Contribution of civic education for adolescents
Summary: The report is designed to stimulate dialogue throughout the region about the contribution of civic education to democracy for adolescents (aged 14 and 17-18). The authors used the recently released IEA Civic Education Study data from Chile, Colombia, Portugal and the United States in their analyses. Among the parts of the OAS report of special interest are performance statistics by country at the item level from the test of civic knowledge/skills and from scales assessing concepts of democracy and citizenship. This allows researchers and educators to see where the strengths and weaknesses of knowledge lie among students in these four countries. There is a chapter about economic knowledge and attitudes, as well as chapters about the media, several forms of engagement, trust, teachers, and support for rights. Abstract written by the author.
Torney-Purta, J. & Amadeo, J. (with a chapter by F. Pilotti) (2004). Strengthening Democracy in the Americas through Civic Education: An Empirical Analysis Highlighting the Views of Students and Teachers. Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States. (http://www.oas.org/udse/)