Do Civic-Focused Career Courses Promote Civic Engagement?

• In Event: Aligning Course-Taking and Credentialing Programs with Labor Market and Civic Outcomes

Abstract

Background

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (“CIRCLE”; 2013, 2017) identified four key challenges facing youth as they enter civic life after graduating high school. Of these challenges, one pertains directly to schools and education: there is inequity in access to civic learning opportunities. In education, one promising way toward helping to increase the overall civic engagement of students might be through the continued expansion of civics-focused ‘career and technical education’ (“C-CTE”) coursework in our nation’s high schools. C-CTE courses are more ubiquitous in high schools in the U.S., and unlike traditional courses, C-CTE focus more specifically on civics and its relevance in current society. 

No research exists on how high school L-CTE might strengthen civic engagement for youth who participate in these classes. C-CTE classes have the potential to help students sharpen social studies skills such as respect for fact, ability to present rational arguments around social principles, and the ability to perform sound value analysis, which are critical for those who wish to participate knowledgeably in civic activities.

Sample

We use the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS) – a large-scale national dataset with student-level observations that were linked to high school transcript data collected by the U.S. Department of Education. For our outcomes, we also have key information on civic engagement (i.e., registering to vote, volunteering hours) as well as civic-related coursework and majors in college. Finally, for our set of control variables, we have information on individual demographics, school performance, and attitudes.

Data Analysis 

In the baseline model, there are potential unobserved school factors that may be influencing high school L-CTE coursetaking. The first technique to account for this unobserved bias is a school fixed effects model. Through a high school fixed effects model, all variation in the outcome variables between different high schools is held constant.

Next, we explore instrumental variables. Students with varying degrees of motivation to understand civics policies and procedures may be more inclined to take more of these courses. We will test numerous instruments. One instrument we will test is based on previous studies that used national datasets to determine the effects of other types of high school coursetaking on various end of school outcomes. Using subject-specific mean coursetaking at high school s for student i to estimate later wages, Altonji (1995) was able to reduce overestimation bias. Our instrument is calculated similarly, but instead of more traditional academic courses, we use the mean number of C-CTE units taken by students.

Conclusion
Supplementing traditional coursework with C-CTE work provides yet another reason to have credence to CTE in general as it has gained prominence across the nation. Many of the recommendations provided by CIRCLE (2013, 2017) in reference to actions that can be taken by schools and educators have direct connections to the purpose of C-CTE. Such recommendations include discussing current political news, learning about voting laws, and students participating in community research. Each of these recommendations relates to the nature of C-CTE. 

Authors

• Michael Gottfried, University of Pennsylvania
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Jay Plasman, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Patrick Lavallee Delgado, University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author