by Senator John Glenn, Leslie F. Hergert
The National Commission on Service-Learning

The National Commission on Service-Learning defines service-learning as a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Based on the commission's research, the authors advocate for the inclusion of service-learning in American schools and describe four essential components of quality practice.

I've long believed in the value of service and the importance of citizenship. Service-learning is a powerful strategy that combines service and education to produce stronger students and more engaged citizens.

 

-Senator John Glenn

In 2000, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, a longtime supporter of service-learning, established the National Commission on Service-Learning to examine service-learning and develop recommendations for its inclusion and spread in American schools. The foundation specified the focus on K--12 education, not because the other venues were less important, but because schools reach all young people. Schools, higher education institutions, and community organizations each have an important role to play in teaching and helping young people develop as well as a great deal to learn from one another.

The foundation and its partner, the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, appointed a diverse and impressive group of education, government, and community leaders, from different walks of life and parts of the country (see sidebar "National Commission on Service-Learning Members"). Many were new to service-leaning, although they were intrigued by the concept. Others, such as Harris Wofford, former CEO of the Corporation for National Service, and David Hornbeck, who had initiated service-learning as the state superintendent in Maryland and the district superintendent in Philadelphia, had had considerable experience with it. The two youth members of the commission had been active in service-learning, but as an after-school, not in-school activity. So, the commission as a group was able to take a fresh look at a growing field and identify its strengths and needs to help it thrive in American schools.

The Commission Process: Learning from the Field
The commission did its work over the course of a year and a half, meeting three times in person for intense two-day meetings and convening in sub-groups by phone several times in between. We interviewed teachers and students, made site visits to schools, read research and other articles, and engaged in lively conversations about what we had seen and heard. One important source of input was a forum convened at the 2001 National Service-Learning Conference in Denver. About 125 adults and youth came together to advise the commission about what service-learning needed to spread in schools. Working in small groups with commission members, groups identified barriers and developed suggestions, then shared them in open testimony. The authors and the seven other commission members in attendance heard diverse voices and ideas, many of which were incorporated into the commission's final report.

The commission members-educators and non-educators alike-care deeply about education. Governor Jim Hunt was known as an "education governor," chairing the Commission on Teaching and America's Future, and working with Governor Jim Geringer and John Glenn on the Glenn Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century. Laurie Lang had established the Disney Learning Partnership to provide recognition and awards to creative teachers. Buffy Sainte-Marie, the noted singer, had earned a doctorate in education and developed a science curriculum based on Native American culture. Many of the members had worked for increasing academic standards for youngsters, in states and school districts and at the national level. They examined service-learning carefully and scrutinized its value as an education strategy. They wanted to ensure that service-learning was not fluff for students or an added demand for teachers.

While there was a range of opinion on almost every subject, some members wondered if students wouldn't be better off staying in the classroom, reading and doing lessons at their desks. They worried that service-learning might take students away from important classroom work. What they saw and heard conveyed just the opposite. Activity in the community, working to solve a community problem, actually reinforced and deepened classroom learning. Service-learning provided a context for subject learning, and a way to demonstrate what students had learned. Rather than competing for learning time, service-learning provided a holistic learning experience, bringing together learning from books and lectures with learning from hands-on application of knowledge and skills in real-world settings. Service-learning embodies the ancient saying: "I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I do, I understand."

[Some] worried that service-learning might take students away from important classroom work. What they saw and heard conveyed just the opposite. . . Activity in the community, working to solve a community problem, actually reinforced and deepened classroom learning.

