Growing Voters: K–12 Civic Education's Role in Building a More Representative Electorate

• In Event: Building Equitable Pathways for Youth Voting Through K–12 Education

Abstract

Objectives

Using data from a nationally representative survey, this study provides a synthesis of broad trends in teen (14-17 years old) learning about elections and voting in the US, including comparisons among youth to understand differences in access and exposure to this critical area of learning. Historically, since the 26th amendment, most data collected and reported on youth voting tracks voting-eligible citizens 18 or over. This research is unique because it focuses on how teens are educated about voting before they gain the right to vote.

Theoretical Framework

This study is built on Dewian theory related to the role that education can play in building and transferring democratic ideals. Within this framework, we look at elements of youth civic development and how various educational experiences contribute to that development (Sherrod et al., 2010). We also look at “opportunity” as an important element, as raised by Kahne & Middaugh (2008) and Levinson (2012), to understand the differences in exposure and access to civic development among youth.

Methods

We surveyed teens (14-17 years old) through a Qualtrics research panel. A post-stratification weight was used to ensure national representation. The survey was fielded between September and November 2020 and yielded 1,847 responses.

This presentation focuses on descriptive analysis across and between teen respondents based on demographic breakdowns. We also share initial findings from an advanced analysis using a cluster technique to understand patterns in the distribution of exposure to learning across all groups of young people.

Data Sources

These analyses will be based on the above dataset derived from a representative survey of teens (14-17 years old) in the U.S.

Results

According to this nationally representative survey, while over two-thirds of teens said that they were interested in learning and talking about the 2020 elections in their classes, only 60% of these youth reported having taken a course about how our government and institutions function today. When asked in what grade-level this class had occurred, only 32% had a class in both middle school and high school.

Like many educational experiences, however, differences in opportunity occurred across groups of young people. Among those interested in learning and talking about the 2020 elections, teens with a parent with a college degree were 10 points more likely to have taken a course and White youth were the most likely, if interested, to have taken a course (67% of White youth, 59% of Black youth, 65% of Latino youth, 56% of Asian youth). Teens who reported living in a rural area were less likely to say they’d taken a course than teens from an urban area (i.e. 50% versus 70%). Among those in rural areas who did take a course, they were less likely than those in urban areas to be exposed to promising civic educational practices and learn critical information needed for voting.

Significance

While scholarship related to K-12 civic education has talked about the importance of democratic participation, there is much less research attention to a core element of US democracy: elections.

Authors

• Abby Kiesa, Tufts University

• Noorya Hayat, Tufts University