Voice in the Classroom: How an Open Classroom Environment Facilitates Adolescents' Civic Development. CIRCLE Working Paper 28

The Working Paper begins with a brief discussion of why the civic education received by America's youth compels the nation's attention, and then moves on to a review of the previous literature on civic education, including an emphasis on the contributions offered by this analysis. Next, the paper describes the IEA Civic Education Study in detail, and discusses the civic outcomes to be analyzed. The analysis itself follows in two parts. First, it is shown how the classroom environment affects both civic proficiency and the degree to which adolescents anticipate being politically engaged when they reach adulthood. Second, it is shown what factors lead young people to report that their school has an open environment. The paper concludes with an overview of the results' significance and implications. (Contains 4 tables and 19 endnotes.) [This Working Paper was produced by CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement).]