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Textbook Designs Matter in Fostering Civic Understanding and Engagement
A quartet of scholars completed new research on textbook design. CIRCLE Working Paper 54: Improving Textbooks as a Way to Foster Civic Understanding and Engagement by Marilyn Chambliss, Wendy Richardson, Judith Torney-Purta, and Britt Wilkenfeld, describes a recent study in which tenth graders who had parent permission were randomly assigned to read one of three types of passages about direct and representative democracy. After reading, all students responded to the same tasks to measure their understanding and their motivation to engage in civic-related activities. Students came from regular classes in two middle class high schools, one from a West Coast state and the other from a state in the Mid-Atlantic region. The authors chose to collect data on two sides of the country, believing that often, research conducted in one location has been generalized too widely.
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High School Civic Engagement Activities Produce Academic Benefits
New CIRCLE research by Professors Alberto Dávila and Marie T. Mora suggests that participation in voluntary community service, service-learning, and student government activities during the high school years enhance academic achievement. In two new CIRCLE Working Papers Dávila and Mora, using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), find that those civic engagement activities raise the odds of graduation from college and improve high school students' progress in reading, math, science and history. For example, they estimate that service experiences—when required as part of high school courses—raise the odds of graduation from college by 22 percentage points.
While the impact appears to be universally positive, different types of activities affect demographic groups in distinct ways. Young men, for instance, appear to make greater academic gains when they participate in service activities : they are 29 percentage points more likely to graduate from college on time if they have engaged in service to fulfill a class requirement during high school, controlling for the other factors measured in NELS. Student government activities seem to produce the strongest effects on female students.
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Quick Facts on K-12 Civic Education
See the following fact sheets for short summaries on a variety of topics related to civic education:
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Teaching Civics During Political Events Shows Promising Results
Research on the Kids Voting USA program suggests that student civic growth can occur in spurts, especially around big political events such as elections. The research, summarized in CIRCLE Working Paper 49: Experiments in Political Socialization: Kids Voting USA as a Model for Civic Education Reform , provides eight recommendations for teaching civics. Three Kids Voting curriculum activities showed promising results for long-term civic development: frequent classroom discussion about election issues, teacher encouragement of opinion expression, and student participation in get-out-the-vote efforts. The research is based on a three-year panel study by Michael McDevitt and Spiro Kiousis. To learn more, download
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New Resources Available for Measuring Effects of K-12 Civic Education Programs
Two CIRCLE Working Papers contain assessment tools for measuring the effects of civic education programs. The first Working Paper (#47), “Developing Indicators and Measures of Civic Outcomes for Elementary School Students,” contains two sets of instruments designed to be used at the elementary school level. The measures include a student survey of civic knowledge, skills and attitudes and a set of corresponding grade level observation checklists of student skills and behaviors . The tools were created by Bernadette Chi of the East Bay Conservation Corps, JoAnn Jastrzab of Abt Associates Inc., and Alan Melchoir of the Center for Youth and Communities at the Heller School , Brandeis University. The second Working Paper (#48), entitled “Assessing School Citizenship Education Climate: Implications for the Social Studies,” focuses on the middle- and upper-grade levels. It presents the School Citizenship Education Climate Assessment —a self-assessment tool developed to help schools evaluate their citizenship education strategies and policies—and examines its implications for social studies classes. The tool was created for the Education Commission of the States (ECS) by Gary Homana, Carolyn Barber and Judith Torney-Purta of the University of Maryland and is available at from here . The ECS Web site also contains a set of items for assessing outcomes of civic education in the areas of knowledge, skills, and dispositions across the elementary, middle, and high school grades.
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CIRCLE Hosts Discussion: "Alternatives to Large,
Traditional High Schools: Can They Enhance Students' Preparation
for Work, College, and Democracy?"
On July 6, 2005 CIRCLE convened an all-day meeting to
discuss the civic and academic outcomes of small school
reform. Some education leaders are arguing that traditional,
large, omni-purpose, relatively anonymous high schools
should be transformed into institutions of smaller size,
with more coherent focus, more student participation,
and more connections to the surrounding community. Students
would then have more choice about which school to attend,
but fewer choices about their classes and co-curricular
activities once they enroll. Proponents hope that these
schools will graduate a much higher proportion of their
students and prepare their graduates better for school
and college. It is also possible that they will produce
better civic outcomes.
On July 6, policymakers, school administrators, teachers,
and students all shared their perspectives on the small
schools movement.
The meeting was held at the National Press Club and covered
by C-SPAN.
