What Counts As Success? Assessing The Impact Of Civics In Higher Ed | Hoover Institution

Quick Overview

The discussion on assessing the impact of civics in higher education centered on navigating the tension between needing measurement to scale and improve civic education efforts, as articulated by Tony Bry's maxim, and the risk of corrupting those processes through high-stakes measurement, summarized by Campbell's Law; panelists ultimately advocated for nuanced measurement strategies that prioritize professional community, reflection, and developmental evaluation over simple, high-stakes accountability measures.

Key Points: Joe Khan emphasizes using measurement to study impacts, highlighting the need to measure learning opportunities, which educators control, rather than just outcomes, to inform practice. Trigg Throntite defines 'Third Way Civics' (3WC) as a project to provide nuanced history/politics education that transcends 'history and civics wars' while habituating students to collaborative inquiry and acting on learning. Rachel Wall found that structured dialogues, even without shifting political beliefs, dramatically shifted students' feelings about disagreeing peers, leading to recognition of shared humanity and well-intentioned motivations. The panel directly addressed the conflict between the idea that 'you have to measure to make social change' and Campbell's Law: 'the more any quantitative social indicator is used for decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to measure.' Joe Khan used the Chicago Public Schools example where simple indicators on teacher/school responsiveness to student concerns opened conversations and helped secure funding because attendance improved at responsive schools. The Alliance for Civics in the Academy's strategic action should involve sharing means of measurement, including both quantitative and qualitative tools, in an easily accessible inventory for faculty members. Rachel Wall advocates for a research approach focused on understanding the meaning students construct from experiences individually, emphasizing qualitative, small-N research to avoid measuring only predetermined outcomes.