CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)
conducts research on the civic and political engagement of young Americans.
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

FEATURED: New CIRCLE Working Paper on K12 Civic Education

June 1st, 2009
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by Britt Wilkenfeld

June 2009book

CIRCLE releases a new working paper (#64) “Does Context Matter? How the Family, Peer, School, and Neighborhood  Contexts Relate to Adolescents’ Civic Engagement”

Report Summary: A new CIRCLE Working Paper (#64) by Britt Wilkenfeld examines the effects of several systems of influence (schools, families, neighborhoods, etc) on civic outcomes.  The author finds that there are processes inherent in each context that can account for the ways in which environments influence adolescents’ development. The most important processes seem to involve aspects of interpersonal relationships with parents (especially the level of discourse), patterns of activity within schools, institutional resources within neighborhoods, and the collective socialization that occurs in neighborhoods.  Schools, among other settings, matter. The author finds that receiving a civics curriculum “appears to be more beneficial to youth attending schools in high poverty neighborhoods than to those attending schools in low-poverty neighborhoods.” For instance, this graph shows that receiving better civics instruction makes by far the most difference to students’ plans to vote if they live in poor neighborhoods:

Thus the paper indicates that the civic engagement gap can be narrowed when the learning opportunity gap is reduced. Schools, although implicated in the existence of a civic engagement gap, also have the potential to narrow the gaps between different groups of students.

* Download CIRCLE Working Paper #64 “Does Context Matter? How the Family, Peer, School, and Neighborhood  Contexts Relate to Adolescents’ Civic Engagement”

17 Responses to “FEATURED: New CIRCLE Working Paper on K12 Civic Education”

  1. Daily News About Education : A few links about Education - Monday, 01 June 2009 05:52 Says:

    […] FEATURED: New CIRCLE Working Paper on K12 Civic Education […]

  2. Stu Says:

    Having looked at the working paper I think the results in figure 1 are also interesting. The figure illustrates the effect the level of poverty has on the school confidence in participation.

  3. Pocket Bike Says:

    Does that really matter? I have a bunch of high income friends who very rarely vote..

  4. S Mann Says:

    Hi,

    Your organization has been mentioned in the article I recently published.

    You can read the article at the link below.

    http://www.educationreporting.com/article-how-to-uncork-creative-instruction.php

    Wishing you the best life has to offer,

    Steu Mann, M.Ed.

  5. Dream Directory Says:

    Nice informations with great graph in your post.
    Thanks.

  6. BeeArticle Says:

    Very great report, very clear, deep analyze and easy to understand.
    Thank for your share.

  7. craigslist Says:

    Fantastic info !!!

  8. matematyka Says:

    Great post !! thx a lot

  9. DetoxDiet Says:

    That’s a very good insight into civics instruction.

  10. PP Says:

    Very interesting, I’m surprised that the level of poverty has such a pronounced effect on voting.

  11. Oem Says:

    Thank you, it was very interesting to read:)

  12. Human Resource Management Says:

    Given Report summary quite effective and useful.

  13. acid reflux cure Says:

    I think that’s a pretty interesting study.

    So, people are more inclined to vote if they’ve been through a respectable civics class, huh?

    I’ll have to take mental note of that. You never know when these facts will be useful.

  14. Trevane Says:

    It’s interesting to data added to graphs like that. It makes become more real somehow. Thanks for this.

  15. Joshua Williams Says:

    No stable income meaning lack of financial support for each individual, most especially the young ones. So the tendency of which, they are deprived of decent living. #1 result of this problem is no sufficient education.

  16. Mikel A Says:

    Does that really matter? I have a bunch of high income friends who very rarely vote..

  17. rain boots Says:

    Parents need to provide their children the decent life that they need to get. Otherwise, they will end up lacking something in their lives.