In September 2003, Hudson High School in Hudson, Massachusetts, launched two new civic development efforts--clustering and schoolwide governance--that provide an opportunity to study the influence of schoolwide democratic deliberation on students' civic knowledge and participation. The intervention involved, in part, organizing the school into…

The landmark Civic Mission of Schools report of 2003 laid out an argument for the role of schools in promoting youth civic engagement and presented a range of promising ideas and practices to accomplish that. In this study we describe the civic engagement outcomes that Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, KY, has chosen to promote…

The goal of this project was to produce a set of civic measures with sound psychometric properties appropriate for use with young people ages 12-18. Measures selected tap aspects of adolescent civic behaviors, opinions, knowledge, and dispositions. The measures are easy to administer and can be used by educators, staff of community-based…

It is well documented that individuals with higher levels of education tend to be more civically engaged. In a two-part study conducted for the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), the authors provided empirical evidence using 1988-2000 panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988…

In September 2003, Hudson High School in Hudson, Massachusetts launched two new civic development efforts--clustering and schoolwide governance--and moved into a new building designed to facilitate them. Clustering is designed to achieve a sense of community within a large school by creating small communities of 100 to 150 students. To create…

This fact sheet explores volunteering among high school students, ages 16-18. Overall, volunteering among high school students was down slightly in 2006 as compared to 2005. Additional information includes types of volunteer organizations and activities, and ways that high school students become involved in these activities. Volunteer rate vary by…

Volunteer rates vary tremendously across states and age groups. In recent years, young people have exhibited rising volunteering rates, particularly high school students and college freshmen, but 2006 witnessed a drop in the volunteering rate among. When comparing the volunteer rates for different age groups from 2002 to 2006, 16-18 year olds…

This fact sheet presents information on the frequency of volunteering, trends in volunteering, and the organizations for which young people volunteer, utilizing data from multiple sources. Unlike many surveys, it shows that volunteering rates among young people are generally higher than they are among adults 26 and older. Findings of the Civic and…

Several nonprofit organizations provide instructional materials and guidance to support experiential civic education in schools. General evidence from national surveys suggests that the use of these products and methods improves students? political and civic knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. This paper reports the result of a particular…

One reason to offer sports in school is to teach youth the values, skills, and habits that will make them more active, engaged, and responsible citizens. Past evidence on the civic effects of sports is mixed, but points to some potential positive civic effects. This fact sheet uses recent data from the 2002 National Youth Survey of Civic…

This report describes how an innovative curriculum promoted the civic development of high school students along with parents by stimulating news media attention and discussion in families. Evidence is based on a three-year evaluation of Kids Voting USA, an interactive, election-based curriculum. Political communication in the home increased the…

This paper presents the School Citizenship Education Climate Assessment and examines its implications for the social studies. The assessment tool was developed from a variety of research fields and disciplines related to school and classroom climate and educational practices including civic education, educational psychology and service-learning.…

Previous research on differences in civic engagement between young people with some college experience and those without suggests that college attendance is positively associated with some measures of civic engagement. This Fact Sheet presents new evidence, but largely supporting the findings of other researchers, on the correlation between a wide…

In this working paper, the authors review the literature on college students' political attitudes and behaviors. It is hoped that this review will help to refine research questions and ultimately lead to a larger follow-up research study on college student political engagement. The literature review was based on the following three questions: (1)…

Civic education conducted in schools plays a significant role in fostering citizenship but teaching about these themes is often incorporated in history or social studies courses and not found in a distinct subject. An essential part of improving civic learning opportunities for students is preparing teachers more adequately for civic-related…