HOW A CIVICS CLUB CAN CULTIVATE A CIVIC LIFE ACTION RESEARCH—ARI LEARNING INNOVATION GRANT LAURA COOLEY, PIKEVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

THE ISSUE  Research question:  How can our school encourage qualities of citizen participation in our students so that they will be productive citizens in the future?

RESEARCH  School curricular, extra-curricular, and co-curricular programs are supposed to help young people learn the positive attributes of citizenship. However,  About 20 percent of year olds voted in the 2014 elections (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)  About 24 percent scored “proficient” on the most recent NAEP assessment in civics (CIRCLE)

STRATEGY  Provide extra-curricular programs to provide experiential simulation opportunities for students to develop qualities of citizen participation  School-based activities  Kentucky Youth Assembly  Kentucky State Mock Trial Competition

STRATEGY/ACTIVITIES  11 th and 12 th grade students were surveyed using Survey Monkey on the following questions:  How interested are you in government and politics?  Can citizens influence government decisions at all levels?  How knowledgeable are you about how government works?  How much do you trust government at the local, state, and national levels?  Do you keep up with current events?  Are government and politics discussed at home?  It is important to  Vote, volunteer in community, serve on a jury, contribute money to political campaigns, contribute money to charitable organizations, volunteer in a political campaign, run for elected office Political Efficacy survey

STRATEGY/ACTIVITIES

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS Comparing PHS students to PHS students who participated in the activities:

CONCLUSIONS  Not all of the goals of the grant proposal were met  Co-curricular options were more successful than extra-curricular options  Students who do participate experience greater political efficacy  Offering new class elective next year: Law and Justice

WORK CITED The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. “High School Civic Education Linked to Voting Participation and Political Knowledge, No Effect on Partisanship or Candidate Selection.” Web. participation-and-political-knowledge-no-effect-on-partisanship-or-candidate-selection/ 17 January Retrieved 15 April participation-and-political-knowledge-no-effect-on-partisanship-or-candidate-selection/