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Creating classroom-level measures of citizenship education climate

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Abstract

Optimal classroom climates for civic education encourage the development of knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary for students to become involved citizens. One of the simplest and most common ways of measuring classroom climate in this field is to aggregate individual students’ perceptions of classroom climate to the group level; however, little has been done to assess the quality of such aggregate measures. We examined data from the United States sample of the 1999 IEA Civic Education Study to determine the reliability of aggregate measures of the openness of classroom discussion climate as reported by students. Student and class-level correlates of within-classroom variability in students’ reports were considered, and aggregate reports were correlated with student outcomes. Although the aggregated classroom climate measure had only modest reliability, we identified several within-classroom sources of variability in ratings. Classrooms were also more variable in their ratings if the average climate perceptions were lower on average, and if the classrooms served students with fewer educational resources at home. However, the aggregate measures did predict a variety of student outcomes even after controlling for within-group sources of variability.

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Notes

  1. One intact classroom per school was sampled by CIVED methodologists. For clarity in this paper, we use the term ‘classroom’ to refer to group-level measures of classroom climate; however, the term ‘school-level’ would be appropriate also.

  2. An additional research question was also considered that would have pertained to gaining evidence of convergent validity, correlating aggregate scores on the Openness of Classroom Climate measure to reports of classroom activities by others. However, the lack of appropriate criterion measures in the CIVED dataset made this difficult. Principals and teachers in a school were asked whether students “learned to understand people who have different ideas.” However, the teachers who were asked this question did not necessarily teach the tested class of students, and the principals were responding about civics classes in their school generally and not the tested class.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Tamera Murdock for her assistance in developing the research questions addressed in this analysis, Judith Torney-Purta for her feedback on the findings, and Jessica Ross and Jennifer Schaafsma for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. This project was funded by a University of Missouri-Kansas City Faculty Research Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Counseling and Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA

    Carolyn Barber, Sachiko Ogata Sweetwood & Makini King

Authors
  1. Carolyn Barber
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  2. Sachiko Ogata Sweetwood
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  3. Makini King
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carolyn Barber.

Appendix: Covariates and predictors used in analysis

Appendix: Covariates and predictors used in analysis

Research Question 2

Gender: Student self-report

Response Options: Male = 0; Female = 1.

  • Race: Re-coded from two variables: “What is your Race” and “What is your ethnicity [Latino/Non-Latino].”

  • Response Options: White non-Latino, African-American non-Latino, Latino, Asian, Native American, Multiracial, Other

  • Number of Books in the Home: “About how many books are there in your home?” Do not count newspapers, magazines or books for school.

  • Response Options: None, 1–10, 11–50, 51–100, 101–200, More than 200.

  • Learn to Understand People: “In school I have learned to understand people who have different ideas.”

  • Response Options: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

  • Learn to Cooperate: “In school I have learned to co-operate in groups with other students.”

  • Response Options: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

  • Learn to Contribute to Solving Problems: “In school I have learned to contribute to solving problems in the community [society].”

  • Response Options: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

  • Total Civic Knowledge: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004). M = 100, SD = 20. Includes both items on civic content knowledge and skills in interpreting political material.

  • Response Options (original items): Correct/Incorrect

  • Confidence in the Value of Participation: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004). M = 10, SD = 2.

  • Sample Item: “Lots of positive changes happen in this school when students work together.”

  • Response Options (original items): Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

  • Read Newspaper: Composite of two items: Read National News in Newspaper and Read International News in Newspaper “How often do you read articles (stories) in the newspaper about what is happening in this country?” and “How often do you read articles (stories) in the newspaper about what is happening in other countries?”

  • Response Options: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Don’t know.

  • Discuss Politics with Teachers: “How often do you have discussions of what is happening in your national politics with teachers?” and “How often do you have discussions of what is happening in international politics with teachers?”

  • Response Options: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Don’t know.

  • Discuss Politics with Peers: “How often do you have discussions of what is happening in your national politics with people of your own age?” and “How often do you have discussions of what is happening in international politics with people of your own age?”

  • Response Options: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Don’t know.

  • Discuss Politics with Parents: “How often do you have discussions of what is happening in your national politics with parents or other adult family members?” and “How often do you have discussions of what is happening in international politics with parents or other adult family members?”

  • Response Options: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Don’t know.

  • Watch TV News: “How often do you listen to news broadcasts on television?”

  • Response Options: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Don’t know.

Research Question 3

Average Books in the Home: Aggregate of students’ reports of number of books in the home

Average Classroom Climate: Aggregate of students’ reports of the Openness of Classroom Climate for discussion (see text)

Research Question 4

Civic Content Knowledge: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004). M = 20; SD = 100

Response Options (original items): Correct/Incorrect

  • Skills in Interpreting Political Material: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004). M = 20; SD = 100.

  • Response Options (original items): Correct/Incorrect

  • Expectations of Informed Voting: IRT Scale (see Husfeldt et al. 2005) M = 20 SD; SD = 10.

  • Sample Item: “When you are an adult, what do you expect that you will do? Vote in national elections.”

  • Response Options (original items): I will certainly not do this, I will probably not do this, I will probably do this, I will certainly do this, Don’t know.

  • Expectations of Illegal Protest: IRT Scale (see Husfeldt et al. 2005) M = 20 SD; SD = 10.

  • Sample Item: “What do you expect that you will do? Block traffic as a form of protest”

  • Response Options (original items): I will certainly not do this, I will probably not do this, I will probably do this, I will certainly do this, Don’t know.

  • Support for Women’s Rights: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004) M = 20; SD = 10.

  • Sample Item: “Women should run for public office [a seat in the legislature] and take part in the government just as men do.”

  • Response Options (original items): Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

  • Positive Attitudes toward Immigrants’ Rights: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004) M = 20; SD = 10.

  • Sample Item: “Immigrants should have all the same rights that everyone else in a country has.”

  • Response Options (original items): Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

  • Trust in Government Institutions: IRT Scale (see Schulz and Sibberns 2004) M = 20; SD = 10.

  • Sample Item: “How much of the time can you trust each of the following institution: The national government”

  • Response Options (original items): Never, Only some of the time, Most of the time, Always, Don’t know.

  • Internal Political Efficacy: IRT Scale (see Husfeldt et al. 2005) M = 20 SD; SD = 10.

  • Sample Item: “I am able to understand most political issues easily.”

  • Response Options (original items): Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree, Don’t know.

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Barber, C., Sweetwood, S.O. & King, M. Creating classroom-level measures of citizenship education climate. Learning Environ Res 18, 197–216 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-015-9180-7

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