Leaving No Citizen Behind:
Educating to Overcome the
Civic Empowerment Gap
Meira Levinson
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Northeastern University
April 26, 2011
footdrag
A competent and
responsible citizen:
withdraw
1. is informed and thoughtful
2. participates in his/her community
3. has moral and civic virtues
boycott
mobilize others
vote
inform/persuade others
run for office
blog
4. acts politically by having the skills,
knowledge, and commitment needed to
accomplish public purposes
(Civic Mission of Schools; Keeter et. al.)
create art (visual, rap, etc.)
Key attributes of good citizens:
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Attitudes
• Behaviors
Strong, direct correlation among these:
Knowledge + Skills + Attitudes = Engagement
Civic Empowerment Gap:
Knowledge and Skills
• Data from 4th, 8th, 12th grades (NAEP), 9th grade (IEA),
and adults (Delli Carpini and Keeter)
• Uniform results:
Higher scores on content
knowledge and skills:
Lower scores on content
knowledge and skills:
Whites and Asians
Blacks and Hispanics
Two-parent families
Single-parent families
Middle class (>200 books in
home)
Poor (<100 books in home)
Civic Empowerment Gap: Behaviors
2004 Election: Voting Rates of Citizens
Whites:
67%
Income >$75,000: 80%
Blacks:
60%
Income <$15,000: 45%
Hispanics: 47%
Asians:
44%
Natural born: 65%
Naturalized:
54%
< high school:
39%
high school grad:
56%
college:
72%
post-grad:
84%
Source: U.S. Census; http://elections.gmu.edu/CPS_2008.html
Civic Empowerment Gap: Behaviors
2008 Election: Voting Rates of Citizens
Whites:
66%
Income >$75,000: 75%
Blacks:
65%
Income <$15,000: 41%
Hispanics: 50%
Asians:
44%
Natural born: 65%
Naturalized:
54%
< high school:
39%
high school grad:
55%
college:
72%
post-grad:
83%
Source: U.S. Census; http://elections.gmu.edu/CPS_2008.html
Civic Empowerment Gap: Behaviors
under $15,000
campaign work
campaign contribution
contact
protest
board member
political org affiliation
informal community activity
4%
6
25
3
1
29
13
over $75,000
17%
56
50
7
6
73
38
Latinos < Blacks and Whites; Blacks more “outsider” activities;
immigrants < native born
Civic Empowerment Gap: Attitudes
• Political and social trust
• Political efficacy
• Personal efficacy
• Political/Civic identity
• Civic duty
Positive correlation
with civic and political
participation
Negative correlation
with poverty,
minority status,
immigrant status
Sources: Verba et. al.; Dawson; Smith and Setzer; Putnam;
Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University;
Sidanus et. al.; Sanchez-Jankowski; Lopez.
Attitudinal Gap: Efficacy and Identity
“The nation paused on 9–11, but not now. No one cares
about our losses. I am a homeowner who is homeless. I
am a taxpayer and a voter. I placed my trust in the
elected officials to do what is right but instead we got
nothing. We are not refugees, we are Americans.”
(Hurricane Katrina survivor, African American, New Orleans, 2004)
• “The government response to Hurricane Katrina would
have been faster if the victims had been white”
Blacks: 84% agree
Whites: 20% agree
• “Hurricane Katrina disaster showed that racial inequality
remains a major problem”
Blacks: 90% agree
Whites: 38% agree
The Civic Empowerment Gap:
Why does it matter?
• Legitimacy
• Stability
• Equality
• Democracy
What predicts participation?
Motivation
Opportunities
Where should we take action?
• Non-school sites of socialization clearly
matter, and may matter more than schools
• But schools matter too
Schools’ potential impact:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Overall educational level
Civics courses
Pedagogies: discussion, debate, simulations, etc.
Extracurricular/after school participation
Experiential opportunities
Classroom and school climate
Political/civic participation
Leadership opportunities
Personal invitation to participate
Family practices (e.g. discussion at home)
Civic education in practice:
High Frequency:
• reading textbooks
• completing worksheets
• listening to lectures
• using quantitative data, charts or graphs
Low Frequency:
• engaging in discussion
• participating in simulations or mock trials
• taking action
Civic Learning Opportunity Gap:
“High school students attending higher SES schools, those
who are college-bound, and white students get more [civic
learning] opportunities than low-income students, those not
heading to college, and students of color.” (Kahne and Middaugh, 2008)
Students in high vs. average SES classes are:
• twice as likely to report studying how laws are made
• almost twice as likely to report participating in service
activities
• nearly 1½ times more likely to report having experiences
with debates or panel discussions in their social studies
classes
Where should we take action?
• Non-school sites of socialization clearly
matter, and may matter more than schools
• But schools matter too
• De facto segregated urban schools may
give most “bang for the buck”
De facto segregated urban schools
Schools w/90-100% minority population serve:
> 1/3 of all Black and Latino kids in US
> 1/2 of all Black and Latino kids in Northeast
100 largest school districts hyper-segregated:
56% of schools are 81-100% non-White
Over 1/5 of these districts have student population
> 90% non-White, > 70% in poverty
“triple segregation” by race, poverty, language
Recommendations:
1. Improve urban schools and reduce drop-out rates
2. Increase civic education: earlier, more, more often
3. Incorporate students’ own interests, knowledge, and
experiences into curriculum
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Local knowledge and issues
Current events
Community concerns and attitudes
Historical understanding
4. Provide students empowering civic experiences
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Pedagogies
Class and school climate
Democratic governance
Civic engagement beyond school walls (guided experiential civic ed)
5. Provide teachers empowering civic experiences