Civic Engagement Survey

Thank you for your great suggestions on civic engagement surveys and other
measurements.  Below is a collection of responses!
Becky

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I did a research project for the Corporation on how service-learning
develops human capital and social capital in student participants, very
closely related to the civic engagement elements you are considering.  You
can see the results, methods, and how I set up the project at:

http://www.missouri.edu/~sahfc6/fellowwelcome.htm

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I don't know if these items will help:
1)Here is a study on civic engagement in Illinois:
http://civic.uis.edu/report/release.html

2)I've attached a wheel of civic engagement I've created as a tool to define
civic engagement and help students/ colleagues  identify their civic
engagement.

3)Andy Furco has some materials that might be useful-If you have time,
perhaps check his website at UC Berkeley and see if he has anything posted.

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I would suggest that you check out two sources.
First, two works by Robert Putnam, "Bowling Alone" and the more recent,
"Bowling Together". Second, is a Campus Compact Publication "Civic
Engagement Across the Curriculum" by Richard M. Battistoni.

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How about membership in clubs and church membership?

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Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot to suggest other than perhaps seeing
what the AmeriCorps program uses to survey their members.

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You might want to take a look at some of the writings of Flanagan/Faison and
Westheimer/Kahne, particularly Flanagan's "Youth Civic Development:
Implications of Research for Social Policy and Programs" and Westheimer's
"What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy."

Flanagan et al. look at three indicators of civic development in young
people: civic literacy, skills and attachments; and, Westheimer et al. look
at three concepts of citizenship: the personally responsible, the
participatory, and the social change agent.  These writings might assist you
in framing your survey questions.

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I'm assuming that you're talking about higher-ed, not K-12 students. We're
developing a student survey focusing on college student participation in
civic engagement activities.  It's yet to be piloted, but we may be able to
share it in a few months.  In the meantime, Scott Keeter recently published
a study on youth civic engagement and the survey used in this study is
available on the Web.  Check out the CIRCLE web site www.civicyouth.org

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The Compendium of Assessment and Research Tools (http://cart.rmcdenver.com/)
has some good examples. Check out the "Civic Responsibility Survey" on this
website (although it is for K-12 students).

You may also find some useful items on Project STAR's website
(http://www.projectstar.org/). Click on the Learn and Serve logo, then on
"Resource Center," and on "Library" to view instruments.

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Here are some scales that we have compiled for a book of scales that may be
of interest (Attached).

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~*~
Becky Palmisano
Coordinator of Student Assistantships and Program Evaluation
Office for Service-Learning and Volunteer Programs
Colorado State University
Lory Student Center - Rm. 27, LL
8033 - Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80521-8033
Ph: 970-491-1483, Fax: 970-491-2826
www.slvp.colostate.edu
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