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Understanding the Value of Law Related and Civic Education 34P DOCUMENT RESUME ED 429 879 SO 029 531 AUTHOR Cornett, Jeffrey W. TITLE Understanding the Value of Law Related and Civic Education for Youth: A Review of the Literature. PUB DATE 1998-05-00 NOTE 34p.; Report prepared for the American Bar Association, April 1997. Paper presented at the Civitas: An International Civic Exchange Program Conference (Vogosca-Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 7-13, 1998). PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070)=- Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Citizenship Education; *Civics; Critical Thinking; *Law Related Education; Literature Reviews; *Scholarship; Secondary Education; Social Studies; Student Attitudes; Student Behavior IDENTIFIERS Civic Values ABSTRACT Research in law-related education (LRE) and related fields is reviewed in this report. For the past two decades, researchers consistently have reported that law-related curricula and instruction make a positive impact on youth when compared to traditional approaches to teaching and learning law, civics, and government. The overall conclusion is that LRE programs have a positive effect on student knowledgeabout law and legal processes, and individual rights and responsibilities. Inaddition, there is evidence that LRE programs have a positive influence on student attitudes and behavior. The most positive changes in student behavior often are associated with LRE programs where the following elements are present: instruction is of high quality and promotes higher order thinking; students are actively involved in the instructional process; teachers thoughtfully mediate the curriculum through wise selection of materials and outside resource persons; administrators actively support the program; and instructors have a network of professional peer support. This review incorporates an analysis of the major databases that yielded 9 technical reports, 6 scholarly papers, and 25 dissertations directly linked to law-related education. In addition, 13 journal articles and 6 book chapters were included in the review. (BT) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** oot- Understanding the value of law related and civic education for youth; A review of the literature U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY /Thisdocument has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 1101011Jef-Crey 0 Minor changes have been made to __Cocne+V improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions slated in this INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. 1 Dr. Jeffrey W. Cornett University of Central Florida Report prepared for the American Bar Association, Cr) kr) April 1997 Presented to the C)Civitas: An International Civic Exchange Program Vogosca--Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina May 7-13, 1998 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 Executive Summary This report is a review of the research in law-relatededucation and related fields.' For the past two decades, researchers have consistently reportedthat law-related curricula and instruction make a positive Impact on youth when comparedwith traditional approaches to teaching and learning law, civics, and government. Theoverall conclusion is that LRE programs have a positive effect on student knowledge about law and legalprocesses, and about individual rights and responsiblities. In addition, there is evidence that LRE programs have a positive influenceon student attitudes and behavior. Research studies indicate that several LREprograms have improved student attitudes toward the justice system and toward authority.In addition, research links have been made between effective LRE programs and youth who exhibitmore law abiding behavior and commit fewer delinquent acts. The most positive changes in student behavior are often associated with LREprograms where the following elements are present: instruction is of high quality andpromotes higher order thinking; students are actively involved in the instructional process; teachers thoughtfully mediate the curriculum through wise selection of materials and outsideresource persons; administrators actively support the program; and instructors have a network of professional peer support. 'While this review was no,t exhaustive of all literature sources, it did incorporatean analysis of the major data bases which yielded nine technical reports, six scholarlypapers, and twenty five dissertations directly linked to law-related education.In addition, journal articles and book chapters were included in the review. 3 2 Jntroduction The purpose of thisreport is to provide a summary of the researchi n law-related education and related fieldswhich demonstrates the value of LRE, civiceducation, and related curricular innovations suchas service learning and Teen Court. The reviewerexamined data bases such as DissertationAbstracts International and ERIC, and analyzedmaterials which were thought to be most relevantfrom those forwarded by James Giese, ExecutiveDirector of the Social Science EducationConsortium, Inc., and Ronald Banazak, Director,Special Committeeon Youth Education for Citizenship of the American BarAssociation. These materials included a variety of types of publishedand non-published scholarship including journalarticles, book chapters,abstracts, and evaluation reports.' Several sources servedas guides f oi the categorization of the literature.Those publications designatedas reviews are described in detail below (Skeel, 1991;Naylor, 1994; Patrick and Hoge, 1991;Giese, 1997). In addition, Arbetman's(1991) summary ofthe findings from the five nationalLRE organizations and two evaluation organizationsthat were funded from 1981 through1983 by the Office of Juvenile justice and DelinquencyPrevention to determine the impact ofLRE on juvenile delinquency prevention, was helpful inthe conceptualization of this report. He summarizes the resultsof the evaluationsas follows: (a) LRE, in addition to its impact on students' knowledgegain, has the potential student behavior; (b) to affect some of the classes studied showedimproved student behavior, some showed no change in behavior,and a few showed deteriorating changes in behavior behavior; (c) were not directly related to knowledgegain but rather associated with the were presence of series of six factors. (p.9) Arbetman lists the sixcharacteristics: 1. Adequate Preparation and Use of Outside ResourcePersons; 2. Quality and Instruction; 3. Judicious Quantity of Selection and Presentationof Illustrative Material Management of Controversy; and 4. Active Participationand Student Interaction; Involvement of Building 5. Administrators; 6. ProfessionalPeer Support. (p. 10) 4 3 These six characteristicsare reinforced by many of the research studiesreviewed 2 below. prior Reviews of theLRE-Related ResearchLiterature Previous reviews of the literature were helpful in theconstruction of thisreport. The author examined the followingsources to identify references and to glean ideas fromthe previous reviewersas to the significance of the studies which were reviewedand the resultant categories for analysis and discussion. The authors ofthese reviews wereas follows: Skeel, 1991; Naylor, 1994; Patrickand Hoge, 1991; andGiese, 1997. Law-Related EducationResearch: Curriculum, Teaching and Learning,1991 Skeel (1 9 9 1) reviewed the LRE litelature to examinethe scholarship relatedto research on LRE. She foundthat, while there were over 700 entries in the ERICdata base, most of the abstractswere not research, but provided reasons for teaching law-relatededucation, describe numerous curriculummaterials, and discuss teaching strategies that should beused in presenting law-related education to students at alllevels. (p.63) Skeel's search of Dissertation Abstracts and prior dissertationreviews (Gross, 1 9 7 2; McPhie, 1964; and Hepburn and Dahler, 1983, all citedin Skeel), revealedfour dissertations from 1977-1982, and five dissertations from 1982 to 1991.Skeel references journal articles and researchreports as well. Skeel utilizes the following categories as major headings inher discussion of the literature: Introduction: The Status of Research; InfusingLaw Concepts into the Regular Curriculum; Teaching Strategies; Effect on Students; Summaryof Findings; Implications for the Preparation of PreserviceTeachers. Skeel concludes that, 5 4 Although the research is limited, it appears that we can make some recommendationsfor preservice teacher preparation programs.If law-related education isto be effectively implemented in classrooms, teachers need to be (a) convinced that law-relatededucation has a positive impact on students (Van Decar 1984;Markowitz 1986; Johnsonand Hunter 1987; and Jacobson and Palonsky 1981),(b) adequately preparedto use teaching strategies that have proved effective inpresenting law-related education (Solliday 1983; Byer ly 1980; and Tinkler 1981),(c) familiar with availablelaw- related education materials (Solliday 1983; Byerly 1980), and (d) preparedto infuse law-related education into the regular socialstudies curriculum (Pickle 1983).(p. 6 6 ) Research and Law-Related Education: Perceptions,Perspectives and Possibilities,1994 Naylor (1 9 9 4)
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