Search

Purpose: Standardised questionnaires are used to measure the outcomes of citizenship education. These outcomes are often compared across groups to document different outcomes, for example, between boys and girls. A prerequisite for cross-group comparisons is an assessment of measurement invariance. Methodology: This study used data from 6035 students from 87 Dutch primary schools to examine the measurement invariance of the Citizenship Competences Questionnaire (Ten Dam et al., 2011). Dutch schools use this questionnaire to gain insight into students' citizenship knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Measurement invariance was assessed across sex, socioeconomic position, and migration background. Findings: Measurement invariance was sufficient in most cases, allowing for cross-group comparisons of associations between latent constructs and their indicators, and in some cases, for cross-group comparisons of the latent means. We conclude by emphasising that periodic assessment of measurement invariance in instruments measuring citizenship competences is important due to the dynamic nature of the construct.

The abilities of citizens to make themselves heard and listen to each other are essential for the functioning of democratic societies. Schools are practice grounds for these citizenship competences. This study investigates whether students' experiences with voice in school are related to their attitudes towards voice (contributing and listening democratically), and how a democratic school culture affects this relation. Overall, 5297 students, from 240 classrooms, in 81 Dutch secondary schools, participated in the study. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that students' voice experiences at school, their own and those of their classmates, are positively related to students' attitudes towards contributing and listening democratically. This relation is not affected by a democratic school culture. These findings underline the relevance of opportunities to practice voice at school for all students and of the social nature of practicing voice. More generally, this study illustrates the importance of understanding schools as practice grounds for citizenship.

Purpose: Scholars are increasingly paying attention to the characteristics of effective citizenship education. The systematic use of data to maximise student learning, also called an output-driven approach, is often presented as a powerful predictor of student outcomes. However, its effectiveness has not been studied in citizenship education. Therefore, this paper aims to theoretically reflect on whether an output-driven approach is also feasible for citizenship education. Methodology: We distinguish five building blocks of an output-driven approach and elaborate on their applicability in citizenship education. While doing so, we draw attention to the normative notion in citizenship education and the quality and availability of measurement instruments for citizenship competences. Both may challenge the application of an output-driven approach, particularly given the relatively young tradition of measuring citizenship competences. Findings: We conclude that an output-driven approach in citizenship education seems feasible, provided that the characteristics of citizenship education are carefully considered.

In preparing generations for the future, schools fulfill a qualification and a civic task: providing youngsters knowledge and skills for the labor market, and equipping them to navigate democracy and society. Little research has considered how schools combine these tasks, particularly in relation to schools' student composition in terms of socioeconomic (dis)advantages across vocational and academic tracks, the focus of this study. By means of a unique, combined dataset, qualification and civic outcome indicators of 101 Dutch secondary schools were examined. Results showed that schools' qualification and civic outcomes were more positively related in academic than in vocational tracks, possibly informed by schools' student composition: the role of student composition was stronger in academic than vocational tracks for both qualification and civic outcomes. This is discussed in relation to schools' role in mitigating versus reproducing societal inequalities.

Highlights: • Standardised questionnaires are used to measure the outcomes of citizenship education. • A prerequisite for cross-group comparisons based on these questionnaires is an assessment of measurement invariance. • This study used data from 6035 students from 87 Dutch primary schools to examine the measurement invariance of citizenship knowledge, attitude, and skill across sex, socioeconomic position and migration background. • The measurement invariance was sufficient in most cases. • Periodic assessment of measurement invariance in instruments measuring citizenship competences is important due to the dynamic nature of the construct. Purpose: Standardised questionnaires are used to measure the outcomes of citizenship education. These outcomes are often compared across groups to document different outcomes, for example, between boys and girls. A prerequisite for cross-group comparisons is an assessment of measurement invariance. Methodology: This study used data from 6035 students from 87 Dutch primary schools to examine the measurement invariance of the Citizenship Competences Questionnaire (Ten Dam et al., 2011). Dutch schools use this questionnaire to gain insight into students’ citizenship knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Measurement invariance was assessed across sex, socioeconomic position, and migration background. Findings: Measurement invariance was sufficient in most cases, allowing for cross-group comparisons of associations between latent constructs and their indicators, and in some cases, for cross-group comparisons of the latent means. We conclude by emphasising that periodic assessment of measurement invariance in instruments measuring citizenship competences is important due to the dynamic nature of the construct.

