Experiments in Political Socialization: Kids Voting USA as a Model for Civic Education Reform
McDevitt M, Kiousis S · 2006
grade Dquasi-experimentindependentunclear
Sample
491 student-parent pairs interviewed in 2002, re-interviewed 2003 and 2004
Population
High-school juniors and seniors and their parents in El Paso County CO, Maricopa County AZ, and Broward/Palm Beach counties FL.
Design
Described by its authors as 'natural field experiments' but curriculum exposure was NOT randomly assigned; the defence is that demographic controls do not correlate with exposure. Outcomes are self-reported news attention, discussion, deliberative dispositions and civic identity, plus self-reported voting in 2004. CIRCLE working paper, not a peer-reviewed journal article.
Key findings
The Kids Voting curriculum was associated with more news attention, more political discussion with parents and friends, more deliberative dispositions and stronger civic identity, and political communication in the home predicted later voting. The much-cited 'trickle-up' result - that children's civic engagement raises parents' - comes from this programme family. Note that when trickle-up was tested under randomization in the Democracy Prep lottery (Gill et al. 2020, n=5,792 parents), it did not appear.
Genetic confound
Not assessed in detail; see exclusion note.
Replication notes
Not assessed - the paper was set aside before an adversarial pass.
Effects
| Outcome | Metric | Value | Measure | Timing | Vs | Horizon | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News attention, political discussion, deliberative dispositions, civic identity | association with curriculum exposure | positive across outcomes, with demographic controls | self-report | ages 16-18 | business-as-usual | under-1yr | non-cognitive |
| Voting in the 2004 presidential election | association | home political communication predicted voting | self-report | age 18-20 | business-as-usual | 1-2yr | behaviour |