each resource in the collection is designed to help students build the skills they need to shape their communities and understand their vital role in our democracy.”

The Civics Collection on PBS LearningMedia is designed to support students to acquire civic knowledge, develop civic understanding through applied historical and present-day examples, and engage and participate in civic affairs. The Collection will include interactive resources to facilitate student learning about multiple perspectives and diverse viewpoints. Newly designed instructional support materials for both teachers and students facilitate easy inclusion into existing curricula, and activities and readings extend the learning and teach civics skills.

The Collection covers six key organizing topics including the foundations of American constitutional democracy, the structure of our government, the Constitutional amendments and interpretations, citizens’ rights and responsibilities, social and economic policy, as well as power and influence in the U.S. government. Each resource in the Collection is accompanied by teaching tips to guide teachers on how to best integrate the Collection into their curriculum, along with discussion questions that challenge students to reflect on the media. In addition, independent student activities focus on civic knowledge and skills which include identifying and applying civic knowledge, building media literacy, engaging in civil discourse, analyzing civic engagement, understanding the lawmaking process and assessing American democracy. Every single resource is grounded in one or more of this nation’s founding documents.

“Being a well-informed participant in our democracy starts with getting a solid foundation of civics in the classroom,” said Susan Goldberg, president and CEO of GBH. “The Civics Collection provides the resources educators need to prepare a new generation to fully understand what it means to be an American.”

At completion, the collection will contain over 180 resources, including videos sourced from trusted and popular public media brands and partners, exciting new digital video series featuring youth and civic change makers, as well as interactive timelines, maps, and images, and self-paced interactive lessons. For example, one resource encourages students to think about free speech through history, others have students analyze the evolving role of the federal government; or explore how laws designed to support specific groups, like people with disabilities, can benefit broader society (the curb-cut effect); or understand complexities in relationships between Indigenous tribal governments and the federal government; or see how elected representatives from both major parties think about important issues; or view models of – and practice – civil discourse across difference, and more.

“In order for America to remain a free and prosperous nation, it is important that rising generations understand our history, the sacrifices made to sustain our freedoms, and the role and responsibility of each citizen,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “CPB is proud to support the Civics Collection and other educational content that tells America’s exceptional and constantly evolving story.”

The Civics Collection follows the successful launch of the U.S. History Collection, also on PBS LearningMedia. Winner of the 2023 SIIA CODiE Award, the U.S. History Collection has over 1.7 million users and 12 million page views among educators and students as of June 2024. Data collected from a study conducted by an independent evaluator of 1,200 students across 86 classrooms and 17 states shows that students taught with materials from the U.S. History Collection showed greater gains in historical knowledge and historical thinking skills, and their teachers reported the collection helped students better understand multiple historical perspectives.

The Civics Collection was developed based on background and empirical research with hundreds of teachers and multiple rounds of input from an Educator Advisory Group, a Youth Advisory Group, and a multidisciplinary Civics Leadership Council.

The Collection is produced by GBH Education, with contributions from Georgia Public Broadcasting, KET, KQED, PBS, PBS News/News Hour, Rhode Island PBS, TPT, WFYI, WVIZ/Ideastream, and Wyoming PBS, as well as StoryCorps, Retro Report, A Starting Point, iCivics, the Center for Civic Education, the Bill of Rights Institute, the Tax Foundation, and NETA. Major funding for this project is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Germeshausen Foundation.

Both the Civics and U.S. History Collections are available free of charge to teachers nationwide.

About PBS LearningMedia
PBS LearningMedia, a partnership of PBS and GBH, is an online destination that offers free access to thousands of resources from PBS stations and partners. These digital tools are designed to complement classroom instruction -- from videos, images and interactives to lesson plans, articles and primary sources. Available for free to all educators pre-K through 12th grade, PBS LearningMedia offers classroom-ready content aligned to state and national standards, compatible with the tools teachers use most, such as Google Classroom, and contextualized with supporting materials. Learn more at pbslearningmedia.org.

About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. It is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. Dedicated to making media accessible to and inclusive of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to those who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide with PBS LearningMedia and has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.

About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org, follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn and subscribe for other updates.