Increasing Literacy through Civic Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Civic Education and Literacy

Abstract

Integrating literacy instruction across the civics curriculum has the potential to increase students’ mastery of writing skills while gaining democratic competencies, especially when it is integral to active learning tasks. This study examines the effectiveness of Center for Civic Education’s teacher professional development program that supports integrating ELA into their long-standing We the People curriculum. Teachers were educated in pedagogies and instructional strategies for enhancing students writing skills that were central to the curriculum. Students’ written responses to questions in preparation for presenting their work during simulated congressional hearings were analyzed for the study. The pilot research finds that elementary, middle, and high school students achieved high scores on comprehension, interpretation, evaluation, and analysis standards of civic literacy.

Author

• Diana Owen, Georgetown University