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Civic
Mission of Schools
Carnegie
Corporation of New York and CIRCLE have issued a major
report on civic education entitled The Civic Mission
of Schools. This report summarizes the evidence in
favor of civic education in k-12 schools; analyzes trends
in political and civic engagement; identifies promising
approaches to civic education; and offers recommendations
to educators, policymakers, funders, researchers, and
others. It was written by 57 authors/endorsers, including
individual scholars and practitioners and representatives
of such organizations as the American Federation of Teachers,
American Political Science Association, American Bar Association,
Center for Civic Education, National Conference of the
Social Studies, and Education Commission of the States.
Please visit www.civicmissionofschools.org
to learn more about the Campaign for the Civic Mission
of Schools.
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Civic Education for Young People Enrolled in the Adult
Literacy System
Today more than 1 million young people (ages 16 to 24)
enroll in adult literacy programs each year. A new CIRCLE
Working Paper by Melanie Daniels and Marilyn Gillespie
of SRI International looks into the type of civic education
young people receive through adult literacy programs.
The paper finds that much like the K-12 education system,
the adult literacy system faces several barriers in trying
to implement civic education. First, much of the funding
available is tied to performance on standardized tests
and at this time civics is not part of the testing and
funding system. With limited resources, teachers are often
forced to teach what is tested. Second, there is a need
for professional development activities that allow teachers
to learn more about how to teach civics-related knowledge
and skills to youth.
The research is based on an online survey of over 400
programs in 46 states as well as a literature review on
the adult literacy system. While the survey is not representative
of the entire adult literacy system, it does provide some
interesting information about the type of civic education
that students receive. The report includes recommendations
for researchers, policy makers and practitioners on ways
to enhance civic education. Finally the report provides
a list of resources for programs interested in providing
civic education.
Below are links to several documents on the topic. Please
click on the title to download:
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The Benefits of Open Discussion in Social Studies
Classrooms
“Circle
Working Paper 28: Voice in the Classroom” by
David Campbell looks at whether open classroom environments
facilitate adolescents’ civic development. The report
suggests that the amount of time students spend in social
studies classes does indeed correlate with their civic
knowledge and their predictions for future civic engagement.
However, the degree to which political and social issues
are discussed openly and respectfully has a greater impact
on civic proficiency than the frequency of social studies
class.
In addition, it seems that high school students who attend
racially diverse schools are less likely to report open
classrooms; it appears that discussions of diverse or
controversial opinions are more likely to be encouraged
in racially homogenous classrooms. Campbell bases his
analysis on data from the International Association for
the Evaluation of Educational Achievement or IEA Civic
Education Study (CES).
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How Schools and Families Can Work Together to Promote
Civic Empowerment
Two research reports by Michael McDevitt and Spiro Kiousis
provide preliminary findings from an ongoing evaluation
of Kids Voting USA, an interactive civics curriculum taught
during election campaigns in 39 states. The reports offer
a comprehensive explanation of how Kids Voting USA, an
interactive civics curriculum, brings together two powerful
institutions-schools and families- to address generational
declines in political aptitude.
Important findings include:
-Frequent classroom discussion about election issues
and asking others to vote had a positive influence on
students' media use, information processing, attitude
formation, discussion skills, and civic behaviors.
- These effects seem to be lasting. A follow-up questionnaire
given a year after the students completed the program,
showed Kids Voting curriculum influence in the areas of
news media use, discussion, cognition, opinion formation,
and civic participation.
-In addition to pinpointing the effects of different curriculum
components, the study is the first to document systematic
evidence that the Kids Voting program promotes equality
of civic development among students from different racial
and ethnic backgrounds.
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Including Politics and Elections in Civics Classes
A CIRCLE working paper shows emphasizing elections in
civics classes has a positive impact on political knowledge.
The research was conducted by Kenneth S. Stroupe, Jr.
and Larry J. Sabato of the University of Virginia Center
for Politics and compares classes that used the National
Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) curriculum and a
control group of similar classes that did not. The study
found that YLI programs have substantial, positive effects
on students' levels of political knowledge and, to a lesser
degree, some positive effects on students' political efficacy,
pride in politics, and propensity for future political
participation. Findings also suggest that increasing the
amount of time students spend participating in YLI mock
elections can have a positive impact on students' attitudes
and behaviors.
