Twelve adult education organizations across California conducted the Key to Community program of issues discussions plus voting workshop and distributed the non-partisan Easy Reader Voter Guide in September and October, 1996. The goal of the project and its partners was to increase access to and familiarity with voting process and other forms of community participation among segments of the population who are often excluded from more conventional civic communications based on their education level or cultural background. The impact of Key to Community was evaluated with in-depth interviews with designated coordinators at each site, pre-program and post-election interviews with adult learners at three case study locations and pre-post questionnaires completed by participating students at all locations.
The partners included adult schools and a community college with classroom settings as well as library-based literacy programs which offer one-on-one and small group tutoring. The adult students at these locations represent the part of the population with the characteristics of those least likely to vote -- i.e. those who do not yet have a high school diploma, are ethnic minorities and/or young people 18-24. Throughout this report, the terms learner and student will be used interchangeably in describing the respondents.
Main Findings
1.) Many of the people conventionally labeled as disenfranchised do in fact want to participate. The students became more interested and involved in public issues and in their communities. Many registered and/or voted for the first time. A large number of the adult learners in this study had not participated previously due to misperceptions about the voting process and what it takes to be involved, as well as having had limited exposure to opportunities to develop skills, confidence and explore options.
Each of the individuals we interviewed began the project with different levels of experience that form a continuum of voting and community involvement behavior. After participating in the Key to Community project, each one increased their involvement along at least one dimension -- and in many cases a step or more on both. Students who never voted before took the plunge. Others who had voted before in a limited way became more informed voters and/or chose to reach out to encourage other voters. Some people who had only been involved in family activities became involved in more community-oriented concerns.
As a group, the students at the participating locations voted at rate double their demographic counterparts across the state. For many students, the impact of the Key to Community project did not seem to vary whether participation was for class credit, voluntary out of curiosity, or due to peer connections. Several participants specifically cited the program as the motivating influence in changing their behavior. A new citizen said "At school they had a really good meeting telling us why it was important to vote...that encouraged me a lot to vote, especially for the propositions...this kind of program encourages people to know that their vote counts and that your vote really makes a change in the country." After the forum and workshop, another new voter said she learned that "one vote can make a difference. I didn't really think I could make a difference, but I can."
A man who had voted before still found the workshop "really informative. I brought a lot of the information back to my wife. She had always refused to vote and I used the information from the workshop to help talk my wife into voting. I also got several friends to vote." The site coordinators also confirmed the impact of the Key to Community program:
"A lot of the students who attended were first time voters. Key to Community was extremely helpful in presenting material and getting the main points across to those who may have had a hard time understanding the importance of voting and getting involved." - Merced teacher
"The intention of the forum and the workshop was to get students to think and motivate them to act in whatever small or grand way. I noticed students became more aware...of each other, of issues in the community, and of the importance of voting." - San Diego Literacy Coordinator
"Students not only tackled their fear of the unknown, but they began to think about issues on their own, participating in conversations around politics and matters affecting their communities. They were excited to vote!" - Regional administrator
2.) There are many common barriers to voting and civic participation. At the beginning of the Key to Community workshop, participants are given the opportunity to articulate their concerns with the voting process and other forms of getting involved. From the students in this study, three key barriers emerged in this order:
Many of the learners demonstrated how these factors may be interrelated. Comments like "I don't understand the issues" were accompanied by "I don't know what it has to do with me." For many students this lack of exposure also led to a lack of confidence, like the woman who said, "I have a lot of interests, but I'm not capable or qualified... I wouldn't know where to start. I wouldn't have anything to offer."
The site coordinators corroborated these factors and added a fourth: the cultural background of many ESL students who are from countries where civic participation was at a minimum unfamiliar or, in some cases, considered dangerous. One instructor has many students from Mexico where she says "both money and education are essential to someone feeling they have a right to get involved in community activities. It just doesn't occur to them that they might be able to get involved."
Commenting on all types of students, several site coordinators particularly emphasized the role of fear and embarrassment in discouraging participation. They explained that many of these adult students already felt that they had 'failed' in the public arena of education and were reluctant to take other public risks. A community college administrator said, "They are very afraid of making a mistake....The students do have opinions about the issues and they know the importance of voting but the fear of 'doing it wrong' is holding them back."
3.) A sense of connection, information for action and self-confidence were three principle factors that led to the decision to become involved. The students/learners who became active during the course of this project, or were already active, shared three key attributes:
The quantitative data showed that these three factors are related to the specific participatory behaviors of voting and joining a community group. The interviews demonstrated how these factors emerged in the Key to Community program and the role they played in stimulating increased participation.
3-A.) An essential catalyst to participation is developing a sense of connection which was accomplished via dialogue in the issues forums.