We found especially compelling first-hand stories from educators and students. Kathy Lee and her students from Turner Middle School in Philadelphia described their campaign to ensure that their neighborhood was fully counted in the 2000 national census. Traditionally undercounted, their community had often suffered from a lack of services. This time, thanks to the students, the community was the most completely counted of any in the city, and the Census Bureau and the city gave awards to Turner in appreciation. While helping their community, students were also mastering standards in several curricular areas. Philadelphia middle school students are required to examine current events and assess the power structure of a community, which they had done in learning about the census and its impact on a community in terms of city services and congressional representation. They had developed maps and graphs of the neighborhood and analyzed statistical data in order to pinpoint problems and develop plans. They had used language arts skills "to impart information and ideas" in writing to public officials and developing flyers and brochures to distribute to their neighbors. And they had developed teamwork and other competencies as well, in working with fellow students, adults, and community agencies.

In the Place Middle School in Denver, Colorado, Pattyanne Corsentino's science and math students had created a garden behind the school as an outdoor classroom for other students, and conducted water studies on the river that flows by the school. Several commission members were able to visit the school, talking with students and observing their involvement and excitement over what they were learning. Because some students were in wheel chairs, the class constructed raised garden boxes so all students could participate in the projects. These outdoor activities were oriented to meet Colorado's environmental standards and building the boxes involved using math skills to measure area and volume.

Commission members also saw a moving performance from high school students at Columbus, Ohio's Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center, an urban high school with a strong performing arts program. Students had researched the problem of homelessness in Columbus, by reviewing city reports and statistics, visiting city agencies, and interviewing homeless people. Students then developed a powerful series of vignettes, dances, and character sketches to educate other community members and elected officials about the problems they had seen. Researching a community problem, developing characters, and writing dramatic presentations helped students learn and use a variety of language and performing arts skills, while also advocating for homeless people.

Hearing from teachers and students and seeing service-learning in action convinced us of its value and its fit with academic studies as an integral part of schooling. But we knew that policymakers and educators need hard data as well as powerful stories to be convinced that an educational strategy belongs in schools. We reviewed research syntheses and reports and found that there is indeed evidence that service-learning makes a difference in young people's lives. Research has shown that service-learning helps students learn academic subjects and demonstrate mastery in them. It reduces anti-social behavior, such as violence and early and unprotected sexual activity. It develops teamwork and communication skills. And it teaches students about their community needs and how to get things done in their community, developing civic attitudes and behaviors. More and better research is needed, but the current evidence is indicative that service-learning has a powerful effect on young people.

Research has shown that service-learning helps students learn academic subjects and demonstrate mastery in them. It reduces anti-social behavior, such as violence and early and unprotected sexual activity. It develops teamwork and communication skills. And it teaches students about their community needs and how to get things done.

Key Components for Service-Learning
We recognized that, like any educational innovation, service-learning has to be of high quality to provide the outcomes described. We were pleased that service-learning advocates had developed sets of standards for their practice and were working to promote quality practice among teachers who use it. We identified four key components for a practice to be considered service-learning:

1. Articulated and authentic learning goals. School-based service-learning must be linked to the school curriculum and to the academic standards that students are required to meet at their grade level. "Teachers sometimes struggle with the idea that service-learning is not something added on, but a way to deliver the curriculum," said Roger Rada, an Oregon superintendent. "By engaging in service-learning, having kids perform community service and attaching the curriculum to it, they're going to deliver the curriculum in a more meaningful way. My experience is that once teachers try it, they love it!"
   
   
2. Response to genuine community needs. Service-learning is effective only when students are working on needs, issues or problems of importance to the community. It is not effective when it is contrived or comes across as "make-work." The community being served may be the school community, its surrounding neighborhood, or the larger world. Students may solve a local problem, such as the need for a stop sign at a dangerous intersection, or work on larger issues, such as homelessness or racism, which may never be "solved" but where the work itself is important. Sometimes, students are involved in identifying and choosing the problem to be addressed, at other times, teachers find and bring a challenge to the class that fits the curriculum.
   
