Researchers develop an instrument for measuring youth social capital outcomes with relevance for environmental educationIn addition to presenting a literature review on social capital and its relevance to environmental education (EE), this paper describes the development of a youth social capital survey instrument. The following four areas are covered in the literature review section of the paper: the history and definitions of social capital, its relevance to EE, measurement challenges, and measurement approaches in studies of children and youth.
The second section of the paper describes the development and testing of a measure of cognitive and structural attributes of social capital among youth (age 10 -14) that could be used in EE. This measure addresses five social capital constructs relevant to young people: social trust, informal socializing, diversity of friendship networks, civic leadership, and associational involvement.
A preliminary version of the instrument was administered to nine youth serving as summer apprentices in a children’s gardening program. After completing the survey, the youth provided feedback on their understanding of the questions. This led to minor revisions of items to make them more understandable to youth. The final survey used five-point Likert scales and a series of yes/no questions to assess the five social capital constructs. This version of the instrument was then tested using a national online survey of 210 randomly selected children aged 10–14.
To test the usefulness of the survey for EE, it was then used in an evaluation of the impact of urban EE programs on social capital among youth in the Bronx, NYC. The researchers note that the purpose of describing this pilot study is to illustrate an application of the survey, rather than to suggest major results. For this study, pre/post surveys were administered to youth (aged 14–18) participating in urban EE (intervention) and in urban non-environmental youth employment programs (non-EE intervention) of the same length. The goal was to determine if any of the measured outcomes were specific to the EE programs rather than related to youth programs more generally. Intervention students engaged in environmental stewardship, recreation, environmental monitoring, and environmental trainings. Most of these activities were outdoors and emphasized teamwork. Students in the non-EE intervention group conducted office work and mentored younger students. Their activities took place largely indoors and included mixed media, arts, dance, and sports.
Results of this pilot study suggested that the EE programs had positive outcomes related to two domains of youth social capital: informal socializing and diversity of friendship. No significant change was found in any of the social capital constructs in the non-EE intervention group.
The researchers conclude that although several attributes of the instrument seemed useful for youth in EE contexts, much more work needs to be done on conceptualizing and developing measures of social capital that are relevant to EE. They also see their work as “a first step in expanding thinking about potential impacts and practical theories of change in EE, to incorporate community-level outcomes and collective action in addition to individualistic behaviors.”
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