See "The Relationship between Secondary Education and Civic Development: Results from Two Field Experiments with Inner City Minorities" on the K-12 Civic Education page.

1. Recognizing the Role of Community in Civic Education: Lessons from Hull House, Highlander Folk School, and the Neighborhood Learning Community
Principal Investigator: Nicholas V. Longo

2. The Impact of Participation in Service-Learning on High School Students' Civic Engagement
Principal Investigator: Shelley Billig

Working Paper 30: Recognizing the Role of Community in Civic Education: Lessons from Hull House, Highlander Folk School, and the Neighborhood Learning Community
Nicholas V. Longo

Project Summary
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Should schools be the only groups responsible for civic education? Working Paper 30: Recognizing the Role of Community in Civic Education suggests that communitiies and community organizations can also help young people develop the skills, values, and knowledge necessary to be active citizens.

The research looks at how mediating institutions such as the Hull House, the Highlander Folk School, and the Neighborhood Learning Community were able to provide rich models of learning in the community where community organizations work together to provide lessons in civic learning. The research suggests that the practice of civic education should reach beyond the schools into communities and community institutions. Additionally, for this type of education to be effective it needs to connect community-based
learning with civic outcomes.

CIRCLE Working Paper 33: The Impact of Participation in Service-Learning on High School Students' Civic Engagement

Project Summary
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A CIRCLE Working Paper by Shelley Billig, Sue Root, and Dan Jesse of RMC Research Corporation examines the impact of service-learning on civic engagement. The study found that service-learning students scored higher than comparison students on several outcomes, although most of the differences were not statistically significant. Service-learning students were significantly more likely to say they intended to vote and that they enjoyed school. The study suggests that service-learning is effective when it is implemented well, but it is no more effective than conventional social studies classes when the conditions are not optimal. Being implemented well meant that it was of sufficient duration (at least a semester), that it was linked to standards, involved more direct contact with service recipients, and had cognitively challenging reflection activities among other components. The study also showed that service-learning had an effect beyond other active learning techniques. The study compared more than 1,000 high school students who participated in service-learning programs with those who did not participate in schools matched for similar demographics and student achievement profiles.