ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: CIVIC SKILLS AND CIVIC EDUCATION: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT Melissa Kovacs Comber, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Christopher Foreman, Jr. School of Public Policy Participation in public life requires sufficient civic skills. Civic skills include the abilities to communicate with elected officials, organize to influence policy, understand and participate in one’s polity, and think critically about civic and political life. One source of civic skill development is civic education coursework, often provided in high school or college. This dissertation tests for a correlation between civic skills (political interpretation skills, news monitoring skills, group discussion skills, communication skills, and English language skills) and civics coursework among fourteen to thirty-year- olds using probit models and propensity score matching methods. Data sources include the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Civic Education survey (1999), the Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Generational Portrait survey (2001), the American Citizen Participation Study (1990); and the National Household Education Survey’s Civic Involvement study (2001). Political interpretation skills are almost always correlated with the presence of civic education. According to the IEA/CivEd study, studying the Constitution and the Presidency almost always influences civic skill levels, while other civic education topics sometimes influence civic skill levels. Civic education is not always correlated with news monitoring skills. Civic education is sometimes correlated with the presence of group discussion skills and communication skills. No evidence was found of a correlation between civic education and English language skills. Among minorities, females, low-income respondents, non-college respondents, and non-Hispanic whites, differences exist in civic skill levels and the effect of civic education on civic skill presence. This dissertation recommends that all American high school students take at least one semester of civics. This dissertation also recommends schools and communities seek to prioritize teaching civic skills in schools, so as to equalize abilities of political participation. Further research is needed to fully understand the relationship between the content of civics courses, the classroom climate of civics courses, and civic skill presence. CIVIC SKILLS AND CIVIC EDUCATION: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT by Melissa Kovacs Comber Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2005 Advisory Committee: Professor Christopher Foreman, Jr., Chair Professor William Galston Professor James Gimpel Dr. Peter Levine Professor Mark Hugo Lopez ©Copyright by Melissa Kovacs Comber 2005 In memory of Anna, a true heroine ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes a village to write a dissertation. I certainly did not do this alone, and have many to thank for my success. I owe a debt of gratitude to my committee members for their direction and advice. In particular, I wish to thank Chris Foreman for his endless encouragement and keeping me on schedule. I thank Mark Hugo (Go Bears!) Lopez for his significant gift of time toward this work, his calm guidance, and his sense of humor. I thank Peter Levine for his prompt attention to my dissertation chapters and a valuable perspective toward this research. Further acknowledgements go to Bill Galston and Jim Gimpel for sharing their expertise on this topic. It has been an honor and a privilege to have been able to work under the guidance of this committee. I thank Jeff Smith for assistance with methodology related to propensity score matching methods. I thank the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) in the School of Public Policy for grant support to conduct this research. I thank my fellow doctoral students Michelle, Sally, Nara, and Louis for their encouragement, support, and “shrieking.” I am grateful to Soumya for helpful hints with STATA. I thank my friend Bob for attempting to teach me how to write, and my friend Chris for his never-complaining assistance with statistical methodology. I am grateful to Sara as well for STATA help and her friendship. Finally, and primarily, I thank my family and friends who have sacrificed for my opportunity to study at Maryland. The majority of that sacrifice was borne by my unconditionally supportive husband – I thank you Michael from the bottom of my heart. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ………………………………………………….. v List of Figures …………………………………………………….. ix Chapter 1: Introduction ………………………………………………… 1 Chapter 2: Civic Skills and Civic Education………………………………….. 9 Chapter 3: Data and Methods …………………………………………. 25 Chapter 4: Probit Models …………………………………………………. 44 Chapter 5: Matching Methods ………………………………………… 65 Chapter 6: Heterogeneous Links between Civic Education and Civic Skills ….. 78 Chapter 7: Conclusions and Policy Recommendations …………………… 117 Appendix A: Summary of Data Sets and Related Literature………………… 130 Appendix B: Civic Skill Survey Questions ………………………………… 132 Appendix C: Civic Education Survey Questions …………………………… 135 Appendix D: Instrumental Variables Methods …………………………… 136 Appendix E: Propensity Score Matching Methods …………………………… 139 List of References ………………………………………………………… 234 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: IEA/CivEd: Means ……… p. 144 Table 2: IEA/CivEd: Means ……… p. 145 Table 3: NGI: Means ……… p. 146 Table 4: NHES: Means ……… p. 147 Table 5: ACPS: Means ……… p. 148 Table 6: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Probit Models ….... p. 149 Table 7: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Probit Models ……. p. 150 Table 8: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Probit Models …p. 151 Table 9: English Language Skills (IEA/CivEd), Probit Models …p. 152 Table 10: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Probit Models …p. 153 Table 11: Monitoring the News (NGI), Probit Models …p. 154 Table 12: Collective Decision-Making Skills (NGI), Probit Models ….p. 155 Table 13: Communication Skills (NHES), Probit Models …p. 156 Table 14: Monitoring the News (NHES), Probit Models …p. 157 Table 15: English