Study Finds Disparity in High School Civics Classes

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: NYT/AP

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 29, 2008

CHICAGO (AP) -- Her neighborhood, with its police cameras and abandoned buildings, isn't known for inspiring hope. Yet, 18-year-old Ariel Williams feels empowered. She's lobbied her state lawmakers to increase education funding. She and other students traveled to Iowa in December to campaign for presidential candidates. And now she can't wait to vote in November's election.

They are the sort of results that happen when civics education is creative and engaging, according to a new study.

''I've always been a real cynic when it comes to politics. At first, we didn't think we had a say,'' Williams says of herself and other students in her Advanced Placement government class at North Lawndale College Prep Charter High School on Chicago's impoverished West Side. She's also part of the Mikva Challenge, an organization that works to engage students politically. ''Now I finally realize that I have a voice.''

Too often, however, those kinds of opportunities aren't available to students, say researchers at Mills College and the University of California, Berkeley, who compiled the findings. They determined that white, college-bound students -- most often at wealthier high schools -- have the greatest access to civics lessons that can strongly influence interest in voting. ''It's a stark illustration of how unequal political participation is in America,'' says Peter Levine, director of the University of Maryland's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, also known as CIRCLE. ''We need to have a discussion in this country about our priorities and make sure democracy is one of them.''

CIRCLE released the findings Thursday on behalf of the researchers, who used data from the International Civic and Citizenship Study and their own surveys to compile a national sample of 5,548 students at 142 high schools. The surveys were done from 2005-2007. Among other things, their analysis determined that students in wealthier districts were twice as likely to study how laws are made, and about as likely to participate in school-sanctioned community service activities. While youth voting is surging in some sectors, study co-author Joseph Kahne worries that many young people remain disengaged, especially those with less education....

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Young-Voters-Civics.html

[lynnertic]

1. WHAT?!? NCLB was supposed to have stamped out all civics classes.

This is unsat.

:sarcasm:

[Demeter]

2. So They Missed One

This publicity will correct that oversight.