   
3. Analytic reflection. A key component of service-learning is the reflection that helps students articulate connections between their service activities and their learning. With careful teacher guidance, reflection becomes a practical approach to the development of complex, integrated thinking, problem solving, and deepened understanding. Teachers build reflection into all stages of their service-learning work, from planning through assessment. Reflection may focus on the processes students are using, the content they are learning or applying, and/or the larger issues surrounding the problem they are addressing. Reflection and analysis take place in classroom discussions, in writing, and in comparing theory with experience. As students explore their curriculum in action and analyze their experiences with the help of their teachers, they are developing the ability to think about what they have learned.
   
   
4. Youth decision-making. Service-learning is most effective when young people are actively involved in decision-making at all levels of the process. Whether students identify community needs or issues themselves or the need is brought to them by their teachers, young people should be involved throughout the process in making choices, working together to figure out solutions, and making decisions about how best to address the problem they are faced with. Even kindergarten students can be involved as active planners. In North Adams, Massachusetts' Sullivan School, kindergartners were asked to help the local hospital. They brainstormed how they felt when they went to the hospital, either for themselves or with a family member. Then they discussed what they could do to help other children feel less afraid, be less bored and get into less trouble while in the hospital waiting room. The students made books and games, they decorated the walls, they rearranged the furniture-using their own experience and ideas to make decisions about how to improve the hospital space. Kids can do a lot more than adults think!

Young people should be involved throughout the [service-learning] process in making choices, working together to figure out solutions, and making decisions about how best to address the problem they are faced with.

Preparing Young People for Active Citizenship
Service-learning is an important way for students to learn their lessons. But more than that, it helps schools and communities address the reasons our nation founded a system of universal education. The commission examined state constitutions and we learned that education was seen much more broadly than it often is today. States established a system of education to prepare young people for responsible adulthood in all its arenas, as thinking individuals, as prepared workers, and as active citizens. While we have talked a great deal in recent years about preparing young people for the workforce of the future, we have forgotten to emphasize the equally important preparation to take on the responsibilities of citizenship.

For many commission members, the unique value of service-learning lies in its ability to prepare young people for active citizenship by involving them in civic activities today. The commission was unanimous in its belief that service-learning draws on traditional American values from its many cultures of giving back to the community and helping one's neighbor. As Anne Bryant, Executive Director of the National School Boards Association, said, "We want to promote old American values in a new America," an America that values the contributions of all who have made it great. With a backdrop of some of the most significant civic events of modern times-from a disputed presidential election to the terrorist attacks and the nations' response to them-the commission pointed to the critical need to teach students the importance of voting, of working to ensure that all votes count, and of working together to solve community problems. And, we must stress this involvement not only in times of crisis, but as a regular part of our daily lives.

Recommendations
We believe the time has come for U. S. schools to embrace service-learning as an essential ingredient of the education we want and need for our children. Our goal is simple:

The National Commission challenges the country to 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.

To achieve that goal, the commission developed the following four major recommendations:

1. Reclaim the Public Purpose of Education
   We call upon everyone interested in education to include preparation for citizenship as an important goal of education. While we agree that young people must be prepared for the workforce, and that education is important for its own sake, education has a civic purpose as well. We have seen a frightening decline in interest in public events and participation in civic behavior in the country at large and in young people in particular. Even the interest in volunteering that occurred after the September 11 terrorist attacks quickly went back down. We also know that there is widespread cynicism about the role of government and government officials. It has been said that in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve. It is up to the people to make their opinions known, to participate in the life of the community, and to take responsibility for the common good. Service-learning is uniquely poised to teach civic virtues in schools. We must include the civic purpose of education as part of the public dialogue, and expand our definition of student achievement to include students' community contributions.
   
   
2. Increase Policy, Program, and Financial Supports for Service-Learning
   School districts and states should develop supports for school-based service-learning by increasing funding for programs, providing staff to coordinate teachers efforts and reach out to community partners, and developing policy and administrative supports. We emphasize that the best policy supports are those that acknowledge the state and local responsibility for education and support the development of policies and practices that work best for local realities. Expanded funding is needed at every level- national, state, and local-and from a variety of sources. One area in need of national level funding is research that documents outcomes and improves practice work.
   