The issues discussions provided the students with the opportunity to express themselves, hear other points of view, and consider more choices than they realized were available. This experience established two important links. First, the students connected with the issue, seeing how it impacted their lives personally, as well as how it linked to the larger political system. Second, many of the participants expressed a recognition of how they are connected to others.
A young woman in Baldwin Park who attended a forum on juvenile violence reported, "it helped a lot to hear other opinions. It made me think about my own opinions." As a newcomer to the area, she said, "It helped me learn about the community." A Berkeley woman who attended the issues discussion and voting workshop said she "loved it. There were other ideas besides mine about what to do in the neighborhood and what we could do to benefit education." In addition to learning more about the issue, the forum helped students make a mental link with the larger political system. A Sacramento administrator observed, "A lot of connections were being made between what they are voting for and the consequences. [As part of the forum] the students learned how voting and involvement affects their lives." A Solano County Coordinator said, "Forums are what bring the whole democratic process home. It makes it real for [the learners.]"Each of the forums produced common ground as well as some ideas from the group about next steps. A Merced coordinator expressed surprise: "Unity happened. It was amazing to see how people came together, especially when they realized they couldn't have everything." The very few participants in the case studies who were not moved much by the program were those who were most isolated. They said that they never talked to neighbors or family. Conversely, the students who had the most hope for the future of their communities were in contact with their neighbors and/or had actively participated in an issues discussion. At the end of the forum in Baldwin Park, one participant shared a new belief: "If we all get together, things can get better."
A critical part of the forum experience was the demonstrated need for a "safe", welcoming atmosphere to secure the comfort of the participants, to promote inclusion and assure them there would be no ridicule. A 17 year old who participated actively in a forum on juvenile violence said he liked that "they won't get mad at you for what you say. They accept your opinions." In fact, the forum was a new or different experience for three-quarters of the participants, especially the younger ones. Speaking of one of her learners, a program coordinator said: "He never had a setting where he could share his opinions and be respected for what he said."
The recognition that there are choices also helped many participants become "unstuck". For example, simply discovering that there were more than two political parties was a memorable and motivating aspect of the workshop for some participants. Related to this desire for more choices, these participants did not view voting in terms of a narrow "win/lose" situation or "needing to win" to make it worthwhile. Instead they talked about it in terms of participating and expressing oneself.
3-B.) Another critical component in participation was information necessary to take action, provided in a way that did not overwhelm, but instead supported motivation.
Many of the students in this study came from households or cultural backgrounds where voting was not practiced and hence they lacked some very basic information about the voting process. For example, one young man claimed that he was registered to vote because he thought that, once he turned 18 years old, he automatically became registered. A young woman shared, "I registered last year but didn't end up feeling ready to vote. I didn't read any of those papers they sent to the house." For this election she did vote and said that getting ready was easy because of the information she received in class.
Even those participants who had already been voting expressed frustration with the process of making their voting decisions, especially on the statewide ballot measures (which often number ten or more in major elections in California). One voter said "I feel nervous about getting ready to vote because I don't want to make the wrong decisions. Some of [the information] is sketchy and you have doubts and want to know more." Another voter admitted that she never voted on the ballot measures because "reading up on the laws and studying the pamphlet...it's hard to read." This election she used the Easy Reader Voter Guide and did vote on the measures as well as the candidates.
The adult learners who helped design the Key to Community workshop determined the 'minimum necessary' information required to take the steps of registration and voting. The Santa Fe Springs site coordinator thought that it was a good idea that the workshop was not in-depth: "[Any] more information would have been too much...Learners need just enough information to act, but not too much or that paralyzes them [from acting].
One of the points the learner presenters emphasized is that going to vote is not like taking a test. Unlike tests the students are familiar with at school or the DMV, one can take "answers" into the polling place, vote on as many or as few items as desired and ask for help if needed. A Merced teacher said, "The clear concise information about the 'how-to's made the voting process easier to understand. Many didn't know that there were more than two political parties or that they didn't have to vote on everything."
3-C.) Communications to participants built self-confidence by being accessible, tailored to their language skills and learning styles.
Several of the students and site coordinators said that many communications about elections are inaccessible due to "legalese" or technical jargon. For communications about community involvement, they said they were non-existent for this audience or did not adequately explain "how to" get involved. How these communications are presented -- as much as the specific content -- seemed to give many learners the impression "this has nothing to do with me."
