International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 (ICCS)

The ICCS 2016-study investigates students’ knowledge and understanding of societal values, civic society and political systems.

With the purpose of investigating the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens, The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) (iea.nl) coordinates the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS).

The ICCS 2016-study investigates students’ knowledge and understanding of societal values, civic society and political systems, their capability of applying democratic principles, together with their attitudes and preparedness to take up the role in the future as active citizens in a democratic society. NOVA – Norwegian Social Research, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences has been assigned the responsibility, as the National Research Coordinator (NRC), to implement ICCS 2016 study in Norway.

ICCS 2016-study is a continuation of two previous civic education studies initiated by the IEA and Norway participated in both: CIVED in 1999 and ICCS in 2009.

Research questions

ICCS 2016 study aims to answer five major research questions with possibilities to assess change and trend in comparison with ICCS 2009:

1. How is civic and citizenship education implemented in participating countries?
2. To what extent students’ civic knowledge varies within and across participating countries?
3. To what extent students are engaged in different spheres of society and which factors within or across countries are related to it?
4. What beliefs do students hold regarding their own capacity to engage and the value of civic participation?
5. What is the role of school in relation to students’ civic knowledge, attitudes and engagement?

ICCS 2016-study took place in Norway in the spring of 2016, approximately 6,000 students and 2, 000 teachers of 9th grade from 148 schools across the country participated in the study.