For over 30 years, Foxfire has been developing an approach to learning that is learner-centered and community-focused. Foxfire's initial success resulted from a successful student-produced magazine in a rural Georgia high school. Attempts to duplicate this success often overlooked the key ingredients, student choice and academic integrity, that…

This theme issue of Basic Education contains five articles on rural schools. "Small Schools: A Political Irony" (Marty Strange) notes the current enthusiasm among education reformers for small schools and the evidence of their effectiveness. Given this context, the question is posed as to why rural communities where small schools are…

Available in English or Spanish, this resource guide aims to help rural schools and communities learn ways of supporting each other so that both can thrive. Background information and basic tools are provided for starting a joint school-community development effort. Chapters contain: (1) outline of the guide and statement of beliefs about…

This brief paper tells the story of a group of high school students in West Texas who worked together to solve a language problem in their local public schools. They determined that there was a need to have better bilingual resources and services available to new arrivals with limited or no English language speaking ability. The bulk of the paper…

Service learning addresses many developmental needs of early adolescents that may be neglected in academic curricula, a particularly urgent need for inner city youth. This paper describes the urban National Helper's Network, noting ways that service learning empowers both the servers and the served, who are both in need. (SM)

Discusses a cultural environment education curriculum that helps children appreciate their city, its buildings, and its history. The curriculum includes walking field trips, service projects, and collaborative efforts with other schools. Includes a table with educational objectives for the curriculum and the corresponding evaluation. (MJP)

Describes community service learning (CSL) programs at Pottenger School, Springfield (Massachusetts). The kindergarten through grade-12 school, a literature-based whole-language school, integrates CSL into the curriculum through writing about student experiences. CSL projects have included feeding the homeless, corresponding with a soldier, and…

This study examined institutional support for service-learning within the framework of service-learning as a part of the national agenda for higher education since the late 1980s. This investigation addressed three concerns: (1) how campus administrators support (or fail to support) service-learning on their campus; (2) how different groups (e.g.,…

This publication contains 36 short essays on the reauthorization of the National and Community Service Act. It begins with two introductory papers: "Visions of Service: The Future of the National and Community Service Act" (Sagawa, Halperin) and "Historical Background: An Overview" (Sagawa). Section I, Why Service?, contains 15…

Delta State University (Mississippi) encourages the development of the affective domain of its students, including its education majors, through their participation in a course called Volunteering in the Community. This paper reviews the concept of service learning and the findings of a Brevard Community College (Florida) survey concerning…

Designed to review service learning programs which interrelate the world of education, work, and community service and also to consider what contributions the American Council on Education can make in the areas of education, work, and the problems of American youth, this report discusses various service learning programs, both domestic and…

For more than 250 years, Americans have shared a vision of a democracy in which all citizens understand, appreciate, and engage actively in civic and political life. In recent decades, however, increasing numbers of Americans have disengaged from civic and political institutions such as voluntary associations, religious congregations,…

This volume is part of a series of 18 monographs on service learning and the academic disciplines. This volume offers a collection of essays on the integration of service learning in the field of peace studies. After a Preface by Elise Boulding and an Introduction by Kathleen Maas Weigert and Robin J. Crews, titles in Part 1, "Conceptual…

Nine rural Vermont schools committed to linking to their local communities are participating in an ongoing study of how manifest curricula (what is taught) and latent curricula (how classes are taught and schools are governed) influence development of student dispositions toward democratic participation. This paper presents preliminary findings…

Serve-America is a national program that was established under the 1990 National and Community Service Act to involve young people in community service and thereby build their understanding of their communities, sense of social responsibility, and commitment to community involvement. In 1992, a 3-year evaluation of Serve-America was initiated to…