A growing number of educational programs seek to promote young people's participation in political and civic affairs. A common strategy for doing so is to provide students with opportunities to make a difference in their communities. Much research demonstrates a strong connection between a person's sense about making a difference efficacy and the…

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…

This study hypothesized that students in a course on mental retardation (MR) who had had extended contact with retarded people would achieve more favorable attitudes toward mental retardation than students without similar contact. Students enrolled in a Psychology of Mental Retardation class were randomly assigned to a control group (n=29) or an…

Two studies examined college students' attitudes toward people with mental retardation as a function of experiences with this population. In the first study, college students (N=107), who were enrolled in a course, "Psychology of Mental Retardation," participated in a service learning experience by working in group homes, day treatment programs,…

This report recounts that many impressive projects in Massachusetts Learn and Serve America school-based sites have been observed. The term "project" is used in the report to refer to community service learning (CSL) as it is incorporated into classroom instruction. In general, the report notes, the projects ranged from simple to…

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 book examines the issues involved in creating reflective learning environments and raises questions that will help guide individuals' development as facilitators of learning. Section 1 looks at reflection as the core of learning. Section 2 describes the three stages in the reflective process: creating, observation, and analysis of the…

This publication contains journal essays and book chapters from publications of the National Council of Teachers of English. The publication's first section, "Diverse Students, Diverse Teachers," contains the following articles: (1) "Dispositions toward Language: Teacher Constructs of Knowledge and the Ann Arbor Black English…

This monograph, the second in a series intended as a resource for middle-level leaders, highlights three successful approaches that support student involvement in learning: problem-based learning, service learning, and student-led conferencing. Each approach is reported to have its roots in constructivism, which allows students to apply classroom…

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…

Articles extolling service-learning's benefits and discussing ways to use the pedagogy in the form of projects with organizations in the community are on the rise in the fields of composition and business/technical writing. One educator's classroom experiences with service-learning have shown students make important educational gains in such…

Part book, part CD-ROM, this publication offers new ideas for transforming advanced writing courses. The 33 essays in the publication describe and offer concrete examples of curriculum that incorporates discipline-based theory and history, that situates writers in public discourse, and that fully prepares students for careers as writers. The…

Service-learning places students and educational institutions in direct contact with surrounding communities, teaches them greater appreciation for persons of different social privileges, and helps them to recognize the necessity of social intervention in distributing the benefits of democracy. Service-learning is inherently democratizing by…

Service-learning projects combine community service with student learning in a practical way that enhances academic knowledge and improves community environments and fellowship. This compilation is designed to show the service-learning process in action. The collection presents outstanding examples of successful service-learning projects as…

Proposes locally-generated service-learning networks which will allow disadvantaged communities both to capitalize on existing resources and to develop new vehicles for education. Condensed from "Synergist," Winter 1981, pp38-41. (Author/SJL)