Working Papers
For more than a decade we published working papers, written by CIRCLE researchers and contributors, which offered in-depth, scholarly analysis of a particular topic related to youth civic education and/or engagement. While we no longer regularly produce these papers, they remain valuable sources of data and scholarship on relevant subjects.
You can explore all CIRCLE working papers below, roughly organized by their primary topic or theme:
K-12 Schools and Civic Education
- State Standards Scratch the Surface of Learning about Political Parties and Ideology (2016)
- Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville–Portraits of American Teenagers’ Extracurricular Involvement, and Implications for Educational Interventions (2014)
- Civic Education Policy Change: Case Studies of Florida, Tennessee, and Hawaii (2014)
- Building an Evidence-Based Practice of Action Civics (2013)
- New and Alternative Assessments, Digital Badges, and Civics (2013)
- Summary of Findings from the Evaluation of iCivics’ Drafting Board Intervention (2012)
- Joining Young, Voting Young: The Effects of Youth Voluntary Associations on Early Adult Voting? (2010)
- The Classroom-Kitchen Table Connection: The Effects of Political Discussion on Youth Knowledge and Efficacy? (2010)
- A Five-Year Evaluation of a Comprehensive High School Civic Engagement Initiative? (2010)
- Predicting Civic Engagement in Urban High School Students? (2009)
- The Long-Term Impact of High School Civics Curricula on Political Knowledge, Democratic Attitudes and Civic Behaviors: A Multi-Level Model of Direct and Mediated Effects Through Communication? (2009)
- Does Context Matter? How the Family, Peer, School, and Neighborhood Contexts Relate to Adolescents? Civic Engagement? (2009)
- Democracy for Some?The Civic Opportunity Gap in High School (2008)
- An Interim Report of the Evaluation of a Comprehensive High School Civic Engagement Intervention in Hudson, MA (2007)
- Best Practices in Civic Education: Changes in Students? Civic Outcomes (2007)
- Schools, Education and the Future of the First Amendment (2007)
- Civic Measurement Models: Tapping Adolescents? Civic Engagement (2007)
- Improving Textbooks as a Way to Foster Civic Understanding and Engagement (2007)
- Civic Engagement and High School Academic Progress: An Analysis Using NELS Data (2007)
- The Civic Achievement Gap (2007)
- Experiments in Political Socialization: Kids Voting USA as a Model for Civic Education Reform (2006)
- Assessing School Citizenship Education Climate: Implications for the Social Studies (2006)
- Developing Indicators and Measures of Civic Outcomes for Elementary School Students (2006)
- Survey of Civic Learning Opportunities for Out-of-School Youth in the Adult Education and Literacy System (2005)
- The Impact of Participation in Service-Learning on High School Students? Civic Engagement (2005)
- Voice in the Classroom: How an Open Classroom Environment Facilitates Adolescents? Civic Development (2005)
- Education for Deliberative Democracy: The Long-term Influence of Kids Voting USA (2004)
- The Missing Link of Responsible Civic Education (2004)
- Trust in Government-Related Institutions and Civic Engagement among Adolescents: Analysis of Five Countries from the IEA Civic Education Study (2004)
- The Effects of Catholic Schooling on Civic Participation (2003)
- Are There Civic Returns to Education? (2003)
- The Civic Bonding of School and Family: How Kids Voting Students Enliven the Domestic Sphere (2003)
- The Role of Civic Skills in Fostering Civic Engagement (2003)
Voting and Political Engagement
- Youth Attitudes Toward Civility in Politics (2010)
- Spiral of Rebellion: Conflict Seeking of Democratic Adolescents in Republican Counties? (2009)
- Local and Absentee Voter Registration Drives on a College Campus? (2009)
- The Informed Political Participation of Young Canadians and Americans (2008)
- The Youth Vote 2004, With a Historical Look at Youth Voting Patterns, 1972-2004 (2005)
- Civic Engagement and the Canvass (2004)
- The Effects of an Election Day Voter Mobilization Campaign Targeting Young Voters (2004)
- How Post-Registration Laws Affect the Turnout of Registrants (2004)
- Throwing a Better Party: Local Mobilizing Institutions and the Youth Vote (2004)
- Easier Voting Methods Boost Turnout (2001)
Race, Gender, and Immigrant Status
- The Engaged Citizen Index: Examining the Racial and Ethnic Civic and Political Engagement Gaps of Young Adults (2012)
- Civic Engagement and the Disadvantaged: Challenges, Opportunities and Recommendations? (2008)
- Do Race, Ethnicity, Citizenship and Socio-economic Status Determine Civic-Engagement? (2008)
- Do Gender and Ethnicity Affect Civic Engagement and Academic Progress? (2007)
- Gender and Civic Engagement: Secondary Analysis of Survey Data (2005)
- Giving Back to the Community: African American Inner City Teens and Civic Engagement (2005)
- Civic Views of Young Adult Minorities: Exploring the Influences of Kinship Communities and Youth Mentoring Communities on Prosocial Civic Behaviors (2004)
- Getting Out the Vote among Asian American Young People and Adults in Los Angeles County: A Field Experiment (2004)
- The Relationship between Secondary Education and Civic Development: Results from Two Field Experiments with Inner City Minorities (2004)
- Mobilizing the Latino Youth Vote (2003)
Community Participation
- Making Educational Progress: Links to Civic Engagement During the Transition to Adulthood (2009)
- Civil Rights Activists in the Information Age: The Development of Math Literacy Workers (2006
- Youth Civic Engagement: An Institutional Turn (2006)
- Measuring Volunteering: A Behavioral Approach (2005)
- The Changing Lifeworld of Young People: Risk, Resume-Padding, and Civic Engagement (2005)
- Youth Civic Engagement: Systems Change and Culture Change in Hampton, Virginia (2005)
- A Comparative Analysis of Community Youth Development Strategies (2004)
- Civic Education Through National Service: Lessons from American History (2004)
- National Service in America: Policy (Dis)Connections Over Time (2003)
Youth Development
Higher Education / Non-College Youth
- College Students and Politics: A Literature Review (2006)
- Modern Universities, Absent Citizenship? Historical Perspectives (2005)
- The Political Participation of College Students, Working Students and Working Youth (2005)
- The Political Participation of Working Youth and College Students (2005)
- From the Horse's Mouth: A Dialogue Between Politicians and College Students (2005)
Group Membership
- Sports, Youth and Character: A Critical Survey (2006)
- Social Representation in the U.S. Military Services (2005)
- Recognizing the Role of Community in Civic Education: Lessons from Hull House, Highlander Folk School, and the Neighborhood Learning Community (2005)
- The Role of Adolescent Extracurricular Activities in Adult Political Participation (2003)
News & Media
- Young Voters and the Web of Politics 2004: The Youth Political Web Sphere Comes of Age (2005)
- News for A New Generation: Can it Be Fun and Functional? (2005)
- Technology and Politics: Incentives for Youth Participation (2004)
- Young Voters and the Web of Politics: Pathways to Participation in the Youth Engagement and Electoral Campaign Web Spheres (2004)
- News for a New Generation. Report 1: Content Analysis, Interviews, and Focus Groups (2004)