We are excited to introduce a new system-wide approach for measuring citizenship called the Citizenship Quotient (CQ), which we are developing thanks to the support of Omidyar Network and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Similar to the original IQ for intelligence, and EQ for emotional intelligence, CQ is a way of measuring the set of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and behaviors that enable people to work towards the long-term collective interest. The High Resolves citizenship framework will form the basis for measuring CQ.
At the micro level, CQ provides students and schools with a visual map of their citizenship strengths and areas for growth. This enables principals to identify where gaps in citizenship competency lie in the school, design a string of learning interventions to address those gaps, and then measure the impact of chosen interventions.
At the macro level, CQ serves as a standard language across systems to determine the effectiveness of different types and sequences of interventions. Multiple actors stand to benefit from this. For example, schools will have better data to inform what interventions and sequences would work best for them; education organizations will refine their offerings to be more effective; and school systems will redirect precious investment dollars to the highest‐impact interventions.
As more and more schools adopt the measure, we believe CQ has the potential to power an ecosystem shift in citizenship education – as important as PISA or other standard measures.
