We have been following with great interest the release of CIRCLE’s new report that examines the standards, course requirements, and mandatory assessments related to civic education in each of the 50 states.

Writing at the Harvard Education Publishing blog, CIRCLE’s Peter Levine argues that the results of the recent CIRCLE study of each state’s civic education standards and course requirements–which we highlighted here–are not as dire as they may seem. (One such discouraging note from the study is that only eight states nationwide have statewide tests specifically in civics or American government.)

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) has just released a report that analyzes the standards, course requirements, and mandatory assessments relevant to civic education in all 50 states.

In his latest Time Ideas column, Eric Liu, author of The Gardens of Democracy, takes on what he sees as the real problem with televised presidential debates: us, the viewers. As tonight’s debate between President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney nears (it begins at 9:00 PM EST), Liu has some advice.

Writing at The Huffington Post, Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning (CIRCLE), makes the case for presidential candidates and political pundits to take citizenship seriously.

Last November, we covered a report by the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC)–whose annual national conference, by the way, is today and can be live streamed beginning at 1:00 PM EST here–that made the case that a community’s level of civic engagement was related to its economic success. On Wednesday, NCoC released a follow up to that report: “Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds.”

What’s happening in the citizenship world? Here’s our mid-week roundup:

Over at The New York Times‘s “Campaign Stops” blog, Ann Beeson, a lecturer at the University of Texas and former legal director of the ACLU, notices that many young people are very involved in different civic organizations, but that few of them actually vote.

A couple of months ago, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) released a report looking at the positive effects that the national YouthBuild program has in helping young people from low-income households become civic leaders. The program allows participants to work full-time for 6 to 24 months toward their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing in their communities.

Eric Liu has an essay in The Atlantic in which he takes on the question of what “global citizenship” actually means. His answer? There isn’t such a thing as worldwide citizenship–and ”if you really want to change the world, first be a good American.”

Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs, has a characteristically smart essay about how the Left and the Right understand civil society and its relation to the state.

Over at his “Rightly Understood” blog at Big Think, Peter Lawler, a professor of government at Berry College, takes a look at what a liberal education means for citizenship. Though his focus is on education in colleges and universities, his points  are equally applicable in understanding the civic aim of primary and secondary schools.

Here’s a fun, patriotic story for your Thursday morning: Shortly after winning his 100 meter semi-final race at the Olympics earlier this week, the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt–widely touted as the fastest sprinter in history–stopped an interview with a TV reporter in order to pay respect to the U.S. national anthem.

Over at National Review, Charles C. W. Cooke, a “British subject living in America,” takes a look at what it means to be an American. Expanding on Ronald Reagan’s famous quote that “you can go to live in Turkey but you can’t become a Turk. You can’t go to live in Japan and become Japanese. But…anyone from any corner of the world can come to America and be an American,” Cooke explores what it is–beyond having the right papers and simply being in America–that makes one an American.

With the Olympic Games now in full swing, The New York Times has posed a great question about the role of citizenship and the Olympics: “Are we allowing too many athletes to game the citizenship requirement in order to play in the Olympics?”

Some recent news happenings in the world of citizenship:

Writing for CNN’s “Schools of Thought” blog last week, Donna Krache discussed her meeting with retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in which they talked about the former justice’s work promoting civic education.

Writing earlier this week in the Christian Science Monitor, Scott Warren (Generation Citizen), Iris Chen (I Have a Dream Foundation), and Eric Schwarz (Citizen Schools) argue that neither President Obama nor presidential candidate Mitt Romney are focusing enough attention on the educational problem that poses the greatest threat to American democracy: the decline of civic education in our schools.

Some recent happenings in the citizenship world:

Writing in this morning’s Heartlander–the newspaper of the Heartland Institute–Ashley Bateman takes a look at the current state of civic education and what some organizations are doing to improve it.