Service Learning Commons^™

Community Service & Service Learning Initiatives In Independent Schools, Deborah Genzer

School K-12

During the 1996-97 academic year, the National Association of lndependent Schools (NAIS) researched independent school community service and service learning initiatives, thanks to a generous grant from the Surdna Foundation. NAIS conducted a survey of its 963 member schools in the United States, followed by site visits to eight of the respondents. Deborah Genzer, an independent school community service learning coordinator, worked as a consultant throughout the project. The following are the issues addressed by this study, with italicized highlights of findings.

Service-Learning And School-To-Work Linkages, Bob Bhaerman

School K-12

In this brief based on a section of a forthcoming NSEE monograph on The Role of Service Learning in Educational Reform by B. Bhaerman, B. Gomez, and K. Cordell, ti·om the American Association for Career Education (AACE), the concepts of service-learning and school-to-work transition are reviewed: linkages, similarities, and differences between service-learning and school-to-work are noted; and several key issues are discussed.

Proactive Citizenship And Service Learning At Anoka High School, William Mittlefehldt

School K-12

Change is the central process in all schools. Students change because of biological and social forces. Schools change because of the social and economic changes in their students. staff. and communities. The communities that support our schools change in demographics, economics, and politics. Those forces make teaching the value and the skills of citizenship extremely challenging. Change threatens to erode our common ground; it undermines our shared assumptions.

Youths And Communities: Toward Comprehensive Strategies For Youth Development, William H. Barton, Marie Watkins, Roger Jarjoura

School K-12

Society's conventional response to problems of young people such as teenage pregnancy, school dropout, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, and violence -- is to target a specific problem and develop intervention or prevention programs for individuals who manifest the problem or are at high risk of it. Research shows that overlapping risk and protective factors affect the occurrence of all of these problems and that prevention strategies aimed at enhancing youths' development, reducing communities specific risks, and strengthening protective factors are likely to be more successful than programs addressing the problem behaviors themselves. Among such strategies deserving wider consideration are "comprehensive …

Student Participation In Community Service Activity, National Center For Education

School K-12

Increasing community service participation has long been a goal in the United States. Some examples of how this goal has played out in national policy are President Kennedy’s creation of the Peace Corps, President Bush’s creation of the Points of Light Foundation, President Clinton’s creation of AmeriCorps, and Congress’ adoption of the National Education Goals, which include the objective that all students will be involved in activities that promote and demonstrate good citizenship and community service. In part, the push for volunteer service reflects the idea that the act of volunteering would be beneficial to those who participate and might …

Building Character, Trust, And Leadership: Service Learning Offers Positive Pathways To Adulthood, Kathy Checkley

School K-12

Ebony Sandusky admits it was sheer peer pressure that initially led her to participate in her school's service learning programs. Now, she says, "community service is in my blood." Sandusky, a senior at Romulus High School in Romulus, Mich., has worked on a myriad of service projects throughout her high school years. She helped organize educational symposiums on such topics as domestic violence and multiculturalism and, most recently, led the effort to provide education about safe sex to a community concerned about the growing number of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. "When I see something that needs changing, I …

Effects Of Participatory Learning Programs In Middle And High School Civic Education, Simon Kim, B. Sue Parks, Marvin Beckerman

School K-12

Introduction of participatory learning program in school civic education increases student awareness and improves communication skills through active participation in community services. Citizen Education Clearing House (CECH) programs which include the election, the Missouri state government, and the metropolitan issues program, enable students to improve their basic knowledge of election procedures and awareness of youth violence. A study of students from different racial and academic backgrounds who participated in these programs, reveals that participation leads to better civic education.

School-To-Work And Service-Learning, The National School-To-Work Learning And Information Center

School K-12

School-to-work systems show young people how their classroom experiences relate to their work and to their lives, typically through internships, apprenticeships, or other work-based learning experiences. Other methods of positive youth development, such as service-learning, can also provide opportunities for the real world application of classroom-developed skills. As a work-based learning component in a school-to-work system, service-learning extends learning beyond the classroom into real world contexts where young people acquire not only basic math, science, English, and communication skills, but also broader problem-solving and decision-making skills. However, instead of focusing primarily on occupational skills sought by employers, service-learning addresses community …

Youth Development/Youth Service Status Report, Minnesota Children

School K-12

During the 1994-1995 school year, over 80% of Minnesota's school districts chose to participate in Youth Development/Youth Service that has been an integral part of Community Education since 1987. Out of the 365 operating school districts in Minnesota, 290 districts applied for and received the $1.00 per capita authorized by the Minnesota State Legislature to "implement a Youth Development Plan approved by the (local) school board and to provide a youth service program."

