This paper discusses the current status of civic education in the United States and the place of civic education in the current movement to establish national goals and standards for education. Most current reform efforts (e.g., America 2000) approach civic education by means of increasing the role of history and geography in the curriculum. Civics and government need to be established as core subjects in the curriculum. Advocates of national standards and national tests for achievement mention English, mathematics, science, history, and geography. They do not mention civics, government, or social studies as subjects for which there should be national standards or national tests. The new 700 page curriculum framework, CIVITAS (created by the Center for Civic Education), is described as one of the most important recent developments in civic education. CIVITAS (a Latin word meaning body, the body of citizens of a politically organized community and the concept of citizenship with its values of shared responsibility, common purpose, and sense of community) seeks to define the meaning of U.S. citizenship and outlines the civic virtues (civic dispositions and civic commitments), civic participation, and the civic knowledge and skills that U.S. citizens need to possess in order to live up to the ideals of democratic constitutional government. The CIVITAS curriculum is described and the role that it might play in current national reform efforts also is discussed. The CIVITAS table of contents is appended. (DB)