The Key to Community Voting workshop was designed to build self-confidence via the 'how' of presentation as well as the content. The main characteristics of the presentation that the students and site coordinators commented on as being helpful were:
The participatory nature of the forum and workshop was an important part of increasing interest in participation. One student said, "I thought we were going to sit there and hear people talk at us. But instead, everybody participated...I learned that there's a lot of people out there who need information like I do and I can help them with that." The explicit role-playing also helped build confidence, as noted by a community college instructor: "Many students were fearful about the process of voting and found the workshop very reassuring. Several of the students voted for the first time and a common comment was "I did it and it was just like John (the workshop presenter) showed us.' "
Some of the ESL students indicated that language was still a barrier for both the in-person and written portions of the project. However, the same basic principles of hands-on practice and role-playing were received positively by these students as well.
The specific sequence of the issue forum followed by the voting workshop was also seen as effective by the site coordinators:
"The Forum was the catalyst to give people a chance to see the connection to their own lives. The Voting Workshop is the chance to get the hands-on information about a specific next step that they can take." - Sacramento Coordinator
"They got hooked in the forum and wanted to come back for the workshop."
- Baldwin Park Coordinator
There was also uniformly positive feedback on the value and effectiveness of the Easy Reader Voter Guide. One 19 year old new voter said, "us young voters need help...it's something we can understand more." The Sacramento man, who convinced his wife and friends to vote, used the Easy Reader Voter Guide more than anything else because "the state book went on and on and this got to the point...it had pros, cons and told you the consequences of each measure." For past elections he had to "reread things and it seemed complicated, confusing. This year seemed easier."
4.) The Key to Community program supported both the civic and academic goals of the adult education and literacy partners. Many of the site coordinators saw Key to Community as integrally supporting their curriculum - rather than as an election season extra-curricular activity. One regional administrator said "Prior to the forum, students had lost sight of the spirit and understanding that their voice does make a difference. The forum (and workshop) go hand-in-hand with leadership development. We're trying to develop and nurture the passions in our students. The way to do that is through open communication and hands-on activities that allow students to really dig in and work together." Because of these shared values, there was outstanding support from the locations in terms of recruiting participants, convening the forum and workshops and providing follow-up as needed.
Many site contacts commented that the Key to Community program encouraged students to become more involved in other parts of their studies, like the instructor who reported: "The students were extremely engaged. It took them a while to warm up but they were captured by the subject. There were several students who don't usually participate in class but they did in the forum. Others referred to the forum in their journals in later classes."
There also appeared to be a two-way relationship between students' educational progress and the factors that increase interest in civic participation. In fact, some students expressed how their positive experience with Key to Community spurred an increased commitment to their own education. For example, as a result of attending of the Key to Community workshop, one woman in Berkeley said "I learned that I should go back and get my GED. It would make me feel better about myself...if I go back to school, I'll be able to help in the classroom. Now I don't feel I have enough education to do that."
Key to Community was a new program for each of these twelve locations. After participating, all expressed a desire to continue the program and many want to build on it. This suggests that the basic program elements of participatory issues discussions and hands-on workshops are feasible in this setting - and may also be in others. For the future, even more follow through on next steps regarding community involvement opportunities could be very helpful.
None of the students talked about lack of resources, low income or economic insecurity as barriers to participation. While jobs was a recurring topic, income was not.
Some learners mentioned not having time to participate -- but when probed, admitted that they just didn't make the time -- but would if something got their interest enough. In some cases, "Not enough time" appeared to be an excuse that masked a hesitancy to participate out of fear of inadequacy or came up as another way of saying "I haven't seen the connection to my life yet." Similarly, "inconvenient/not good for my health/don't have anything to offer" were other excuses that evaporated upon further questioning.
Following the initial claims of not liking the political system in the "why not vote" exercise, there was very little subsequent discussion of "politics" or "politicians". For these students, participation seemed more tied to how they felt about themselves rather than how they felt about the political system. Very little ideology surfaced in the forums, workshops and interviews. A few of the participants did mention their frustration with the candidates or the "system" but in these cases it appeared that their anger was a motivating force for them. There was less evidence that anger was holding some people back -- perhaps a factor with a few of the young men who chose to remain isolated. Nonetheless, in all cases, the participants' sense of self seemed to drive most of their participatory behavior -- a factor that civic participation programs like Key to Community and the adult education/literacy partners can certainly impact. Changing the political system, while potentially desirable, does not seem to be a necessary condition for increasing participation.
Another interesting finding is that reading the newspaper may be helpful but was not essential to engagement for the students in this study. People found other forms of information -- e.g. the issues discussions, neighbors, community centers, newsletters, etc. This reinforces the belief of the Key to Community project that there is no minimum level of educational attainment required to be a responsible citizen. Instead, with encouragement and support, adults can use a range of tools to get informed and make their own voting decisions.
