Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School
Joseph Kahne, Mills College* Ellen Middaugh, UC Berkeley *jkahne@mills.edu
CIRCLE WORKING PAPER 59 FEBRUARY 2008
CIRCLE Working Paper 59: February 2008
Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School
Note: The authors wish to thank the staff of the Constitutional Rights Foundation and all participating students and schools. Jim Youniss, Peter Levine, Judith Torney-Purta, Britt Wilkenfeld, and Gary Homana also provided very helpful feedback. In addition, we wish to thank the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Annenberg Foundation, and the W.R. Hearst Foundation for their support of this research and the broader Educating for Democracy Project. Related research can be found at www.civicsurvey.org. The authors are solely responsible for any and all conclusions.
www.civicyouth.org
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CIRCLE Working Paper 59: February 2008
Democracy for Some: The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In our study of high school civic opportunities, we found that a student’s race and academic track, and a school’s average socioeconomic status (SES) determines the availability of the school-based civic learning opportunities that promote voting and broader forms of civic engagement. High school students attending higher SES schools, those who are college-bound, and white students get more of these opportunities than low-income students, those not heading to college, and students of color. The study is based on surveys of more than 2,500 California juniors and seniors over a two-year period (2005-2007) as well as on analysis of a nationally representative data set of more 2,811 9th graders. Students were surveyed about how their high school civic learning experiences aligned with civic education best practices. This summary details those findings and suggests ways policymakers and educators can respond.
RESEARCH SAMPLE
The study employed data from the IEA Civic...