Democracy Prep charter schools increase students' voter-registration rates by about 16 percentage points¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 causal r? · q3–q4
Currency · newest study 2020 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Attending Democracy Prep increased students' voter-registration rates by about 16 percentage points. → Brian Gill 2020

q4 i? Democracy Prep increases the voter registration rates of its students by about 16 percentage points. → Brian Gill 2018

Evidence¶

Brian Gill 2020¶

Brian Gill, Emilyn Rubel Whitesell, Sean P. Corcoran, Charles Tilley, Mariel Finucane, Liz Potamites. (2020). Can Charter Schools Boost Civic Participation? The Impact of Democracy Prep Public Schools on Voting Behavior. American Political Science Review, vol. 114, issue 4. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/can-charter-schools-boost-civic-participation-the-impact-of-democracy-prep-public-schools-on-voting doi:10.1017/s000305542000057x

q3 · i? · causal · r?

The study's key findings report that Democracy Prep increased its students' voter-registration rates "by about 16 percentage points". No standardized effect size or sample size is printed in the available text.

"Democracy Prep has large positive effects on civic participation, increasing its students’ voter-registration rates by about 16 percentage points and their voting rates by about 12 percentage points."

Brian Gill 2018¶

Brian Gill, Charles Tilley, Emilyn Whitesell, Mariel Finucane, Liz Potamites, Sean Corcoran. (2018). The Impact of Democracy Prep Public Schools on Civic Participation. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/the-impact-of-democracy-prep-public-schools-on-civic-participation

q4 · i? · causal · r?

Randomized experimental analysis matching Democracy Prep admissions-lottery records to a national registration and voting database. The report states "Democracy Prep increases the voter registration rates of its students by about 16 percentage points"; no standardized effect size is printed, so the impact is reported in percentage points only.

"Democracy Prep increases the voter registration rates of its students by about 16 percentage points and increases the voting rates of its students by about 12 percentage points."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Civic Mindedness — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Civic-education-focused schooling can boost civic participation in adulthood — a broader claim this one bears on
• Democracy Prep charter schools increase students' voting rates by about 12 percentage points in the 2016 election — related
• There is a 98 percent probability that enrolling in Democracy Prep produced positive impacts on both voter registration and voting — related
• Democracy Prep charter schools boost student voting, according to the article's headline finding — related
• U.S. civic engagement and civics knowledge fall short of the democratic-preparation goal of schooling — related