1993
The IEA General Assembly decided to mount a two-phased study of civic education to explore how students view their citizenship identity and how their views are influenced by the political, educational, and social context in the countries in which they live.
The overall goal of the study was to identify and examine in a comparative framework the ways in which young people are prepared for their roles as citizens in democracies.
All countries who were members of IEA in 1993 were invited to participate in the study. Judith Torney-Purta from the University of Maryland, College Park (USA) was appointed Chair of an international planning committee.
1994
First planning meeting held in Amsterdam (hosted by IEA Headquarters and convened by Judith Torney-Purta). Fifteen policy questions guiding the study were developed, together with the two-phase structure (qualitative case study phase followed by quantitative statistical phase). Among those in attendance who remained with the study throughout were Barbara Malak-Minkiewicz, Jack Schwille, and Gita Steiner-Khamsi.
1995
National Researchers Coordinators from 14 countries met in Enschede, the Netherlands in July. At this meeting, the theoretical framework of the study was developed and agreed upon. Focus groups, led by Barbara Fratczak-Rudnicka, served to gather qualitative data about political and civic experiences. In addition, 18 framing questions were formalized as the basis for the Phase 1 data collection. Among those in attendance as National Research Coordinators or International Steering Committee members who continued with the study throughout were Carole Hahn, Rainer Lehmann, Bruno Losito, Lee Wing-On, ZsuZsa Matrai, Isabel Menezes, Ingrid Munck, and Constantine Papanastasiou. The Pew Charitable Trusts grant funding the Phase 1 Coordinating Center at the University of Maryland, College Park was approved. In November National Project Representatives voted (by email) on the most important of the framing questions culminating in a meeting in Athens hosted by Georgia Kontogiannopoulou-Polydorides at which the International Steering Committee designated three content domains which the study would cover.
1996
A National Research Coordinators meeting took place in Bratislava, the Slovak Republic. At this meeting the matrix of three domains by five item types which governed the design of the test and survey was developed, along with some sample items in the skills area to serve as the basis for future item development. Intensive item writing began for knowledge and skills items in November of 1996.
1996/1997
Researchers in 24 countries collected data for the first, more qualitative, phase of the Civic Education Study. The researchers collected these data in a variety of ways including textbook and curricula analyses, interviews with educational experts, and in some cases, focus groups with students and teachers. National Expert Panels met. The results of Phase 1 fed into the design and instrument development of the Guidelines for the Test and Survey for the more quantitative second phase of the study.
1997
Steering Committee members, National Project Representatives, and civic education experts collaborated to design and write items for the student test, survey, and background questionnaire. Questionnaires for teachers and school principals were developed in draft form. The International Steering Committee in May at a meeting in College Park, Maryland examined draft items, with special attention to those measuring knowledge and skills. In September 1997 80 items of types 1 and 2 designed to measure knowledge and skills were sent to National Research Coordinators. These items were reviewed by Expert Panels and then the NRCs obtained convenience samples of 14-year-olds for 2 hours of pre-pilot testing. Testing took place in 20 countries.
1998
The Humboldt University of Berlin was appointed by IEA to be the International Coordinating Center for the second phase of the study. Rainer Lehmann was appointed International Coordinator, and funding was obtained from the German Science Association (DFG). National Research Coordinators at a meeting in March examined the pre-pilot test statistics. The conclusions of this meeting resulted in the development of two forms of a pilot test and survey. The first translation verification (of the pilot instrument) took place. This instrument was pilot-tested in 25 countries between April and October. Reviews of the study by the IEA Technical Executive Group began (repeated annually). At a meeting in November National Research Coordinators examined the pilot test statistics. Based on the information from the pilot samples, items were retained, discarded, or re-written to form the final instrument.[Details concerning item development may be found in Chapters 2-7 of the final report.]
1999
An International Steering Committee meeting in Hong Kong (hosted by Lee Wing On) formulated plans for analysis and the outline of the report. The Phase 1 case studies were published in a volume entitled Civic Education across Countries: Twenty-four National Case Studies from the IEA Civic Education Project (edited by Torney-Purta, Schwille, and Amadeo). The second translation verification (of the final instrument) took place. From March through December the test and survey was administered to approximately 90,000 students in 28 countries in the modal grade for 14-year-olds. Questionnaires were also administered to teachers and school principals. Quality control procedures for testing were implemented.
2000
Funding for analysis from the William T. Grant Foundation to the University of Maryland began. Data were sent from the countries to the IEA International Data Processing Center in Hamburg, Germany. Final scaling and choice of scales to be reported in first report were made during a meeting of National Research Coordinators and the International Steering Committee at a meeting in Potsdam in May. Sample weighting and scaling took place at the IEA Data Processing Center, in consultation with authors of the report. Analysis was conducted, tables and figures were prepared, and first draft of report was written in Berlin, Maryland, and Rome. National Research Coordinators reviewed the draft report at a November meeting in Berlin, and it was revised by the authors. Also during this year surveys were administered to students in their last year of secondary school in about one-third of the countries participating in the 14-year-old study and also in Israel. [These results will be published in early 2002.]
2001
The first publication from Phase 2, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (by Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Oswald, and Schulz) reporting cross-national results released on March 15, 2001. On March 26 text of approximately one half of the knowledge and skills items and all of the attitude, concept, and action items released on the Web for use by researchers and others interested in administering them. Releases of national reports beginning on March 15, 2001 (contact National Research Coordinators, listed under Contacts, for details).
2002
Results from the older population (by Amadeo, Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Husfeldt, and Nikolova) released.
2003
International data released.
2004
Technical Report (edited by Schulz and Sibberns) released. CEDARS is initiated at the University of Maryland.