Building Social Capital for Civic and Political Engagement: The Potential of High School Civics Courses
by Joseph Kahne, Bernadette Chi, and Ellen Middaugh
The researchers employed a quasi-experimental design using pre/post surveys and comparisons with control groups to examine the impact of the Constitutional Rights Foundations's CityWorks (USA) curriculum. In particular, we assessed its ability to further democratic aims by supporting the development of three forms of social capital: norms of civic participation, social trust, and knowledge of social networks. Our evaluation indicates that this curriculum and several of its curricular features (use of simulations, role models, service learning about problems in the community, learning how local government works, and personal relevance) have the potential to further the democratic purposes of education.