Chapter 5: A Partnership for Civic Learning: Findings From a Civic Attitude and Engagement Survey of Florida Grade 7 Students

In 2015, Florida’s Partnership for Civic Learning (PCL), a collaboration between university faculty, state education officials, and school district leaders, commissioned the creation and implementation of the Student Civic Attitude and Engagement Survey (CAES). The survey, taken by seventh graders from participating districts at the end of Florida’s required year-long civics course, asks students to rate themselves, using Likert scales, on 10 conceptual areas that have been identified as potential noncognitive civic learning outcomes. This survey has been offered to districts every year since 2015 and has now amassed noncognitive outcome data from over 26,000 seventh grade students who completed the civics course. The PCL provides yearly reports addressing each of the 10 conceptual areas to participating districts and schools, but deeper analyses offer the opportunity to better understand the role of schools and civic education as agents of political socialization as well as the impact of instructional practices and classroom climate on students’ civic values. Findings from a deeper look at the data provided from a large urban district in South Florida suggest a consistent impact of select pedagogical approaches on encouraging student civic engagement and improved noncognitive outcomes. At the same time, there may be an important role for a mandatory high-stakes assessment in addressing issues of equity and a pedagogy gap in civic education and outcomes as teachers gain greater experience in and understanding of what works in the classroom.