Support for K-12 Service-Learning Practice: A Brief Review of the Research

Each year, more K-12 schools and districts are adopting service-learning as an educational reform strategy to help students achieve :important educational goals. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that service-learning is being practiced in. more than one-third of all public schools in the United States and in about half of all public high schools. The 1999 National Student. Service-Learning and Community Service Survey found that rates of participation in service-learning progressively increase across grade levels. Passion for the practice of service-learning sometimes reaches evangelical proportions. However, by its nature, the practice of service-learning varies widely, and even ardent practitioners are not always clear about the essence of the pedagogy or even whether they are implementing service-learning or community service

Research on K-12 School-Based Service-Learning: The Evidence Builds

Practitioners and policy makers are curious about service-learning and its effects. Ms. Billig details for Kappan readers what research tells us about service-learning today and suggests the kinds of questions that still need to be answered

Learning That Matters

In Georgia, kindergarten and first-grade students conduct a community mapping activity to figure out the needs of the children within the school. Kindergartners new to the school say that the school layout is confusing and it is hard to find their way to the classrooms. Each class considers solutions, and students decide to label the hallways with street signs. Each class brainstorms potential names for the hallways, and first grade students design and conduct a survey. They eliminate names that do not represent positive images. (No Shock Street because it would scare the five-year-olds.) The surveys are administered, the data are entered into a spreadsheet on the computer, and the students review the street names with the highest votes and allocate them to particular hallways. They then grapple with the question of whether the signs they make to identify the halls should be permanent or whether students each year should have the chance to name the halls so they feel more ownership of the school. They decide to poll all of the students, graph the results, and decide based on majority rule. While reviewing the polls, they decide whether bar graphs, line graphs, or pie graphs are the best way to present the data to other students so that everyone can understand the results

Research Matters

Many people are attracted to service-learning because they see what it does for students, schools, and communities. Students are more engaged in their studies, schools are revitalized, with a new sense of mission and focus, and community members, energized by working with students on service-learning projects, are more supportive of young people and their schools. This rosy picture is the reality in some settings with well-implemented service-learning, but too often this is not the case. In fact, much service-learning practice is uneven in quality, and research shows that low-quality service-learning has little impact

Service and Service-Learning in International Baccalaureate High Schools: An International Comparison of Outcomes and Moderators

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization asks high school students in its Diploma Programme to engage in service as a way to become more civic-minded, develop leadership and other skills, and develop an ethic of service. The study discussed is this article investigated the ways in which IB students in Canada, the United States, and Central and South America provided service, and the self-perceived outcomes of their participation. The study also examined the extent to which program design characteristics influenced perceived outcomes, demonstrating the strong effect sizes associated with students’ reports of meaningfulness, links to curriculum, student voice, and frequency and depth of reflection. The study was limited by student self-reporting but was suggestive of hypotheses that can be investigated further

Executive Summary - The Philadelphia Freedom Schools Junior Leader Project

The Philadelphia Freedom Schools Junior Leader Project is a bold initiative to foster leadership and civic engagement for young people in the Philadelphia School District. Beginning in 1999, the school district project was developed to help young African American and other high school students to become strong leaders in their schools and communities. The Junior Leader project recruited freshmen, sophomores, and juniors in high school to learn about their heritage; work with young children to help them gain academic skills; participate in meaningful dialogue about social justice; learn and engage in community action strategies; develop leadership skills; and create pathways for leading enriched, healthy lives and contribute to the community and society at large. This evaluation report presents the results of the Philadelphia Freedom Schools Project for the period from April2001 to June 2002

The Effects of Service Learning

Research, while limited, finds that students who help others help themselves academically and socially

The Impacts of Service Learning on Youth, Schools and Communities: Research on K-12 School-Based Service Learning, 1990 to 1999

This is an excellent review of literature on the outcomes of service-learning for all involved by a respected author. Contents: Prevalence of Service Learning I Rationale for Use in K-12 Public Schools I Evidence of Impact /Impact on Personal and Social Development /Impact on Civic Responsibility /Impact on Student Academic Learning /Impact on Career Exploration and Aspirations /Impact on Schools /Impact on Communities. Includes five-page bibliography of all sources cited

The Impact of Participation in Service-Learning on High School Students\u27 Civic Engagement

Recent evidence suggests that there is a growing problem of civic disengagement among youth in the United States. Young people in high school report having little interest in civic and political affairs and little knowledge of or trust in the political system (Levine & Lopez, 2002; National Commission on Service-Learning, 2001; Rahm & Transue, 1998; Torney-Purta, 2002). Results from a recent poll indicate that many young people do not feel they can make a difference, solve problems in their communities, or have a meaningful impact on politics or government (Lake Snell Perry & Associates and The Tarrance Group, Inc, 2002). Policymakers and educational leaders alike have noted the woeful lack of interest in civic activities among youth and express concern about the future of democracy (for example, Education Commission of the States, 2002; National Commission on Service-Learning, 2001). Lack of engagement in the political system is particularly pronounced for young women and urban youth (Niemi & Junn, 1998; Hart & Atkins, 1992). There are also differences between students based on achievement levels. Research has shown that students with a stronger record of academic achievement demonstrate greater political knowledge (Niemi & Junn, 1998), and higher rates of community participation (Nolin, Chaney, Chapman, & Chandler, 1997) than those with lower achievement levels