CIRCLE Working Paper 58: An Interim Report of the Evaluation of a Comprehensive High School Civic Engagement Intervention in Hudson, MA
by Hugh McIntosh, Sheldon H. Berman, & James Youniss
In September 2003, Hudson High School in Hudson, MA, launched two new civic development efforts –- clustering and school-wide governance. This new teaching strategy provided an opportunity to study the influence of school-wide democratic deliberation on students’ civic knowledge and participation. The intervention involved, in part, organizing the school into clusters of 100 to 150 students that met for one hour each week to discuss governance and other school-related issues, performed community service, and pursued other cluster-related activities.