The applied project sought to gain insight into student perceptions of required volunteerism in the context of coursework. The study included classes at a mid-sized southeastern community college and occurred in a single semester. The study was qualitative in nature and utilized focus groups and the analysis of reflective assignments to gather…

As institutions seek to offer students an educational experience equipped with opportunities to develop as not only active learners but also engaged citizens, service-learning initiatives in the form of alternative spring breaks (ASB) have become prevalent. This study examines the potential of ASBs, as service-learning initiatives, to deliver a…

Framed by self-determination and identity development theories, this study examined the process through which participating in a community-based service-learning project supported high school students' feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness, and how these feelings were related to students' intentions for doing more service in the future.…

Volunteering implies free choice, but people in some situations can feel compelled to volunteer. Hypotheses about students' volunteer work focused on self-determination and sufficiency of justification for their behavior. We examined required versus nonrequired volunteerism, internal and external motivation for volunteering, and attitudes of…

Service learning can improve communities while preparing students for a lifetime of responsible citizenship. It helps students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized services that occur in and meet the needs of communities. Volunteering at a young age can lay the foundation for a lifelong commitment to community…

Discusses how parents can get their children to volunteer for community services, examining how volunteerism benefits children, how to choose a volunteer activity, and how to get children involved (e.g., having the parents serve as role models). Two sidebars focus on whether fund-raising teaches children about giving and how service-learning…

Afterschool programs provide many opportunities to engage youth in community service activities, which can teach youth valuable skills, help them realize their potential to meet community needs and foster a sense of civic responsibility. Afterschool programs also successfully recruit, train and utilize volunteers to work with youth in afterschool…

Increasingly students are coming to campus with a range of experience in community services and are often ready for an expanded role. Some may consider ways to improve or reform the institutions where they serve. This article discusses the role of the campus in building on a student's experience in order to provide more ambitious programs. (JDM)

This brief is the second in the Youth Helping America Series, a series of reports based on data from the Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey, a national survey of 3,178 American youth between the ages of 12 and 18 that was conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2005 in collaboration with the U.S. Census…

Through Nickelodeon's Big Help program, and with assistance from the Chicago Region PTA, students at six Chicago schools learned about the satisfaction of making a difference in their communities. Over the course of one week, students participated in various community service projects and were rewarded for their hard work with a visit from the…

In 1997 the Education Commission of the States (ECS) created the Compact for Learning and Citizenship (CLC), an organization of state and district superintendents working to improve student learning through civic involvement and the use of volunteers. This issue paper provides an overview of service-learning, discussing impact, alignment with…

This issue paper examines the pros and cons of required community service, discusses policy rationales and options, defines the difference between community service and service-learning, and presents a snapshot of various practices in place nationally. It is designed to enable education policy makers to make more informed decisions about which of…

Written by 10 middle school students, this booklet provides information needed to become a youth consultant in the service learning field. Section 1 provides a job description of a youth consultant. It lists duties of a youth consultant at school and locally, statewide, or nationally. Section 2 sets forth the selection criteria for youth…

This compilation includes practical and transferable principles that can be used by service-learning practitioners. The 39 case studies and personal essays in the compilation are organized around critical issues in strengthening long-term institutional and community support for K-12 service-learning programs. Each article describes how the issue…

This brief addresses how to engage and mobilize young people in order to prepare them for when disaster strikes. Perhaps more importantly, this brief seeks to do so in sustainable ways to avoid desensitizing youth to the effects of disaster, and prevent wavering attention. There are two ways to serve students--help them when disaster strikes their…