This issue of "Journal for Learning the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities" embodies the range of arts and learning possible in our schools and communities. The articles reflect the diverse landscape of arts education, including dance, poetry, visual arts, drama, music and media. Each author takes to…

Using panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), the authors first analyze how civic engagement (measured in terms of community service and participation in student government) undertaken at the high school level varies across race/ethnicity and gender. The findings indicate that female high school students tend to…

Need in Deed (NID) is a non-profit organization which has been serving Philadelphia schools since 1987. The organization aims to promote youth engagement in their schools and communities by working with teachers to develop and implement service learning projects in which students can apply academics to real life problems. Until recently, NID staff…

This article describes a nine-year partnership between a counselor education program and school district forged to address the rapidly expanding diversity in a Midwestern city. Approximately 350 counselors-in-training have participated in a service-learning project required in their group counseling theory class to facilitate small…

Ethical leadership training must be a part of the education of today's students, the leaders of the future. Students should be trained in group processing and facilitating skills, oral and written communication, conflict management, shared decision making, and team management. These future leaders should also be able to understand the symbols and…

This book describes the program Active Citizenship Today (ACT), a hands-on learning project to make learning come alive for students and integrate student learning with the larger community. This handbook accompanies the student book, "The ACT Field Guide." The book is divided into two sections with six chapters. Section 1, "The Whats and Whys of…

This bulletin presents the key elements of service learning and moves into a discussion of the benefits to be gained from incorporating service learning into a school-to-work system. It discusses the following key elements that are central to service learning programs and that can be expanded when incorporating a service learning component into a…

This paper summarizes a panel discussion that included 25 students and outdoor education and recreation professionals on issues related to land use and outdoor education and recreation programs. Many participants expressed frustration over inconsistent management policies related to educational and recreational use of public lands. Participants…

A study examined the statutory role of state commissions in implementing the AmeriCorps Program, state commission operations, and extension of state commissions' administration and oversight role and decrease of the federal government role. The research reviewed commissions in California, Maryland, Missouri, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and…

It is difficult for a student to understand small group communication and the role communication plays in making an experience a positive or negative one until he or she is actually involved in small group experience. Such goes the argument for experiential learning in the classroom. By incorporating a service-learning component into the…

This collection of 17 papers focuses on the important role of service-learning in the education of students at liberal arts colleges, drawing on the activities of the Learning and Service Alliance sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). They include: (1) "An Introduction to Service-Learning" (Robert L. Sigmon); (2)…

This study examined English teenagers' community involvement. Participants were all 14-16-year-old students in 3 large public schools (rural, urban, and suburban), none of which had service learning as part of the curriculum. Over 1,000 students completed questionnaires that examined regular and one-time involvement in community service activities…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs are being developed to provide safe places and constructive after school activities for children and youth from families in which a single parent or both parents work and neither parent would be home after school. This manual is intended to help program directors, child care providers, service members, school…

This report summarizes the proceedings of a conference, "Leading the Way: Partners in Volunteerism," that brought together 170 educators, nonprofit organizations, and students to promote youth volunteerism. In a series of plenary sessions and workshops, attendees discussed the issues that have an impact on the creation and operation of…

Strategic leadership is perhaps the area where undergraduate students have the least experience. Therefore, a focus on developing these skills is critical for college-level leadership educators. Teaching strategic leadership requires that educators design programs that make explicit, direct, and formal links between theory and practical…