Using children of immigrants sample from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study investigates how immigrant youth acculturating to the American social norm of volunteering and how the acculturation is modified by living in immigrant neighborhoods. Multilevel logistic regression produces distinct patterns for children living in…

In England, school governing bodies are the largest volunteer group. For decades they have displayed a strong tradition of serving their communities with care and commitment. Research shows (DCSF, 2008b) that most governing bodies have made an effective contribution to the improvement of their schools. Yet concern about the disengagement of young…

Winter had set in, and the local charity had already run out of warm coats. Students sprang into action. They made calls, rang doorbells, announced the need daily at school. Working together, they collected 87 coats--each with a hat, glove, and scarf set--with jeans, sweaters, shoes, and new toys thrown in as an additional gift. The students--all…

Civic ecology refers to the philosophy and science of community forestry, community gardening, watershed enhancement, and other volunteer-driven restoration practices in cities and elsewhere. Such practices, although often viewed as initiatives to improve a degraded environment, also foster social attributes of resilient social-ecological systems,…

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 55 mothers of infants. Some had received Home-Start during their infant's first year, others were offered the support but declined and the remainder were not offered Home-Start. Most of their support had come from informal sources, such as family and friends with less from professionals. Mothers who…

Many outside influences are altering higher education including a decline in resources, changes in student demographics, the impacts of technology, and the shift to an information age. The need for faculty members to become leaders that can handle swift changes to the culture of Colleges of Agriculture within the land-grant system are needed now…

A case study was conducted to learn about the formation of social justice teachers, and the methods used by radical educators to engage students in social change. Interviews conducted with eight junior and senior high school social studies teachers identified several types of formative experiences inspiring teachers to become radical educators.…

This evaluation study provides information about the implementation and outcomes of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program in West Virginia, from September 2014 through May 2015. The report draws on information from online surveys of 23 directors of 21st CCLC programs and from school teachers for 929 of the 11,299…

The purpose of this research was to evaluate a service-learning project conducted at a public university in the southern United States of America. A sample of 46 undergraduates enrolled in two sections of a liberal studies personal nutrition seminar course participated in a food insecurity awareness project. The service-learning component entailed…

For years, instructors have used talks, speak-outs, and panel discussions so that students could hear the perspective of others. Bringing panel discussions into the classroom can provide valuable experience for students. They allow students to hear viewpoints and arguments of others, in contrast to traditional classroom discussions that only allow…

To evaluate the implications of deliberate practice when teaching test administration skills, novice, but trained, graduate student examiners administered intelligence tests to a convenience sample of volunteer school-age examinees assigned to a first test session. A second, different convenience sample of volunteer school-age examinees were…

A session that has a theme of outcomes of experiential programs in varied contexts is both exciting and pressing. The three studies in Session IV all addressed relevant issues to experiential programming and all the authors were faced with the empirical challenge of demonstrating how and/or if their programs achieve what they say they are going to…

Purpose of the study: We conducted a qualitative study of 38 mid-late life volunteers in intensive humanitarian service to ascertain the challenges, personal changes, and benefits they experienced from their volunteer activities. Intensive volunteering was defined as service done on a 24-hr a day basis at a location away from home. Design and…

Like a lot of people, the author has been trying to get his mind around David Cameron's Big Society agenda, and what it means for his own institution, City Lit. There has already been a lot written about this subject, especially in the press, much of it reflecting a degree of scepticism. Where to start? The author thinks the Prime Minister tried…

Commemorative rituals consolidate solidarity by reaffirming one's secular faith and by enhancing emotional energy even without value consensus. Yet, state rituals, especially the ones organized by an authoritarian state, are usually shrugged off and mocked by its citizens. What made the state-sponsored national commemoration so effective? The…