Civic Opportunity Gap, (The)

One-half of the youth population in the United States—that half with no college experience—is being left out of civic life. Although overall youth involvement in civic life has increased, as is evident in the much higher youth turnout in the 2008 presidential campaign, this increase is dominated by young adults with college experience. Youth who don't go to college are less likely to vote, volunteer, belong to civic groups, or join unions. Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, has found in talking with disadvantaged, non-college-bound students that few have received meaningful opportunities for service learning or volunteerism, whereas college students he spoke with had many chances for meaningful community service. Research bears out this "civic opportunity gap"; students in more affluent schools and college preparatory courses are more likely to experience service learning, classroom discussion of current events, and even fields trips than are students in less advanced courses. Levine calls on educators to infuse more civic education and chances for civic participation into classes for underprivileged students. [author]