Civic Education: Readying Massachusetts’ Next Generation of Citizens

Author: David E. Campbell

This paper reports on the state of civic education in Massachusetts, focusing particu- larly on the performance of charter schools in preparing their students for responsible citizenship. Data were collected in an extensive, original survey project that included schools from across the entire state. Over 2,700 students in 23 schools—12 traditional public, 6 chartered public, and 5 private schools—completed a questionnaire measuring numerous aspects of “citizenship training.” Traditional public schools were divided into three categories according to their students’ mean performance on the 2000 MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System)—high, medium, and low.

Civic Education: Readying Massachusetts’ Next Generation of Citizens