Civic Engagement

Corporation for National & Community Service

Bookmark or Email this page:

Civic engagement involves participation and contribution to civic and public life through voting, staying politically informed, and engaging in community service. Civic engagement is important to service-learning because when service-learning programs address specific knowledge and skills, civic development is made explicit to students as a core learning outcome.
September 2004 (Updated June 2007)

NSLC Site Resources

CIRCLE Working Paper 06: The Role of Civic Skills in Fostering Civic Engagement (CIRCLE, 2003) (398K pdf)
The Civic Mission of Schools (CIRCLE and Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2003)
The Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Generational Portrait (CIRCLE, 2002)
Colleges And Communities: Gateway to the American Dream (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2000)
Evaluation Toolkit: Educators' Guide to Service-Learning Program Evaluation (Includes civic engagement measurements) (357K pdf)
A Guide to the Index of Civic and Political Engagement (CIRCLE, 2003) (253K pdf)
Lasting Engagement: Building and Sustaining a Commitment to Community Outreach, Development, and Collaboration (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2002) (920K pdf)

Relevant Links

NSLC Civic Engagement Links
UC Berkeley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Research Directory (An aggregation of the search pages of primary online resources related to service-learning and civic engagement research in K-12 education, teacher education, and higher education.)

Recommended NSLC Library Items* (How to Borrow)

Publications Available for Order

Education for Civic Engagement in Democracy: Service-Learning and Other Promising Practices
Expanding Boundaries: Building Civic Responsibility Within Higher Education

Effective Practices