Who We Are

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PRESENTATION
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Who We Are

• 18 leaders from education, government, community

• Diverse in age, background, geography, ethnicity

• Chaired by Senator John Glenn

• Appointed and supported by the W.K. Kellogg
  Foundation and The John Glenn Institute for
  Public Service and Public Policy

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What We Did

• To better understand the opportunities and
  challenges of service-learning

• reviewed research
• conducted site visits
• interviewed teachers, administrators, students

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• Service-learning is a teaching and learning
  approach that integrates community service with
  academic study to enrich learning,teach civic
  responsibility, and strengthen communities.

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• High-quality programs include
• articulated and authentic learning goals
• response to a genuine community need
• youth making decisions
• analytical reflection

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We Believe

• Service-learning stands at the intersection of
  civic and academic engagement

• service-learning is the single best strategy for
  teaching citizenship

• service-learning makes academic content more
  engaging meaningful for students

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Key Findings

• Engages students
• responsible for their own learning
• motivated to participate in school activities

• Reinforces and extends the standards-based reform
  movement
• real-life context for learning
• sense of the practical importance of what they
  are learning

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Key Findings

• Promotes the public purposes of education
• prepares students for citizenship through
  involvement in citizen action

• Builds on the growing willingness of students to
  become involved in service to their communities
• adds an academic component to such service

• Contributes to personal and career development
• reduces violence and sexual activity
• increases sense of responsibility and workplace
  skills

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Service-learning changes students and teachers
and their schools
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Impacts Students

• Improved scores on achievement tests

• Increased grade point Average

• Increased attendance

• Reduced dropout rates

• Completed homework more often

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Impacts Students

• More connected to their school

• Fewer behavior problems

• Increased knowledge of community needs

• Committed to an ethic of service

• More sophisticated understanding of politics and
  morality

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Impacts Teachers

• More positive relationships with students

• Deeper conversations about how teaching and
  learning best occur 

• Increased motivation

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Challenges Solutions

• Scheduling
• service-learning coordinator, flexible in-school
  scheduling or after-school programs

• Off-site travel and supervision
• in-school projects
• use of adult volunteers

• Liability
• same as field trips, athletics

• Costs
• one study found 27 to 150 per student

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Our Goal
Ensure that every student in kindergarten through
high school participates in quality
service-learning every year as an integral and
essential part of the American education
experience.
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Recommendations Four specific recommendations
are made to achieve the broad goal of making
service-learning a universal experience in
American public schools
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•  
• Reclaim the Public Purpose of Education
• We must reaffirm our commitment to educations
  public purpose and weave it into the fabric of
  our schools by
• Fostering dialogue about service-learning as a
  strategy to promote the public purpose of
  education
• Expand the definition of student achievement to
  include students community contributions
• Work with other school reform efforts that
  promote citizenship education and
  service-learning

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Increase Policy, Program, and Financial Supports
for Service-Learning in K-12 Education Policy at
all levels must support high-quality
service-learning experiences in primary and
secondary education. School districts and states
should develop policy, program and financial
supports that work best in their local situations
to achieve this goal.
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Develop a Comprehensive System of Professional
Development Institutions involved in educator
professional development including schools of
education, education organizations and
associations, and government agencies should
create a comprehensive and integrated system of
ongoing professional development
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• Provide Leadership Roles for Youth in All Aspects
  of Service-Learning
• Adults and youth alike need to embrace the full
  potential for all students to be partners and
  leaders in their schools and communities,
  including
• Create and support meaningful decision making
  roles for youth in service-learning initiatives
• Expand and support national network of youth
  leaders
• Increase opportunities to showcase and
  recognize youth

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Weve found that service-learning is a
powerful strategy for teaching and learning,
which allows young people to deepen and
demonstrate their learning and at the same time
develop a strong sense ofcivic responsibility.
John Glenn, Chair, National Commission on
Service-Learning
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FOR MORE INFORMATION www.servicelearningcommissi
on.org www.learningindeed.org www.nationalservicel
earningpartnership.org www.ecs.org/clc