Center for Civic Education
Research and Evaluation


We the People: Results of Pilot Test

A report to the Center for Civic Education

Ardice Hartry and Kristie Porter
MPR Associates, Inc.

July 2004

Executive Summary

In 2003, MPR Associates, Inc., one of the nation's leading education research consulting firms, conducted a pilot study to find a valid measure to assess the program’s influence on student learning and attitudes. The study found significant increases in political knowledge and political participation among students who participated in We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution. This pilot study found evidence that students participating in the We the People program


The political knowledge assessment found that Advanced Placement (AP) students who participated in We the People performed, on average, 30 percent better on the survey than AP students who did not participate in the We the People program.  Participating students enrolled in general education civics courses that used We the People also significantly outperformed their peers.

The pilot study utilized a high-quality quasi-experimental design and was administered to high school seniors in the fall of 200
3.  The instruments were developed throughout 2002 and 2003 by the Center in collaboration with WestEd and MPR Associates, Inc., two well-regarded firms in the field of educational research, and leading civic education scholars Dr. Richard Niemi and Dr. Beth Theiss-Morse.  Two separate instruments were developed and pilot tested: one measuring attitudinal items deemed important for future political engagement and the other measuring political knowledge.  Students were given pretests and posttests on political attitudes, and a posttest questionnaire for knowledge.

Two sets of comparisons were made.  In the first, students in AP courses that used We the People were compared with students in AP courses that did not use We the People.  In the second, students in general education civics courses that used We the People were compared with students in general education civics courses that did not use We the People.

The Center plans to survey high school students in four states in Fall 2005 as part of a longitudinal study. In this study the same students will be queried over a period of six to eight years, allowing the Center to demonstrate links between their participation in civic education in high school and informed political engagement in later years.

 


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