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Civic Knowledge and Skills: How U.S. Students Measure
Up
A CIRCLE Fact
Sheet provides information about U.S. student civic
knowledge and skills. The Fact Sheet uses data from the
IEA Civic Education Study, a survey of 90,000 14-year
old which asked about the civic-related topics they had
studied and about their expectations for political and
civic participation. The Fact Sheet offers comparisons
of the performance of students in the United States to
those in 27 other democratic countries.
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What is
Being Taught in Today's Civics Classes
A CIRCLE Fact Sheet "Themes
Emphasized in Social Studies and Civics Classes: New Evidence"
reports survey data on youth perceptions of what is commonly
taught in Civics, Government and U.S. History classes.
45% of 15-25 year old respondents said that the topic
most emphasized in their classes was "the Constitution
or the U.S. system of government and how it works."
This was followed by "great American heroes &
the virtues of the American system of government"
at 30%. The third highest response was "wars and
military battles", identified by 25% of respondents.
A small percentage (11%) said that their classes emphasized
"problems facing the country today" and only
9% said themes of "racism and other forms of injustice
in the American system" were emphasized.
Another CIRCLE Fact Sheet "Civics
Curriculum & Civic Skills: Recent Evidence"
explores whether civics education classes in schools actually
increase students' civic skills and civic knowledge. In
general, young people who report having taken civics or
government courses in school also report that they possess
more civic skills than students who have not studied civics.
This relationship does not prove that classes affect skills.
However, it is suggestive evidence, especially in connection
with other studies and data sources that indicate positive
effects from civics classes.
Students must take a high school government or civics
course in 29 states. For other information on current
requirements and guidelines, please see this
page on the NACE site.
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Effects of Civics Instruction and Participation in
Student Government and Community Service
A new study by John Phillips found the effects of local
service learning to be small and elusive. In one experiment,
he measures whether students who engage in clubs have
different levels of civic knowledge and attitudes. Participation
had little impact on civic knowledge and attitudes. Results
suggest that 5 more attendances in school clubs result
in one more question answered correctly on a 9-item civics
exam and a half-point increase in political understanding
(measure on a 4-point scale).
In another experiment, he found that students who participate
in a 1-hour seminar on voting procedures and neighborhood
activism showed no statistically significant relationship
between the lessons from the seminar and subsequent changes
in civic knowledge, attitudes, or behavior.
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Policies on Civic Education
A series of products by the Education Commission of the
States (ECS) National Center for Learning and Citizenship
(NCLC) reveals that wide variation exists in the extent
to which state policies address citizenship education.
Forty-one states’ statutes specifically provide for
the teaching of social studies, which could include government,
civics and/or citizenship. While 39 states require a course
or credits in government or civics for high school graduation,
only five of those states require students to pass an
exit exam that includes social studies to graduate (Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and New York).
The series includes a 50-state,
interactive Web database that gives users a picture
of where and how state policy supports citizenship education.
It also includes a
policy brief that outlines the importance of citizenship
education, reviews existing state policies and actions,
and gives policymakers questions to ponder and resources
to turn to for help.
Federal policies for civic education and service are listed in a separate CIRCLE fact sheet.
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Prof. Judith Torney-Purta's CIRCLE-funded work
on 14-year-olds around the world will help us to assess
the impact of high school civic education.
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A CIRCLE-sponsored survey found that young people strongly
favor required government and civics classes in high school
and middle school, but do not favor community-service
requirements. Please
click here for data and analysis.
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This summary of research
by Child Trends finds: "Engaging youth in positive
citizenship activities has been the most heavily studied
area of positive citizenship antecedents. Overall, research
has demonstrated relatively strong associations between
being engaged in civic activities in high school and later
civic involvement."
Please see also:
Constance A. Flanagan and Nakesha Faison, "Youth
Civic Development: Implications of Research for Social
Policy and Programs," Social Policy Report.
2001. vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 3-16.
William A. Galston, "Political
Knowledge, Political Engagement, and Civic Education,"
reprinted with permission from the Annual Review
of Political Science, vol. 4, © 2001 Annual
Reviews. www.AnnualReviews.org.
Judith Torney-Purta, Carole L. Hahn, and Jo-Ann
Amadeo, "Principles of Subject Specific Instruction
in Education for Citizenship," in Jere Brophy, ed.,
Subject-Specific Instructional Methods and Activities
(Advances in Research on Teaching, vol. 8), Elsevier Science
Inc., 2001, pp. 373-410.
James W. Skillen, with Jerry S. Herbert and Joshua
Good, At a Political Crossroads:
Christian Civic Education and the Future of the American
Polity, A Report from the Saints and Citizens Project
(2001)
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