Abstract

In recent decades, changes in teaching highlighted the increasing role of cross-curricular approaches integrating different disciplines. Specifically, the learning of subjects related to social studies seems to be associated to the development of reading literacy for building skills proper to the subject related to civic and citizenship education. The object of this study is to investigate whether and to what extent student reading skills are related to performance in IEA ICCS (International Civic and Citizenship Education Study). Data from a representative sample of Italian students attending the third year of secondary school who participated in both INVALSI national assessment in the 2015-16 school year and ICCS 2016 were analyzed. The total sample consists of 3,334 students in 170 schools: of those, 49% are females. Results highlighted that students who are better at reading also have better knowledge and skills in Civic and Citizenship Education (CCE), even after considering the effect of socio-economic and cultural index at both school and student levels. Studying topics related to CCE at school is associated to better performance in ICCS only for males. In addition, although to a lesser extent, being part of a class with an open climate for discussion, where it is possible to actively intervene during class, is linked to better performance in ICCS.