Language Skills (NHES), Probit Models …p. 158 Table 16: Communication Skills (ACPS), Probit Models …p. 159 Table 17: Monitoring the News (ACPS), Probit Models …p. 160 Table 18: Group Discussion Skills (ACPS), Probit Models …p. 161 Table 19: English Language Skills (ACPS), Probit Models …p. 162 Table 20: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods … p. 163 Table 21: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods … p. 164 Table 22: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods …p. 165 Table 23: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods …p. 166 Table 24: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods …p. 167 Table 25: Group Discussion and Monitoring the News (NGI), Matching Methods … p. 168 Table 26: Communication Skills and Monitoring the News (NHES), Matching Methods … p. 169 Table 27: Group Discussion, Monitoring the News, and Communication Skills (ACPS), Matching Methods … p. 170 Table 28: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, African-Americans … p. 171 Table 29: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, African-Americans … p. 172 Table 30: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, African-Americans … p. 173 Table 31: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, African-Americans … p. 174 Table 32: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Latinos … p. 175 v Table 33: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Latinos … p. 176 Table 34: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Latinos …p. 177 Table 35: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Latinos …p. 178 Table 36: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Females … p. 179 Table 37: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Females … p. 180 Table 38: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Females …p. 181 Table 39: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Females …p. 182 Table 40: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Non-college … p. 183 Table 41: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Non-college … p. 184 Table 42: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Non-college…p. 185 Table 43: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Full Probit Models, Non-college …p. 186 Table44: Monitoring the News (NGI), Full Probit Models, Females …p. 187 Table 45: Collective Decision-Making Skills (NGI), Full Probit Models, Females … p. 188 Table 46: Monitoring the News and Communication Skills (NHES), Full Probit Models, African-Americans … p. 189 Table 47: Monitoring the News and Communication Skills (NHES), Full Probit Models, Latinos … p. 190 Table 48: Monitoring the News and Communication Skills (NHES), Full Probit Models, Females … p. 191 Table 49: Monitoring the News and Communication Skills (NHES), Full Probit Models, Low-income … p. 192 Table 50: Monitoring the News and Communication Skills (NHES), Full Probit Models, Non-college … p. 193 Table 51: Monitoring the News (ACPS), Full Probit Models, Females …p. 194 Table 52: Communication Skills and Group Discussion Skills (ACPS), Full Probit Models, Females … p. 195 Table 53: Communication Skills and Group Discussion Skills (ACPS), Full Probit Models, Non-college … p. 196 Table 54: Monitoring the News (ACPS), Full Probit Models, Non-college…p. 197 Table 55: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 198 Table 56: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets and Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 199 Table 57: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons and Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 200 Table 58: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 201 vi Table 59: Monitoring the News and Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 202 Table 60: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 203 Table 61: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Latinos … p. 204 Table 62: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets and Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Latinos … p. 205 Table 63: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons and Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Latinos … p. 206 Table 64: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Latinos…p. 207 Table 65: Monitoring the News and Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Latinos … p. 208 Table 66: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Latinos …p. 209 Table 67: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Females … p. 210 Table 68: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets and Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Females … p. 211 Table 69: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons and Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Females … p. 212 Table 70: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Females …p. 213 Table 71: Monitoring the News and Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Females … p. 214 Table 72: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Females …p. 215 Table 73: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Non-college … p. 216 Table 74: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Leaflets and Cartoons (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Non-college … p. 217 Table 75: Political Interpretation Skills – Political Cartoons and Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Non-college …p. 218 Table 76: Monitoring the News (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Non-college …p. 219 Table 77: Monitoring the News and Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Non-college … p. 220 Table 78: Group Discussion Skills (IEA/CivEd), Matching Methods, Non-college … p. 221 Table 79: Monitoring the News (NGI), Matching Methods … p. 222 Table 80: Group Discussion and Monitoring the News (NGI), Matching Methods …p. 223 Table 81: Communication Skills and Monitoring the News (NHES), Matching Methods, African-Americans … p. 224 Table 82: Communication Skills and Monitoring the News (NHES), Matching Methods, Latinos … p. 225 Table 83: Communication Skills and Monitoring the News (NHES), Matching Methods, Females … p. 226 Table 84: Communication Skills and Monitoring the News (NHES), Matching Methods, Low-Income … p. 227 vii