Social outcomes of education are crucial for both the individual and society. This paper focuses on the extent to which state-funded (non-)religious private and public schools differ in citizenship outcomes. Data were used on 123 schools from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 in the Netherlands. Using multilevel analyses, we tested whether possible differences in school orientation can be understood from the characteristics of the population. The results of our study do not show systematic differences in the citizenship competences of students. However, private religious schools with an orthodox Protestant profile differ in terms of the citizenship attitudes of their students. This relation cannot be explained by the religious views of students as such and is also found when controlling for their socio-economic background and religiousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Citizenship education; Measuring citizenship competences; Output-driven approach; Data-use in education; Social outcomes of education Highlights: • Research on effective characteristics of citizenship education is still scarce. • An output-driven approach may improve the effectiveness of citizenship education. • We reflect on the feasibility of an output-driven approach to citizenship education. • We conclude that such an approach seems feasible for citizenship education. • Normativity and the availability and quality of measurement instruments need attention. Purpose: Scholars are increasingly paying attention to the characteristics of effective citizenship education. The systematic use of data to maximise student learning, also called an output-driven approach, is often presented as a powerful predictor of student outcomes. However, its effectiveness has not been studied in citizenship education. Therefore, this paper aims to theoretically reflect on whether an output-driven approach is also feasible for citizenship education. Methodology: We distinguish five building blocks of an output-driven approach and elaborate on their applicability in citizenship education. While doing so, we draw attention to the normative notion in citizenship education and the quality and availability of measurement instruments for citizenship competences. Both may challenge the application of an output-driven approach, particularly given the relatively young tradition of measuring citizenship competences. Findings: We conclude that an output-driven approach in citizenship education seems feasible, provided that the characteristics of citizenship education are carefully considered.

The abilities of citizens to make themselves heard and listen to each other are essential for the functioning of democratic societies. Schools are practice grounds for these citizenship competences. This study investigates whether students' experiences with voice in school are related to their attitudes towards voice (contributing and listening democratically), and how a democratic school culture affects this relation. Overall, 5297 students, from 240 classrooms, in 81 Dutch secondary schools, participated in the study. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that students' voice experiences at school, their own and those of their classmates, are positively related to students' attitudes towards contributing and listening democratically. This relation is not affected by a democratic school culture. These findings underline the relevance of opportunities to practice voice at school for all students and of the social nature of practicing voice. More generally, this study illustrates the importance of understanding schools as practice grounds for citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether classroom ethnic diversity is related to citizenship outcomes of ethnic minority and majority students. Hypotheses, derived from the social capital literature, are tested using the Dutch nationally representative data of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study of 2016 (2812 students, from 123 classrooms at secondary schools). The association between classroom ethnic diversity and five aspects of citizenship are examined: citizenship knowledge, support for gender equality, support for ethnic equality, institutional trust, and voting intentions. Results of multilevel analyses show that classroom diversity is related to stronger support for gender equality as well as support for ethnic equality, but negatively related to institutional trust, and not related to citizenship knowledge and voting intentions. These effects remain when controlling for socio-economic aspects of the school environment (educational track, classroom SES, urbanization, classroom climate) and are the same for both ethnic minority and majority students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the unique functions of same- and cross-ethnic friendships, Latino (n = 536) and African American (n = 396) sixth-grade students (M[subscript age] = 11.5 years) were recruited from 66 classrooms in 10 middle schools that varied in ethnic diversity. Participants reported on the number of same- and cross-ethnic friends, perceived vulnerability, friendship quality, and the private regard dimension of ethnic identity. Whereas same-ethnic friendships were uniquely associated with stronger private regard, more ethnic diversity and cross-ethnic friendships were uniquely associated with less perceived vulnerability. Multilevel structural equation modeling tested whether cross-ethnic friendships mediated the diversity-vulnerability relation. Although cross-ethnic friendships did not significantly mediate this relation at the classroom level, these friendships predicted less vulnerability at the individual student level.

To understand the complex nature of bullies' acceptance and rejection, this article considered goal-framing effects of status and affection as they relate to the gender of the bully (male vs. female bullies), the target (male vs. female victims), and the evaluator (acceptance and rejection from male vs. female classmates). The hypotheses were tested with data from a social network questionnaire conducted in 26 elementary school classes (N = 481 children; M [subscript age] = 10.5 years). The findings revealed that bullies were only rejected by those for whom they were a potential threat and that bullies generally chose their victims so as to minimize loss of affection by choosing victims who were not likely to be defended by significant others.