A research study supports the notion that history books with political themes function for most students as repositories of knowledge rather than as agents of renewal or grounds of transformation. (AEA)

Tests a model which relates student political attitudes to the degree of participation in extracurricular activities. Subjects were 3,087 high school students. Findings showed that political attitudes are predictors of participation in the political arena in high schools. (AM)

Presents study results exploring the potential of a civics curriculum in developing a willingness to acknowledge the civil liberties of unpopular groups. Includes an overview of research on political tolerance and literature focusing on the shortcomings of traditional civics curricula. Argues that adolescence is an ideal period for teaching issues…

Original survey data dealing with the attitudes about international relations of secondary students in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, area are analyzed. Student opinions were measured in three areas: (1) international interest, knowledge, and information sources; (2) international conflict and the balance of power; and (3) international…

This research project analyzed the manifest and hidden curriculum of a sixth-grade writing project to determine how it transmitted societal values. Entitled "Right is Write", the writing project was a simulation game in which students played roles of writers, agents, editors, and publishers interacting to produce, evaluate, buy, and sell…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an introductory college psychology course on student attitudes, specifically social liberalism. A 30-item true/false test instrument, developed at Michigan State University and purported to measure student attitudes on a dimension of liberalism-conservatism, was used in the studies. Data…

The contradictions of political education in East European socialist countries based on the Hungarian experience are explored in this paper. Divided into three parts, the first part gives a brief sketch of institutionalized political education, while the second concerns the crisis of Hungary's political education emerging in the 1980s. In the…

Forty teachers attending a summer institute in East Germany in August of 1987 were given a questionnaire concerning their attitudes towards the German Democratic Republic and their opinions, perceptions, and misperceptions of Canadian students. The questionnaire was applied in Zwickau, East Germany at a small pedagogical college. Teachers were…

Nearly every college mission statement expresses the desire to educate students who not only have mastered a body of academic knowledge and skills but also will be responsible and engaged citizens. However, it is not clear how well colleges are achieving these traditional civic and democratic goals. The Carnegie Foundation conducted a 3-year study…

Describes a study of 14 fifth graders concerning their understanding and attitudes toward the Persian Gulf War. Finds that the public school served as a significant socialization agent during the war, although television was even more important. Concludes that patriotic issues and activities overshadowed any attempts to have students think…

The four political attitudes studied involved political interest, political alienation, racial equality, and the Vietnam war. Schooling effects influenced political interest and anti-Vietnam war attitudes but not political alienation and feelings about racial equality. (CS)

Researchers of performance assessment in social studies have contrasted authentic assessment, which is characterized by contextualized, complex intellectual challenges, with multiple choice tests of achievement, which are characterized as fragmented and static. In calling for the need for authentic assessment, this paper outlines a plan for the…

The relationship between student attitudes and the school as a political system is analyzed in this research report. Four types of school systems are hypothesized: elite, bureaucratic, coalitional, and participant. After testing this conceptualization, student attitudes of trust, integration, confidence, and interest toward both school and society…

Statistically examines the impact of an overseas political science program on student attitudes about world-mindedness, support for the United Nations, self-esteem, and tolerance of ambiguity. A substantial degree of change occurred only on the self-esteem variable. (Author/CK)

Israeli parents and high school students and teachers attach more importance to instrumental values (idealized modes of conduct such as achievement and decency) than to terminal values (human ideals such as freedom and Jewish/Arab consciousness). They believe that instrumental values are cultivated in schools to a greater extent than terminal…