iEngage Summer Civics Institute

Research and Publications

Findings from our research reveal several key points about the impact of iEngage…

  1. Increases students’ civic competence (ability to get people to care about a problem and organize a public event) (LeCompte et al., 2020).
  2. Student gains in planned community engagement (volunteer work – cleaning/restoring environment) (Blevins et al., 2021). 
  3. Interactions with guest speakers generate thinking about civic knowledge and action  (Quinn & Bauml, 2018). 
  4. Student gains in post-iEngage political engagement (organizing a petition, contacting government officials) and political activism (participating in a march/boycott) (Blevins et al., 2021). 
  5. Instances of students’ (and facilitators’) conceptions of “good citizenship” moving towards more participatory/change-oriented understandings (Blevins et al., 2018). 
  6. Promote skills such as positive leadership, active and informed engagement, youth civic participation, and youth civic creation (Blevins et al., 2016). 
  7. Gains in students’ ability to define and describe advocacy and root causes and identify potential solutions to community issues (Blevins et al., 2016, 2020). 
  8. Increases students’ understanding of government processes and their willingness to engage in civic and political activities (Blevins et al., 2021). 
  9. The iEngage Summer Civics Institute combines best practices in civic education rooted in inquiry-based instruction to increase young peoples’ political voice, as well as current and long-term civic participation (Blevins & LeCompte, 2018; Blevins et al., 2020).  
  10. Preservice teachers serving as counselors communicate an increased understanding surrounding the impact of material, genuine civic experiences for students, the need for more active manifestations of citizenship, and the importance of making connections within the community (Magill et al., 2020). 

Published Research

Bauml, M., Smith, V. A., & Blevins, B. (2022). “Who Cares?”: Young Adolescents’ Perceived Barriers to Civic Action. Research in Middle Level Learning, 45(3), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404476.2022.2033069

Bauml, M., Quinn, B., Blevins, B., Magill, K., & LeCompte, K. (2021). “I Really Want to Do Something”: How Civic Education Activities Promote Thinking Toward Civic Purpose Among Early Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584211006785

Smith, V. A., Blevins, B., Magill, K. R., & Scholten, N. (2021). Sorting through citizenship: Using cognitive scaffolding to unpack adolescent civic identity formation. Journal of Social Studies Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2021.09.002

Smith, V. A., Magill, K. R., Blevins, B., & LeCompte, K. (2021). Change-oriented citizenship: Sorting through civic experiences. Middle Level Learning, 72, 7-12.

Blevins, B., LeCompte, K., Scholten, N., Magill, K.R., & Riggers-Piehl, T. (2021). The Impact of an Action Civics Program on the Community & Political Engagement of Youth. The Social Studies, 112(3), 116-120. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2020.1854163

Blevins, B., Bauml, M., Scholten, N., Davis, T., LeCompte, K., & Magill, K. (2020). Using Inquiry to Promote Democratic Citizenship Among Young Adolescents During Summer Civics Camps. Citizenship, Teaching, and Learning, 15(3), 271-295. https://doi.org/10.1386/ctl_00035_1

Magill, K., Smith, V.A., Blevins, B., & LeCompte, K. (2020). Beyond the Invisible Barriers of the Classroom: iEngage and Civic Praxis. Democracy and Education. https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol28/iss1/1/

LeCompte, K., Blevins, B., & Riggers-Piehl, T. (2020). Developing civic competence through action civics: A longitudinal look at the data. Journal of Social Studies Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2019.03.002

Blevins, B., LeCompte, K, & Bauml, M. (2018). Developing students’ understandings of citizenship and advocacy through action civics. Social Studies Research and Practice, 13(2), 185-198. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-02-2018-0009 

Blevins, B. & LeCompte, K. (2018). Students at the Heart of Civic Learning: Best Practices in Implementing Action Civics. In J. Clabough & T. Litner (Eds.) No Reluctant Citizen.  Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

LeCompte, K., Blevins, B., & Ray, B. (2017). Teaching Current Events:  Using media literacy as a framework for critical thinking, effective communication, and active citizenship. Social Studies and The Young Learner, 29(3).

Blevins, B., LeCompte, K. & Wells, S. (2016). Innovations in civic education: Developing civic agency through action civics. Theory and Research in Social Education, (44)3, 344-384.

LeCompte, K. & Blevins, B. (2016). Participatory Citizenship: A Commitment to Action Civics. In C. Wright-Maley and T. Davis’ (Eds.) Teaching for Democracy in an Age of Economic Disparity, (pp.163-178).

Blevins, B. & LeCompte, K. (2015).  I am engaged: Action civics in four steps. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 27(4), 23-26.

LeCompte, K. & Blevins, B. (2015). Building civic bridges: Community centered action civics. The Social Studies,106(5), 209-217. doi: 10.1080/00377996.2015.1059792

Blevins, B., LeCompte, K., & Wells, S. (2014). Citizenship goes digital. Journal of Social Studies Research, 38(1), 33-44.