The aim of this study was to assess the quality of the processes of a Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) citizenship education project by examining a 2-year intervention that involved 43 Italian high school students. We collected qualitative data (focus groups with students and interviews with teachers) to capture participants'…

Compared to other academic content areas, educational researchers conduct relatively few empirical studies focused on students' civics knowledge and teachers then have fewer opportunities to learn about research-based practices. A mixed-methods study was undertaken with 326 high school students (n = 52 with disabilities) and 21 social studies and…

Many studies in recent years have shown the effectiveness of Physical Education and Sports (PES) as a vehicle for teaching values and personal development among youth. However, despite research showing values transference is crucial for optimal learning, a gap in the literature remains regarding the strategies and methods underlying values…

Youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) is a theoretical-methodological approach that has been designed to promote positive development (e.g., well-being and health, social-emotional and cognitive development, academic or career advancement) and civic engagement among young people. Although YPAR holds particular promise, there has been…

This article addresses the problem of how to best design authentic writing assessments in history that support learners in demonstrating the types of higher order thinking skills needed for effective citizenship. Recent research has primarily focused on curriculum interventions intended to build disciplinary literacies through various types of…

Upon assuming the presidency of the Republic of Korea in 2013, Park Geun-hye announced her administration's priority to address the country's "Four Social Evils"--sexual violence, domestic violence, school bullying, and unsafe food products. As part of this initiative, the ROK national government urged police officers to implement…

Using data from Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, this study examined the longitudinal effects of cumulative risk of immigrant parents on immigrant youth's health and educational achievement in young adulthood. The mediating effects of intra- (i.e., family cohesion) and inter-familial (i.e., parental school involvement) social capital…

This study examined the effects of the instruction of four youth cultural border crossing behaviors: flexibility, being at ease, playfulness, and citizenship as an intervention aimed at helping students to transition across three borders, student to student, student to science, and student to teacher. The research involved 12 ninth- and 10th-grade…

Background/Context: Billions of dollars are spent annually on professional development (PD) for educators, yet few randomized controlled trials (RCT) have demonstrated the ultimate impact PD has on student learning. Further, while policymakers and others speak to the role schools should play in developing students' civic awareness, RCTs of PD…

In spite of the fact that public schools were established to prepare students for citizenship, the alignment of teaching practice with this goal is poor. In part, this is because the knowledge base about the efficacy of curricular and pedagogical approaches in supporting specific civic outcomes is limited, as is our knowledge about the extent to…

Environmental education (EE) and social studies education share an interest in behavioral outcomes. This study compares behavioral outcomes--including both self-reported knowledge of actions and reported actions taken--in the context of a land use curriculum enacted in secondary science versus social studies classes with 500 students and nine…

In September 2003, Hudson High School in Hudson, Massachusetts, launched two new civic development efforts--clustering and schoolwide governance--that provide an opportunity to study the influence of schoolwide democratic deliberation on students' civic knowledge and participation. The intervention involved, in part, organizing the school into…

Social media use has become so pervasive in the lives of American teens that having a presence on a social network site is almost synonymous with being online. Fully 95% of all teens ages 12-17 are now online and 80% of those online teens are users of social media sites. The authors focused their attention in this research on social network sites…

This article analyzes the comparative impact of three educational interventions aimed at increasing students' political engagement, two at the undergraduate level and one at the high school level. Findings from interviews with student participants in these programs indicate that political competencies are best acquired through democratic practice,…

In September 2003, Hudson High School in Hudson, Massachusetts launched two new civic development efforts--clustering and schoolwide governance--and moved into a new building designed to facilitate them. Clustering is designed to achieve a sense of community within a large school by creating small communities of 100 to 150 students. To create…