Assessing School Citizenship Education Climate: Implications for the Social Studies

This paper presents the School Citizenship Education Climate Assessment and examines its implications for the social studies. The assessment tool was developed from a variety of research fields and disciplines related to school and classroom climate and educational practices including civic education, educational psychology and service-learning. We begin with a brief examination of several key concepts underlying our assessment including school climate, citizenship education and the social studies. Next we present our theoretical framework consisting of seven characteristics of school climate that we believe are critical to an education for responsible citizenship. Within this section we explore the relationship between these characteristics and the social studies in fostering a positive school climate for citizenship education. A description of the assessment follows with a focus on its development, intended audience and use and application in the field. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for research and implications for practice.