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Social studies education
Making Civics Salient: Local Political Knowledge for Democratic Participation
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceCivic education can provide students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to become informed and engaged citizens. However, empirical research reveals that civics curricula have achieved limited or inconsistent success in meeting these democratic imperatives for young people in a… more →
Democratizing School Reform: Race, Participation, and Redistribution in Education
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceThis paper examines a school-based participatory budgeting initiative as a form of race-conscious democratic design. Drawing on a multi-year study of Participatory Redistribution (PR) in middle schools, I analyze whether embedding deliberative structures into schools can empower racially… more →
High School Effects on Civic Engagement
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernancePreparing young people for citizenship is a foundational purpose of public education, yet little is known about whether or how K-12 schools impact civic engagement. Using education, birth, and voting records for nine cohorts of students in Indiana, I estimate and assess the validity of high… more →
Exploring Claims of Critical Race Theory, Divisive Topics, and Indoctrination in the Classroom
Gary W. Ritter, Brian Kisida, J. Cameron Anglum, Heidi H. Erickson, Jennifer S. Gontram, Matthew H. Lee.Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceCritical race theory (CRT) and claims of political indoctrination in K-12 classrooms are at the forefront of the ongoing culture wars surrounding public education. Despite a wave of legislative action targeting CRT-related instruction, little systematic evidence documents the extent to which… more →
Separation of Church and State Curricula? Public Standards, Private Values, and Textbook Content
Tags: Belonging, Culturally responsive schooling, Curriculum, Elementary schools, Equity, Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education, Human capital, Instructional design, Instructional practices, Instructional technology, LGBTQIA+ students, Parenting, Race, ethnicity, and education, Reading and literacy education, School reform, Science education, Social studies educationCurricula are a critical site of cultural transmission, yet we know little about the values conveyed in textbooks across educational settings or the forces that shape them. We examine textbooks from Texas and California public schools and religious-private and home schools spanning 1980-2022,… more →
Integrating Open Science Principles into Quasi-Experimental Social Science Research
Topics: MethodsQuasi-experimental methods are a cornerstone of applied social science, providing critical answers to causal questions that inform policy and practice. Although open science principles have influenced experimental research norms across the social sciences, these practices are rarely implemented… more →
The State of State Civics Scores: An Application of Multilevel Regression with Post-Stratification using NAEP Test Scores
Tags: Social studies educationThe National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has tested the civic, or citizenship knowledge of students across the nation at irregular intervals since its very inception. Despite advancements in reading and mathematics, evidenced by results from the National Assessment of Educational… more →
The Stubborn Unresponsiveness of Youth Voter Turnout to Civic Education: Quasi-experimental Evidence from State-Mandated Civics Tests
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceYouth voter turnout remains stubbornly low and unresponsive to civic education. Rigorous evaluations of the adoption of civic tests for high school graduation by some states on youth voter turnout remain limited. We estimate the impact of a recent, state-mandated civics test policy—the Civics… more →
They Only Hate the Term: Explaining Opposition to History Curriculum Policy and Critical Race Theory
Topics: Policy, Politics, and GovernanceThe George Floyd Protests of the Summer of 2020 initiated public conversations around the need for antiracist teaching. Yet, over time the discussion evolved into policy debates around the use of Critical Race Theory in civics courses. The rapid transition masked the fact that we know little… more →