A Developmental Perspective On Community Service In Adolescence, Miranda Yates, James Youniss

School K-12

A substantial number of U.S. adolescents currently participate in community service and there is increased national interest in service programs. This article assesses the assumption of developmental benefits to service participants by critically reviewing 44 empirical studies. It offers a theoretical framework for understanding the findings by connecting them to identity development and delineating three pertinent concepts: agency, social relatedness, and moral-political awareness. These concepts are applied to studies that investigate: ( 1) the characteristics and motivations of participants, ( 2) the effects of service, and ( 3) the process of service. The findings support the conclusion that service activities …

Defining Excellence For School-Linked Services, Esther Wattenberg, Yvonne Pearson

School K-12

For more than a decade there has been great interest in educational circles about school-linked services ways by which children can receive the full range of social services they need to enter their classrooms ready to learn and parents can get the help they need to support their children's development. This publication presents summaries of the proceedings from a day-long conference on school-linked services. The following presentations are summarized:(1) "Welcoming Remarks" (Esther Wattenberg) ;(2) "Anchoring School-Linked Services in Sobering Realities: A Glance at the Past and a Searching Stare at the Present" (Paula Allen Meares);(3)"Response from School Social Workers: A …

The Prudential Spirit Of Community Youth Survey: A Survey Of High School Students On Community Involvement, Wirthlin Group

School K-12

Most of today's high-school teens (62%) feel their communities are good or very good places to live. But more say that conditions in their communities are getting worse (30%) than getting better (25%).

Crime and violence are the most pressing problems facing communities today, according to 36% of students. Other areas of concern are drug and alcohol abuse (cited by 18%), education (7%), economic problems (7%) and lack of youth programs (6%).

More than six teens in ten (62%) say the solutions to such problems lie in individual action rather than government programs. Only one in three (33%) favor government …

Social Studies Moves Into The Community, Sally Fellows

School K-12

Active Citizenship Today, a program of service-learning pilot projects in the Omaha Public Schools, demonstrates service learning with a corollary, the examination of public policy. Five projects, involving students in geography, history, and government classes, illustrate what students have lead through community service.

A Concern About... Connecting School-To-Work And Service Learning, Council Of Chief State School Officers

School K-12

As interest has grown in school-to-work transition programs and service learning, the commonalities between the two have become increasingly clear. Service learning and school-to-work are forms of experiential education that extend student learning into the community and the worksite. Both provide students with contextualized learning opportunities. Through service learning and school-to-work programs, students engage in learning experiences that help develop organizational, team, and problem-solving skills as well as the competencies and foundation skills identified as important for employability and responsible citizenship (SCANS, 1992; W.T. Grant Commission, 1988).

Service,Learning As An Integrated Experience In Middle School Education: An Introduction To Resources And Information, Dawn Wegter

School K-12

This resource guide outlines 18 service-learning projects throughout the United States focused on middle schools. Listed, in each case, are the project's description, sponsoring organization, the objectives, the project's framework, training information, materials, and ordering information.

Community Service In Arizona Schools: "A State-Of-The-State" Report, Linda Sadler, Judith A. Vandegrift

School K-12

Volunteerism is not new, but the idea of volunteerism as part of one's formal education is receiving increased attention as a result of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. Under the auspices of these acts, a number of community service and service learning projects are being implemented in Arizona communities. To date, the Serve-America program has provided limited funding for community service/service learning programs intended for students in grades K-12. Administered by the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona's Serve-America projects capture only a small portion of what students are …

Service Learning Requirements In The High School, Elizabeth Anne Skelton

School K-12

Thousands of high school students across the nation perform some form of community service everyday. They tutor younger students, care for elderly people, assist physically challenged peers and aid in local government offices. Students involved in these projects openly testify to the many benefits possible from service learning activities. Recent qualitative studies also indicate that students gain a greater sense of self, increase their concern for fellow human beings, demonstrate better problem solving abilities, and integrate classroom learning more readily with real-world needs (Conrad and Hedin, 1982). Former Maryland State Superintendent David Hornbeck so firmly believed in the power and …

Service-Learning As An Integrated Experience In K-5 Education: An Introduction To Resources And Information., Lisa J. Laplante, Carol Kinsley

School K-12

Some educators contend that students who engage in activities related to school subjects learn more efficiently and more effectively, and remember what they have learned much longer than students who do not. Service-Learning (S-L) can provide a central focus around which educational change can occur. Moreover, S-L enhances the ideas promoted by various circles of school reform. Theodore Sizer's nine principles and David Berliner's management of teaching are a few of the philosophies that provide the sound theoretic foundation for instituting S-L programs. Kate McPherson(1989) suggests S-L facilitates school reform while providing an expanded pedagogy to meet the learning styles …

Community Service Promotes, Marlow Ediger

School K-12

School and society are interwoven. not separate entities. Therefore, the goats of schools should be integrated with those of the surrounding community and society as a whole. Middle school student service helps integrate those goals.

Using Csl With Special Education And Reading Resource Students, Barbara Carter Ellis

School K-12

During 1992, as my students and myself created a community service learning opportunity, we were introduced to the fun of researching statistics, to developing our problem-solving skills and to the complexities of geography. But most of all we, as a team, learned ways to improve the ways in which we worked with each other in small groups, in our classrooms and in our community.

