Initial Findings from the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (original) (raw)

2010, International Association For the Evaluation of Educational Achievement

About the study Variations in civic knowledge Student perceptions and behaviors Classrooms, schools, and communities For the future 1. Introduction Purpose Background Research questions Participating countries, population, and sample design The ICCS assessment framework Data collection and ICCS instruments Links to CIVED and reporting changes since 1999 Report context and scope 2. The contexts for civic and citizenship education Collecting data on contexts for civic and citizenship education National approaches to civic and citizenship education Emphasis on civic processes and topics in national curricula Summary of findings on contexts for civic and citizenship education 3. Students' civic knowledge Assessing civic knowledge Comparison of civic knowledge across countries Changes in civic content knowledge Summary of findings on students' civic knowledge 4. Students' attitudes and civic engagement Trust in civic institutions and support for political parties Attitudes toward gender equality Interest in political and social issues Participation in civic activities outside of school Civic participation at school Expected civic participation in the future Summary of findings on students' attitudes and civic engagement 5. The roles of schools and communities Implementation and aims of civic and citizenship education Student activities in the local community Student perceptions of classroom climate Summary of findings on the role of schools and communities 6 report on initial findings from iccs 6. The influences of family background Immigrant background Parental occupational status Parental interest in social and political issues Combined influences of family background Summary of findings on the influence of family background 7. Summary and discussion Variations among and within countries in civic knowledge Changes in civic knowledge since 1999 Interest and disposition to engage in public and political life Aspects of schools and education systems related to outcomes of civic and citizenship education Aspects of student personal and social background associated with civics and citizenship outcomes Next steps Appendices Appendix A: Institutions and staff introduction Research questions The research questions underpinning ICCS concern civic and citizenship knowledge, dispositions to engage, and attitudes related to civic and citizenship education. The ICCS Assessment Framework (Schulz, Fraillon, Ainley, Losito, & Kerr; 2008) describes the development of these questions. The framework also gives more details relating to the questions and outlines the variables necessary for analyses associated with the questions. RQ 1 What variations exist among countries and within countries in student civic and citizenship knowledge? (see Section 3 of this report) RQ 2 What changes in civic knowledge have occurred since the last international assessment in 1999? (see Section 3) RQ 3 What is the extent of interest and disposition to engage in public and political life among adolescents, and which factors within or across countries are related to this engagement? (see Section 4) RQ 4 What are adolescents' perceptions of the impact of threats to civil society and of responses to these threats on the future development of that society? (to be explored in subsequent reports) RQ 5 What aspects of schools and education systems are related to knowledge about, and attitudes to, civics and citizenship (see Sections 2 and 5), including the following: a. general approaches to civic and citizenship education, curriculum, and/or program content structure and delivery; b. teaching practices, such as those that encourage higher order thinking and analysis in relation to civics and citizenship; and c. aspects of school organization, including opportunities to contribute to conflict resolution, participate in governance processes, and be involved in decision-making? RQ 6 What aspects of student personal and social background, such as gender, socioeconomic background, and language background, are related to student knowledge about, and attitudes toward, civic and citizenship education? (see Section 6) Participating countries, population, and sample design Thirty-eight countries 2 participated in ICCS. Among these were five from Asia, 26 from Europe, six from Latin America, and one from Australasia. Figure 1 provides an alphabetical list of these countries and shows their geographic location on the world map. As occurs with other IEA studies, IEA invited all countries affiliated with the association to participate. The authorities in each invited country decided whether their country should participate or not. An innovative feature of ICCS was the establishment of regional modules. These included countries from the same geographic region and their purpose was to allow assessment of region-specific aspects of civic and citizenship education. Participating countries in the regions of Asia, Europe, and Latin America could elect to participate in the relevant regional module. Most of these countries decided to do so. Five countries participated in the Asian module, 24 in the European module, and six in the Latin American module. Additional student instruments were developed for each regional module. The European and Latin American instruments consisted of a short cognitive test as well as a questionnaire. The Asian instrument was based on a questionnaire. The regional instruments were administered after completion of the international student test and questionnaire.