   
3. Develop a Comprehensive System of Service-Learning Professional Development
   We on the commission were convinced that the most important need for increasing high quality service-learning is professional development, beginning with teacher preparation and including ongoing professional development for in-service teachers. Schools of education, education organizations and others should work together to provide such learning opportunities for educators and to coordinate offerings into a comprehensive system of professional development. We also recognized the need for the creation of new high quality and multi-media professional development resources.
   
   
4. Provide Leadership Roles for Youth in All Aspects of Service-Learning
   Last, we call for adults and youth to embrace the full potential for all students to be leaders. We recognize that this is easier said than done in schools where teachers are held accountable for student outcomes. To fully achieve this recommendation will require training and supporting teachers and other educators to give students real authority, responsibility and accountability. As we have seen, young people can and should be involved in decision-making in all service-learning initiatives. Adults can increase opportunities to recognize and reward youth for their leadership. Youth can join together in national networks of youth leaders to support and enhance service-learning and develop their own leadership roles.

Next Steps
We know that reports can sit on shelves and never make a difference, so over the last six months, we worked to enlist support for our vision of every American student having annual high quality service-learning experiences as an integral part of their K-- 12 education. Commission members spoke at major national education conferences in the country, including conferences for teacher educators, school board members, administrators, principals, students, and others. In addition, we launched the report with a series of special activities in eight selected states. We wrote articles for education and youth development journals such as this one. And we are distributing the report and its supplementary materials widely-to governors and state legislators, to chief state school officers and association members, through conferences and mailings. We want to encourage every player in the education system to work on behalf of including service-learning as a regular part of schooling.

And we want to encourage you to do your part as well. You can help in many different ways:

1. Tell your story in your own community and state. Every service-learning activity has a powerful story to tell. Make sure decision makers and funders know about yours. Local governing boards and state legislatures, local elected officials and businesses-all should know about the wonderful work being done by students in both learning and community problem solving.
   
   
2. Reach out to create school-community partnerships. Whether you are in a school or a community-based organization, service-learning requires connections and connections help make it work. Programs gain strength from joining together, and more important the linkages and relationships help create a web of support for both young people and the communities we live in.
   
   
3. Involve youth as leaders. Young people can contribute in many ways in addition to implementing service activities and learning lessons. They are often the most effective story tellers to convince policymaker of the value of the work. They can be members of boards of directors and advisory groups, task forces and school site councils. They can collect data of effectiveness and oversee grantmaking. Youth roles are only limited by adult imaginations about what they can do and how to support their contributions.
   
   
4. Seek new funding and policy supports. Work to integrate service-learning in the local school system and make it permanent by finding new and expanded sources of funding and building it into the policy supports of the local education system. At the national level, we encourage all advocates to join the National Service-Learning Partnership (see www.servicelearningpartnership.org).

Authors

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Leslie F. Hergert, Ed.D. is a senior project director at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) in Newton, Massachusetts. She served as director of the National Commission on Service-Learning and co-manager of Learning In Deed. She has developed and published numerous training and support materials, provided keynote speeches and workshops at state and national conferences, and worked closely with state education agencies and service commissions, national education associations, and others to promote service-learning. Before coming to EDC, Leslie directed multi-state education training and technical assistance projects, and provided training and consultation to school districts and others. She holds a doctorate in education administration, planning, and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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To order the report, "Learning In Deed: The Power of Service-Learning for American Schools," call 1-800-819-9997 or order online at www.learningindeed.org/slcommission/report.html. An executive summary of the report and video are also available upon request.

Related service-learning websites:

• National Service-Learning Partnership: www.servicelearningpartnership.org
• John Glenn Institute, Ohio State University: www.glenninstitute.org
• Learning In Deed: www.learningindeed.org
• Corporation for National and Community Service: www.cns.gov