by Joseph Kahne, John Rogers, and Alexander Kwako

Amid hyper-partisanship, increasing critiques of civic education reform priorities from conservatives, and growing signs of democratic backsliding, can schools provide foundational support for democratic norms, commitments, and capacities?

by Daniela DiGiacomo

While living in the information age is not new, the continued spread of dis/mis/information in tandem with rising partisanship has made clear the educational need for robust and critical information and media literacy education (Bulger and Davison, 2018; Garcia et al., 2021; Reich, 2018; Wineburg and McGrew, 2016).

by Daniela DiGiacomo, Erica Hodgin, Joseph Kahne & Sara Trapp

A healthy democracy requires informed citizens on all sides of the political spectrum but extreme political polarization creates significant challenges. This study examines how teachers conceptualize civic education in an ideologically and racially diverse school district.

by Antero Godina Garcia, Sarah McGrew, Nicole Mirra, Brendesha Tynes, and Joseph Kahne

The practice of politics is changing in the digital age. Indeed, whether one considers mainstream electoral politics or major social movements, the central role of social media and of the digital revolution more generally is clear.

by John Rogers & Joseph Kahne

In recent decades, preparing students for college and the workplace has garnered more and more attention, often at the expense of civic preparation. Only about one in three high school principals in a national survey we conducted in 2018 cited “promoting informed participation in civic and community life” as one of their school’s top three goals.

by John Rogers, Erica Hodgin, Joseph Kahne, Rebecca Cooper Geller, Alexander Kwako, Samia Alkam, and Cicely Bingener

It is time to reclaim the democratic purposes of public education in California.

by Erica Hodgin, Joseph Kahne, and John Rogers

Democracy always has been a core purpose underlying public education. Preparing students to engage in our democracy is not a luxury to be attended to if time permits. It is fundamentally important.

by Benjamin Bowyer and Joseph Kahne

This study examines the effects of online and offline civic learning opportunities on offline civic engagement and online political activity. It draws on panel data for high school students in Chicago Public Schools (N = 10,254).

by Benjamin Boyer and Joseph Kahne

This article investigates the factors that shape the circulation of political content on social media. We analyze an experiment embedded within a nationally representative survey of U.S. youth that randomly assigned participants to see a short post designed to resemble content that circulates through social media.

by Erica Hodgin

While the civic dimensions of media literacy have always existed, expanded opportunities for civic media literacy education are needed for youth to successfully navigate civic and political participation in the digital age.

by Joseph Kahne & Benjamin Bowyer

To argue that digital media are now central to civic and political life for young people in the United States is, in many respects, to state the obvious.

by Erica Hodgin and Joseph Kahne

Since the 2016 presidential election, the term fake news has become part of the national discourse. Although some have appropriated the term for political purposes, actual fake news represents an inherent threat to American democracy given the ease through which it is consumed and shared via social media.

by Cathy Cohen, Joseph Kahne, Jessica Marshall

We live in a time of heightened political and civic activity among young people, especially young people of color. The election of President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 inspired increased civic and political participation among young adults.

by Erica Hodgin and Joseph Kahne

Rather than focusing on whether a statement is accurate, youth—like adults— often focus on whether a statement supports their prior beliefs.

by Joseph Kahne and Benjamin Bowyer

In this study, we assess the potential significance of two broad categories of online activity: friendship-driven (FD) and interest-driven (ID) engagement (see Ito et al., 2009; Jenkins, 2009).

by Joel Westheimer, John Rogers, Joseph Kahne

An education that fosters the kind of citizen engagement that a well-functioning democracy requires includes not only minimal skills but also familiarity with democratic processes and institutions.

by Benjamin Bowyer and Joseph Kahne

Whereas the impact of media on informing the public about factual information on charged issues has been the subject of substantial study, the impact of educational efforts relative to these issues has received little attention.

by Joseph Kahne and Benjamin Bowyer

Much misinformation and many falsehoods related to politics circulate online. This paper investigates how youth judge the accuracy of truth claims tied to controversial public issues.

by Benjamin T. Bowyer & Joseph Kahne

A book chapter in Civic Media, Technology, Design, Practice. Edited by Eric Gordon and Paul Mihailidis MIT Press.

by Ellen Middaugh, Joseph Kahne and Ben Bowyer

In light of evidence that the Internet, participatory media, and online communities are increasingly central to civic and political life, this article investigates online political discourse as a context of youth civic development.