Teaching Courage: Service Learning At Pathway School, Michelle D. Ioele, Anne L. Dolan

School K-12

Troubled children are rarely afforded the opportunity to view themselves as valuable and worthy. Because they are often in the role of care-recipients, they are not challenged to be, nor do they see themselves as capable of being, caregivers. Although many child and youth programs seek to provide these opportunities, a systematic and effective program for doing so has been lacking.

Pushing The Boundaries Of Education: The Implications Of A Youth Development Approach To Education Policies, Structures And Collabnrations, Karen J. Pittman, Michele Cahill

School K-12

In recent years there have been an extraordinary number of proposals for comprehensive and intensive changes in school structure, finance, and administration, one indication that this is a time of unprecedent change for schools. One of the forces driving this intense focus on school change is the growing national concern about youth issues and problems. This paper notes the myriad of add-on programs that compete for space in the school day and takes the position that, rather than being seen as merely additive,education and services should be viewed as interactive, and essential to the formation of new effective strategies for …

Administering Maturity: The Emergence Of Youth Service As A Rite Of Passage To Adult Citizenship, Timothy Dolan

School K-12

Over the course of the 1980s, a literature describing a new lost generation in America has caught the popular imagination, fueled to no small extent by the anxiety of aging baby-boomers over their offspring's fate. One manifestation of particular interest at the policy level has been a growing sentiment by opinion leaders in favor of establishing youth service as both a pragmatic remedy for meeting social needs, and as a rite of passage to bona-fide citizenship status.

Promoting Youth Development: Strengthening The Role Of Youth Service And Community Organizations, Karen J. Pittman

School K-12

Concern about youth problems is escalating. The volume of task forces, reports, initiatives, coalitions and media specials confirm that there is broad agreement that too many youth are "at risk."

A Study Of The Impact Of Educational Reform On At-Risk Students In Texas, Texas Education Agency

School K-12

This report was prepared by the Texas Education Agency's Division of Program Evaluation in an effort to provide preliminary information about the impact of educational reform on at-risk students in Texas.

Community-Based Learning: A Study Of A Model Dropout Prevention Program, Robert D. Shumer

School K-12

Dropout prevention is a major concern of school districts throughout the country. In Los Angeles it is estimated that 39% of students fail to graduate from high school. Nationwide, the rate is not too much different, especially in inner city communities where large numbers of Hispanic and African-American youth attend school. While dropout rates have been traditionally high for decades, people continue to ask, why? Many billions of dollars have been spent trying to answer this question and many programs have been developed which attempt to address some of these problems. No one has come up with a comprehensive answer …

Youth Service: From Youth As Problems To Youth As Resources, Bonnie Benard

School K-12

New Paradigm "Youth as problems, or youth as resources? Communities with problems or communities with resources?" These opening sentences to Reaching Out. a recent book on establishing community service programs for youth, encapsulate a critical issue I see confronting anyone relating to or working with young people, whether as parents, teachers, community folk, or prevention advocates and other helping professionals: the framework or perspective from which we view youth in our society today. Whether we view youth as problems or as resources determines not only our expectations for our youth and our actions towards them, but also the type of …

The Impact Of Volunteer Experience On Adolescent Social Development: Evidence Of Program Effects, Stephen F. Hamilton, L. Mickey Fenzel

School K-12

The Social and Personal Responsibility Scale was employed in a study of the Youth Volunteers program, involving 44 adolescents in 12 projects, equally divided between child care and community service. Participants showed statistically significant gains on the Social Responsibility sub-scale. Girls gained more than boys and volunteers in community improvement projects gained more than those in child care. However, as in previous studies, gains were quite modest. Testimony from adolescents and adult participants was more strongly positive, volunteers citing improvement in their knowledge of themselves and others and the acquisition of new skills, adults seeing greater willingness to make decisions. …

The Roles Of Youth In Society: A Reconceptualization, Ruthanne Kurth-Schai

School K-12

The 1980s have been characterized as a decade of platforms for educational change. In 19S3 alone, five reports were released by national task forces and commissions, all expressing serious concern for the future of youth and society, and all proposing recommendations for ways in which educational policies and practices might be altered, to address such concerns.

The Effects Of Service Activities On Adolescent Alienation, Raymond L. Calabrese, Harry Schumer

School K-12

This research evaluated the effects of involvement of adolescents in community service activities on levels of alienation. It was proposed that alienation could be reduced through the implementation of a model which utilized community service activities to facilitate adolescent access to adult society, development of responsibility, collaborative and cooperative work, and control over planning and outcomes. It is suggested that adolescent involvement in service activities can produce positive benefits, among which are reduced levels of alienation, improved school behavior, improved grade point average, and acceptance by the adult community. These findings also suggest that females respond more positively to school …