A new study by pollsters Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett examines the state of citizenship education in American high schools.1 The study reveals that the major differences between public and private school social studies teachers seems to be that private school teachers are more confident that their schools value and support their efforts and that their students are, indeed, learning about citizenship.
For instance, while only 45 percent of public school teachers agreed that their schools treat social studies as an absolutely essential subject area, 68 percent of private school teachers agreed with this statement. Not surprisingly, 86 percent of private school teachers mentioned having a great deal of control over both the topics they covered and their pace of instruction, compared to only 45 percent of public school teachers.
However, when it comes to attitudes and values about citizenship, teachers from public and private schools hold similar views. Eighty-three percent of public school teachers and 82 percent of private school teachers see America as a unique country that stands for something special in the world. Eighty-two percent of public school teachers and 85 percent of private school teachers say students should be taught to respect and appreciate their country, but also to know its shortcomings. Ninety-four percent of private school teachers and 92 percent of public schools teachers use controversial issues as teaching opportunities to get students engaged and to model civil debate and discussion. When teachers were asked to rank five priorities schools may have regarding the teaching of citizenship, both public and private school teachers favored internalizing core values such as tolerance and equality and promoting civic behaviors such as voting and community service.
Nonetheless, some differences emerge when it comes to what students need to learn in civics classes. For instance, while identifying the protections guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and having good work habits are considered as absolutely essential by roughly 80 percent of both public and private school teachers; 67 percent of private school teachers believe developing habits of community service is essential compared to 43 percent of public school teachers. Also, teaching students to see themselves as global citizens is perceived as essential by 64 percent of private school teachers, but only by 54 percent of public school teachers.
One of the most striking findings from this study is that private schools may actually be better than public schools at fostering citizenship and civic virtues. The nature of the private school environment appears to be more conducive to achieving these civic ends. Indeed, private school teachers appear to be much more confident that their graduates are learning the concepts that both groups of teachers say they want students to learn.
While both public and private schools have good history and social studies teachers, the key factor favoring private high school teachers seems to be the climate of the schools in which they work. Besides having the support from their schools and more classroom autonomy, they enjoy a school culture that values history and citizenship. For instance, 82 percent of private school teachers said that their schools have a community service requirement for graduation, compared to 37 percent of public school teachers. Also, 88 percent of private school teachers mentioned that their administrations maintain a school atmosphere where adults are respected.
When it comes to private independent schools, two other studies show similar results to those of Farkas and Duffett. A special report2 on student engagement of a group of 21 NAIS-member schools that participated in the High School Survey of Student Engagement3, conducted by Indiana University, demonstrated that these schools not only contributed to their students’ growth by helping them acquire needed skills, but also by instilling in them good citizenship values.
| Students Saying That Their Schools Contributed to Their Learning | ||
| NAIS-Member Schools | Public Schools | |
| Treating people with respect | 86% | 73% |
| Understanding people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds | 79% | 65% |
| Gaining awareness of conditions in the world outside of school | 78% | 60% |
| Developing personal beliefs and values | 78% | 66% |
| *Sample of 21 NAIS-Member Schools Source: Special Report prepared by Indiana Univeristy on the results of the High School Survey of Student Engagement taken between Spring 2007 and Fall 2008. |
||
In addition, data from two sets of surveys produced by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA4 on attitudes and aspirations of college students indicate that graduates of NAIS-member schools were more politically engaged than their public school peers.5 As freshmen, they were more likely to say that keeping up with political affairs was essential or very important (51 percent vs. 43 percent). Seniors from NAIS-member schools were more likely to discuss politics frequently in class (32 percent vs. 24 percent), with friends (40 percent vs. 33 percent), and with family (34 percent vs. 28 percent).
The Higher Education Research Institute data also revealed that, compared to their public school-educated peers, freshmen from NAIS-member schools were more likely to say that it is essential or very important to them to be a community leader (41 percent vs. 38 percent), become involved in programs to clean up the environment (37 percent vs. 33 percent), and help to promote racial understanding (41 percent vs. 38 percent).
Notes
1. Steve Farkas and Ann M. Duffett, High Schools, Civics, and Citizenship: What Social Studies Teachers Think and Do, September 2010, American Enterprise Institute, http://www.aei.org/paper/100145. The researchers used three focus groups and a survey on a random sample of more than a thousand high school history and social studies teachers from public, Catholic, and private schools.2. Special report prepared for NAIS by Indiana University on the results of the High School Survey of Student Engagement taken between spring 2007 and fall 2008.
3. The High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) survey investigates the attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs of students about their work, the school learning environment, and their interaction with the school community. Additional information can be found at: http://ceep.indiana.edu/hssse/index.htm.
4. The surveys included data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), a national longitudinal study of the American higher education system. CIRP surveys have been administered by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) since 1973. The CIRP longitudinal program consists of the Freshman Survey (TFS), Your First College Year (YFCY) Survey, and the College Senior Survey (CSS). Additional information on CIRP and HERI is available at www.heri.ucla.edu/herisurveys.php.
5. Amada Torres, NAIS Graduates: Ready and Able to Adjust and Excel at Academic Life, August 2010, National Association of Independent Schools, www.nais.org/research/article.cfm?ItemNumber=154015&sn.ItemNumber=153750&tn.ItemNumber=153770.
