Design Your Neighborhood: An Evaluation of a Middle School Action Civics Intervention

Abstract

This study examines the effects of a place-based action civics intervention, Design Your Neighborhood (DYN), on middle school students’ place attachment (PA) and sociopolitical control (SPC). DYN is a cross-curricular action civics intervention that engages students in understanding and addressing disparities in Nashville’s built environment. Through a mixed methods, quasi-experimental design, the study investigates the changes in PA and SPC among students who participated in DYN and a control group. Study One employed a factorial ANCOVA design paired with qualitative insights from student focus groups. Findings indicate that students in the treatment group had significantly higher posttest scores in SPC compared to the control group. This finding was aligned with focus groups, where youth discussed their developing efficacy in addressing local issues, their frustrations with adults’ inaction, and their understanding of how change happens. Study One also revealed that White students in the treatment and control groups have higher PA than their peers, which may be compounded through participation in DYN. This aligned with students’ reflections on changes in their city and concerns about gentrification, displacement, and neighborhood identity. Study Two employed a hierarchical linear model paired with qualitative reports from DYN teachers to identify individual- and classroom-level factors associated with student growth in PA and SPC during DYN. Findings reveal that growth in SPC was largest among Nonhispanic Black students and among girls, and growth in PA was largest among White students. Qualitative findings provided insights into the differences among schools and classrooms, with teachers reflecting on their competence as instruction leader, their perceived control over school policies, and the influence of teachers’ and students’ place attachment on the implementation of the program, highlighting the unique opportunities and constraints faced by teachers during curricular integration. This study concludes with implications at the intersection of place-based action civics and teaching pedagogy, education policy, and intervention design, as well as future directions for research on action civics.