Priorities for Civic and Citizenship Education in Europe

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) focused on the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens. Preparing students for citizenship involves developing relevant knowledge and understanding as well as encouraging the formation of positive attitudes toward being a citizen. The conceptual background for, and the design of ICCS were described in the assessment framework (Schulz, Fraillon, Ainley, Losito, & Kerr, 2008) and the international results were reported in its international reports (Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerr & Losito, 2010a & 2010b). This paper provides an overview of the results from the regional assessment of civic and citizenship education in the European region based on data from 24 European countries.