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This report provides an extensive picture of factors often thought to be associated with promoting good citizenship among youth. In particular, it focuses on the civic development of 9th- through 12th-grade students. Broadly speaking, student characteristics, family influences, the role of schools, media factors, and the possible benefits of participation in community service activities are related to civic development. Initial analyses study how these factors relate to civic development in isolation from one another while the latter part of the report studies their relationship to civic development in conjunction with one another. Important questions with relevant answers are presented in the report. Questions asked are: (1) are there any differences between 9th- through 12th-grade students and their parents on key dimensions of civic development? (2) do students, as they progress through the education system, have better civic development scores and are there other student characteristics that are related to civic development? (3) does attention to politics translate into higher levels of civic development? (4) what types of activities in which students engage are associated with higher levels of civic development? and (5) what role does the family play in student civic development? Contains 8 figures, 21 tables, and 88 references. (LB)

In large-scale assessments, some amount of background material is generally collected. Background questionnaires in the National Assessment of Educational Progress are the subject of this report. Most of the questions in NAEP background questionnaires have asked about course taking patterns and course content, but it is argued that the material gathered at present is of dubious quality and that information that is more extensive and valid could be collected. The questions about courses students have taken are often unnecessary or meaningless, and the coverage of courses is absent or incomplete. Information about advanced placement courses is demonstrably invalid, and information about other courses is often vague. Specific solutions, aimed at greater accuracy and detail, are proposed for these problems. A second major problem area is in the language that is used on the background questionnaires for fourth grade, which may be too difficult for the average student. Field testing these proposed changes is discussed. An attachment shows the percentage of 12th graders who report that they have taken advanced placement courses. (SLD)

This document reports the results of a study of the extent to which civics education and other factors contribute to student political knowledge. In particular, the research focused on how much the civics curriculum, student background, demographics, home environment, and individual student achievement affect 12th graders' awareness of government and politics. Prior studies differ on the contribution of civics education to political awareness. Such diverse findings may be attributable to the different studies' focus on different dependent variables. Even those findings that identify a connection between political education and political knowledge differ regarding the extent of that connection. In recent years, there has been relatively little work comparing course subject matter to civics knowledge and little range in the kinds of political knowledge about which students have been tested. It is important to make a distinction between exposure to political subjects and the selection of subjects that students remember. To be politically knowledgeable, students must be exposed to information and value that selection of information. Exposure is more a matter of structural factors in the curricular and home environment, while selection is an individual and motivational matter. Analysis of National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) data suggests that the school and the civics curriculum are in fact influential in terms of the political awareness and attitudes of U.S. 12th graders. The document contains 50 references and 8 tables. (SG)