Indicated Actions
The success of the Fall 1996 statewide study (as well as the 1994 pilot) suggests that voter education and civic involvement programs like Key to Community should be expanded if there is a goal of expanding the electorate. The vicious cycle -- i.e. that has campaigns speaking only to voters so that non-voters feel increasingly excluded -- can be broken. As a young man in Berkeley said, "The task is big and not enough people are involved in voter education."
These indicated actions are directed at two potential audiences -- although there may be others: a.) adult education and literacy organizations who have not yet been exposed to this type of interactive civic participation curriculum and how it can support broader organizational goals; and b.) organizations already engaged in voter education and civic involvement that would like to increase their success with the type of populations covered in this study.
The findings confirm that the critical elements of the model to be expanded include:
While all in-depth research to date has taken place in California, the findings do not appear to be state specific. In fact, portions of the Key to Community project have been implemented in other states and an abbreviated version of the Easy Reader Voter Guide was distributed nationally by the National Institute for Literacy. Members of the Key to Community project team are integral members of a national adult education standards review panel, providing special emphasis on the role of the adult learner as citizen (complementing the three other key roles of lifelong learner, productive worker and family member).
A California-based consortium of adult educators and adult learners is currently considering funding options for continued expansion of the Key to Community project into a greater number of adult education and literacy settings. At both the California and national level, the following suggestions could strengthen future efforts:
1.) Continue to increase the number of adults exposed to Key to Community by taking advantage of existing structures for gathering adults who have the characteristics of typical non-voters:
- "forced exposure" by integrating the program into ABE and ESL curriculum at more adult school and community college facilities; as a part of this, issues forums and workshops could also be offered as an extra credit opportunity
- for voluntary adult education programs like the library literacy sites, more completely integrate Key to Community into basic skills workshops that are popular with most learners -- like writing and spelling, or public speaking and leadership skills
- some of the adult students as well as site coordinators suggested that the program be tested in high schools as well. A young man at Baldwin Park said the workshop was "really beneficial. We need to do more programs like this to help kids understand how to vote." Of note, many high schools across the country have had success with the NIF-type model of issues discussion. In California, many high schools requested the Easy Reader Voter Guide. However, there has been no test to date of the whole model in a high school setting.
2.) Introduce the second half of the Key to Community curriculum - "How to Be Heard and Make a Difference" - directly after completing the "How to Vote" segment.
3.) More thoroughly adapt the Key to Community model for ESL students, via training of ESL-peer presenters. Also examine the translation of program materials (like the discussion guides, workshop handouts and Easy Reader Voter Guide ) into other languages. Currently, the voter guide is the only component that has been translated into Spanish and Vietnamese.
4.) Develop a corollary of the Easy Reader Voter Guide that would include local measures and races, supplementing the national and state level content of the guide. Many of the site coordinators said that the Easy Reader Voter Guide was the single most effective part of the Key to Community project -- for many because of the ease with which they could share it with most of the students and instructors at their location and even into the community as an outreach and awareness building tool for the types of services they offer. Nonetheless, several sites asked that local ballot measures and races be covered because learners were confused about these.
Another opportunity would be to expand the Key to Community issues discussions and workshops to a broader range of community-based locations. The same Key to Community issues discussions and voting workshops examined in this study were also presented during the Fall 1996 election season to a wide array of groups that also have a high proportion of people who are not yet involved or who are considered 'disenfranchised' -- i.e. recovery houses, correctional facilities, seniors groups, and new citizens organizations, in addition to a large number of literacy programs that were not documented in this report.
While it was outside the scope of this study to formally evaluate the impact of these sessions, the team of Key to Community presenters reported very similar results in terms of participants feeling empowered by the information, appreciating the opportunity to connect with others and gaining enough confidence to take new steps toward action. In fact, several of the students in this study said that they wished that their neighbors and friends who were not in school could have attended. Some of the learners mentioned that they would be open to information sent home from their children's school -- another way to spread this initiative into the broader community.
Finally, it should be noted that the Key to Community model of participation has also been used on a limited basis by organizations already engaged in civic education that serve a more 'mainstream' cross section of the population and some better educated citizens, such as Voter Registrars' offices, some League of Women Voters chapters and employee groups. In these settings, it appears that the opportunity to connect with others is equally valued, even if it is less of a new experience. Participants have also enjoyed the multi-sensory interactive format which seems to reduce the perception that civic activities have to be dry or boring, broadening appeal to an even wider audience.
Related to this, the Easy Reader Voter Guide has developed a network of sponsors and users in California that include prominent newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News, employers like Wells Fargo Bank and Hewlett-Packard and several Voter Registrars' offices and civic groups. The sense of these organizations is that even well-educated voters feel "performance anxiety" in getting prepared for major elections and appreciate user-friendly non-partisan information.