While it hasn't disappeared entirely, your presumption that it's "still a required course" is wrong. Less than half of states (40%) require a civics exam for graduation. 38 states require a stand-alone civics course in high school, but only six of those require a full year.

Civics education in the U.S. began a significant decline in the 1960s. This was partly due to factors like: The No Child Left Behind Act, for example, prioritized reading and math, leading to a decrease in instructional time for other subjects like civics.

Many are concerned about the decline in civics education and its potential impact on civic engagement and democratic values. The politicization of civics education has discouraged some teachers and administrators from engaging with the subject as deeply as they might otherwise.

Initiatives and Model Curricula: Organizations like the Educating for American Democracy initiative are working to revitalize civics education through new guidelines and curricula.

While civics is often "integrated" into in a perfunctory way into "social studies" standards in all 50 states, the fact remains that dedicated and comprehensive civics coursework is not universally required, and the depth of instruction varies.

Fortunately, there are growing efforts and recognition of the importance of restoring and strengthening civics education in American schools.

https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/

The illinois constitution is taught in 7th grade, the US constitution in 9th.
I've subbed social studies fir both grades at various schools during this period and I can tell you it is a requirement that is followed.
They take the test in April. Mid-April, if I recall that right. Typically it's after spring break.

This was in the whole state of Kentucky.
I was in 8th grade in 1962 and when I finished the class I wanted to go vote, but I had to wait until I was 18. (we had the 18 yr vote starting in 1956)

My sister (4 years younger) did not have that 8th grade course, but there was still a high school American Government class

I am appalled at the lack of knowledge about government most people exhibit these days.

It's still required in Illinois.

Girls had to take home economics (cooking and sewing), boys had to take shop. This was 7th-8th grade for me.

I don’t remember one instance of a boy wanting to take home ec or a girl wanting to take shop class. I guess we just did what we were told!

BTW I HATED sewing! Uugghh. We had to make an apron and a skirt. Talk about sexist.

The sewing part was awful. The thing is, I was probably as good a cook as the teacher. I learned from a relative, and my mother was not much of a cook, so I did a lot at home. These days, I do not cook much. After fifty or sixty years, I am tired of it.

I would love to have taken shock, but in those days, girls were shunned mercilessly for breaking out of their designated roles

took home ec in junior high. The teacher welcomed them. His sister teased him about making little doll clothes. Of course he did no such thing. Later, he was all ready to cook for his boy scout badge. He lives by himself these days, and he is not a bad cook. He helps me in the kitchen when he comes home.

You had to produce three edible meals, a breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "Edible" being a flexible requirement.

I haven't "cooked" since then, as popping something into the microwave hardly counts as cooking.

-- Mal

Still a requirement in German Gymnasium education…not sure if it has been in US.

A rebellion (students & parents) eliminated the 3rd year.

Latin but later I was glad I did. A few years back I started to study Italian as I was doing a lot of traveling in Italy for art research. It turned out to be very handy!

After sophomore year, the top 15 students all refused, wanting to take AP classes instead.
A few of us actually got the schedule arranged so what would have been Latin was first period.
We went to a university about 8 blocks from the school to take actual college classes. In our junior year!
We also quit taking religion (catholic HS) so I took AP Biology instead.
The school was between a rock & a hard place because the top 13th of the class would have transferred to one of the public schools. They didn't want the valedictorian(s) to have the 16th highest GPA.
After that, the school changed the policy to do what we did.
A few of us left after junior year to go to college early.

Probably a consequence of growing up in a GM factory town

Years later, my first intern job was coding computer databases for the newfangled CAD/CAM systems that were making draftsmen redundant.

That and some kind of shop (wood and/or metal) were pretty common requirements for boys in Junior High over much of the country at one point in time.

-- Mal

We had a quarter of it seventh grade as part of the required (for boys) "inndustrial arts," including wood shop, metal shop and electronics. I got nothing out of those three, but fell in love with the precision of drafting and went on to take it as an elective in my first three years of high school (plus an additional class as a TA in my junior year) and three times in summer school starting after seventh grade.

