This special issue features frontiers of scholarship in the political, social, and behavioral sciences that are advancing civic education. The volume begins with an analysis of recent efforts to create a shared agenda for civic learning against a backdrop of politicization in education. Additional articles provide theoretical and empirical support for the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for students to become engaged civic actors and problem-solvers; other contributions offer illustrations of civic learning in action. A cross-cutting theme is the role of environments and cultural contexts that can help ensure meaningful student learning in the United States’ multi-ethnic democracy. The volume concludes with recommendations for research, policy, and practice that advance a type of civic education that can invigorate and preserve our democratic traditions and prepare students to address the political, socioeconomic, and ecological challenges that loom ever larger on the horizon.
