NCES Blog

National Center for Education Statistics

Civics Education in Public Schools: Lessons and Activities Around the 2024 Election

In September of this year, the School Pulse Panel (SPP), NCES’s innovative approach to delivering timely information on public K-12 schools in the U.S., surveyed around 1,500 school leaders on their school’s plans to incorporate the 2024 national election into lessons and whether they planned to run any election-related activities such as mock debates or mock voting. While schools were not asked what type of content was included in these lessons or in the election-related activities, the findings presented here show the prevalence of election-related information and engagement opportunities in the nation’s public schools.

Figure 1 shows the percentage of schools that reported that teachers were incorporating the 2024 national election into their lessons, for each of the respective grades. More than half of public schools reported that teachers were incorporating the national election into their lessons at fourth and higher grades, peaking at twelfth grade (85 percent). 


Figure 1. Percentage of public schools that had at least one teacher incorporating the 2024 national election cycle into lessons, by grade, 2024-25 school year

Graph showing the % of public schools with at least one teacher incorporating the 2024 election into lessons by grade. K is 31%, 12 is 85%, with a consistent climb from K to 12. Grade 6 to 7 drops from 66 to 63%, grade 8 to 9 drops from 75 to 69%.


Overall, 77 percent of public schools reported that they had teachers incorporating the election into their lessons. There was some regional variation in the percentage of schools that reported teachers incorporating the election, with higher percentages of public schools in the Northeast (82 percent) and Midwest (82 percent) incorporating the election compared to schools in the South (75 percent) and West (74 percent).

In addition to lessons, school leaders reported on various special programming activities centered around the 2024 election. Overall, 52 percent of public schools reported having one or more of the following: voter registration opportunities for students 1, mock debates, mock voting, assemblies/guest speakers, or some other program related to the election. As seen in Figure 2, a higher percentage of high/secondary schools reported running these kinds of programs, compared to elementary or middle/combined schools. Table 1 shows the percentages of schools offering each of these programs for all public schools and by school level.


Figure 2. Percentage of public schools with any special programming around the 2024 national election cycle, by school level, 2024-25 school year

Bar graph showing 52% of all public schools with special programming around the 2024 national election. Elementary schools are at 40%, middle/combined schools are at 50%, and high/secondary schools are at 81%.


Table 1. Percentage of public schools with selected special programming activities around the 2024 national election cycle, by school level, 2024-25 school year

  All public schools   Elementary Middle/combined High/secondary
Voter registration opportunities for studentsa 66   42 72
Mock voting 37   35 40 41
Assemblies/guest speakers 12   8 11 24
Other special programming 7   6 6 8

 

a Only asked of schools serving 11th- or 12th- grade students.

 

‡ Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation is greater than 50 percent or there are too few cases for a reliable analysis.


Among public schools enrolling students in 11th- or 12th- grade, 66 percent reported that they held voter registration opportunities for their students. Figure 3 shows the variation in the percentage of schools that offered registration opportunities by school neighborhood poverty level, percent students of color, school size, school locale, and region. Among different school sizes, a lower percentage of the smallest schools in the country (0-299 students) held voter registration events for their students, compared to all other school size groups. Among regions, a higher percentage of schools in the Northeast reported providing these opportunities, compared to the Midwest and West.


Figure 3. Among public schools enrolling students in 11th- or 12th- grade, percentage that had voter registration opportunities for their students, by school characteristics, 2024-25 school year

Graph showing that 66% of all public schools offering grades 11 and 12 had voter registration. Low poverty neighborhood schools were 66%, while high-poverty were 68%. Varying stats for % of students being students of color, for school size, for region, and for school locale difference.


To explore these data – for all public schools and by neighborhood poverty level, percent students of color, school level, school size, locale, and region – check out the interactive SPP dashboard.

[1]Only among schools serving 11th- or 12th- grade students.