It was gonna be my career -- cartography, specifically -- but in my first year of college, the instructor kicked me out, for reasons I've long since forgotten.

I think some of us really stretch our teacher’s imagination to come up with projects. We also had to take 2 years of a language, 2 semesters of both World History and American History. We also had to take Typing for one semester. We had American literature as well as English Lit. We also had to take 7th and 8th grade Science as well as Biology. Oh, yeah, and Phys Ed. We had 6 hours of classes everyday every year. Oh, Government for Two semesters.

required to graduate. If you took typing, shorthand, General Business and Bookkeeping/Accounting you could skip the Home Ec and Ag classes. There was another high school in the county which barely offered enough classes to get 18 credits.

I transferred to a neighboring county's new consolidated high school and we had so many more choices. It was much easier to get the 18 credits without having to suffer through sewing.

I wore the skirt once to get a grade than it was relegated some place dark and out of sight. I still have trauma about it. Well, not too much but that skirt has appeared in a few dreams over the years.

Neither had any practical application for me, but it did have kind of a leveling effect. I sucked at both, but guys who were clueless in English and math and science ran rings around me in those classes.

then either French, Spanish, German, or Latin after that from 8th through 12th grades. Most students chose to continue with French, but some of us took an additional language if we wanted to continue with French also. But from k-12, a foreign language was mandatory.

One semester of high school Civics class was also required to graduate.

everyone in my high school took a Driver's Ed. course.

Seems pretty clear that hasn't been offered for a long time where I live now.

... it could be taken by Juniors or Seniors in lieu of Health Ed. I didn't bother, as my parents weren't willing to pay the extra insurance for having a teenaged driver on their insurance policy! And I cut Health all the time anyway.

-- Mal

My middle school had mandatory occupational classes for both boys and girls.

home economics, sewing, woodworking, power & metal, drafting, printing

I got my first real access to a computer in shop class (power & metal).

Back in the late 60s, my husband took shop in h.s. in a small town. Even though the guy was still in h.s., one of his classmates was old enough to buy beer. He'd go to the carryout on his lunch break and buy a 6 pack.

My husband told a story that he and his friends got hold of a car from the 50s, and decided to turn it into a convertible. They went at it with the shop tools, sawing the roof supports. They got sawed through the posts and the doors fell off. Oops. They were probably lucky it was not an assigned project. Lol

Last story is about a bicycle ride my husband and his friends took. Monroe County is nicknamed Switzerland of Ohio, and the roads are hilly and curved. My husband, brother and one of their friends rode their bikes out Rt. 26. On the way back to Woodsfield, they were flying down one of the hills and passed their shop teacher who was driving his car. When my husband and his friend got to shop class on Monday, their teacher gave them quite a lecture about safety. He said he was going 40 when they passed him. I think they were proud of their feat. No helmets, no other safety equipment, just crazy boys.

As a joke, I took the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow test and ended up winning the damn thing. How humiliating! I was called Suzy Homemaker for months...I think I still have the little silver charm I got -- a heart with a fireplace in the middle of it.

I think I got a pin. If I had a silver charm it would have been on my bracelet

Still a useful skill but everyone just kind of learns it on their own now.

In Catholic high school it was one year of Latin and Religion.

The business track required it. 40 years later, after just graduating from College after !marriage and motherhood, I was hired to a new job because I knew Gregg, and not because of my psychology degree.

This was in junior high, in the mid- 1970s.

No Civics or Latin by the time I reached Junior High, although Civics had been a requirement a few years earlier.

In High School, "requirements" varied depending on the program in which one was enrolled. Not all students (indeed, not even half) were in a College Prep program. Each program had different requirements.

But "Health" and "Gym" were required of all students. "Health" was a joke course, sex ed masquerading under a different name, and we had to take it every year. I really can't tell you much about it, as I cut that course practically every day it was given (it was a once-a-week deal). I cut a lot of courses in HS.

-- Mal

In junior high school in the early 60s. This was in the gym but it wasn't ballroom type of dancing or "modern" dance but the type that would be done at a prom. I remember the boy and girls would each form a line and then the teacher played "The Stroll" by The Diamonds.

Here's a video of what the dance looked like.