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Fact Sheets

  • AmeriCorps and Service-Learning 101
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, June 2009. This fact sheet introduces core information about service-learning to AmeriCorps members working in educational settings and looking to enhance their experience of learning through service, and...
  • AmeriCorps, Service-Learning, and Community: Working to Address Community Needs and Strengths
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, June 2009. This fact sheet introduces community assessment to AmeriCorps members working in educational settings and looking to enhance their experience of learning through service, and for anyone...
  • Benefits of Community-Based Service-Learning
    Source: Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Search Institute, December 2007. Thousands of community-based organizations engage millions of young people in service and service-learning. Though research in K-12 and higher education settings shows a wide range of...
  • Beyond Needs Assessments: Identifying a Community's Resources and Hopes
    Source: Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, September 2008. This fact sheet discusses the importance of and ways of determining what a community has, wants, and hopes before conducting a service-learning project. Fifteen young people in the service-learning...
  • Building Effective Partnerships in Service-Learning
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, 2008. Effective partnerships between agencies, schools, colleges or universities, businesses, government, and residents for the benefits of the community are a vital part of youth service in America....
  • Character Education and Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, September 2006 How Does Current Research in Character Education Support Service-Learning? Research conducted by RMC Research Corporation (2005) found that students who participated in the Partnerships in Character...
  • Charter Schools (K-12)
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO, May 2004Charter schools are public schools created as an alternative to traditional public schools. They operate free from many traditional district and state rules regarding curriculum, hiring practices, and...
  • Chemistry and Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Rachel L. Vaughn, Sarena D. Seifer, and Tanis Vye Mihalynuk, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, May 2004 Service-learning in the chemistry curriculum provides a rich opportunity for students to learn while contributing to their...
  • Citizenship and Service-Learning in K-12 Schools
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, January 2003 Updated: May 2005 and April 2007 Introduction "Serving others is not just a form of do-goodism or feel-goodism, it is a road to social responsibility and citizenship. When linked closely to...
  • Civics in K-12 Education
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO, May 2004Recent surveys raise concerns about the decline of civic education and the willingness of young people to assume active citizenship roles (Keeter, Zukin, Andolina, & Jenkins, 2002; National...
  • Democratic Classrooms
    Source: RMC Corporation, Denver, CO, May 2004 Democratic classrooms are those in which the curriculum actively engages students in collaborative inquiry decision making is shared between students and staff and students choose their daily activities....
  • Developing Partnerships for Service-Learning: Starting Points for Community-Based Organizations
    Source: Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Search Institute and Lawrence N. Bailis, Associate Professor, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, December 2007 Forming partnerships is key to effective service-learning. Schools, youth...
  • Developing Service-Learning Scholarship: Actions and Issues to Consider
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, July 2002 Acknowledgments: In preparing this fact sheet, we would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of the UCLA Service-Learning Clearinghouse website (Archive) and the...
  • Developmental Assets: A Framework for Enriching Service-Learning
    Source: Eugene C. Roehlkepartain and Peter C. Scales, Ph.D., Search Institute, December 2007 You can strengthen service-learning and improve developmental outcomes for young people by intentionally integrating positive youth development (PYD)...
  • Discipline-Specific Service-Learning Resources for Higher Education
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, March 2002. Updated: Cheryl Whitney-Lower, Vermont Campus Compact, September 2009Available Discipline-Specific Service-Learning Resources in Higher EducationThere are a number of...
  • Dropout Prevention and Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, October 2008 In 2001, the U.S. Department of Labor estimated that 5.2 million young people, aged 16-24, had not completed high school, were unemployed, and were not serving in the military. These "disconnected"...
  • Engaging Families in Service: Broadening Service-Learning's Reach, Impact, and Support
    Source: Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Search Institute, and Jenny Friedman, Doing Good Together, March 2009"Can you imagine anything more energizing, more unifying, more filled with satisfaction than working with members of your family to accomplish...
  • Engineering Education and Service-Learning
    Source: Rachel L. Vaughn and Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, June 2004Service-Learning in engineering education is gaining ground throughout the country and throughout the variety of disciplinary focuses within engineering...
  • Funding for K-12 Service-Learning Programs
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO, July 2004, Updated July 2008 Service-learning programs can be funded in several basic ways, including through Learn and Serve subgrants, foundation funding, and fundraising. Ideally, funds for school-based...
  • Higher Education Service-Learning in Rural Communities
    Source: Tanis V. Mihalynuk, Sarena D. Seifer and Community Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), August 2007 Service learning can provide significant benefits to students, faculty and communities, whether it occurs in rural, urban or suburban settings...
  • History of Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, January 2008 Service and Service-Learning on Colleges and University Campuses Community service and civic engagement have a long history on American campuses beginning in the 19th century and finding...
  • Homeland Security and K-12 Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, April 2006This fact sheet addresses K-12 service-learning activities that are focused on homeland security. Background information is presented first, followed by a sample of project descriptions intended to provide a...
  • Impacts of Service-Learning on Participating K-12 Students
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, December 2002 Updated May 2007The studies summarized below build on the research outlined in Billig's May 2000 article in Phi Delta Kappan and subsequent research updates from RMC Research in 2001 and 2005.Academic...
  • Improving Outcomes for K-12 Service-Learning Participants
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, May 2007 Several new studies have recently been completed that illuminate the characteristics of service-learning practice most closely associated with student outcomes. These studies, conducted with different populations...
  • Institutional Structures for Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, May 2002; updated by Pam Mutascio and Julie Plaut, Campus Compact, September 2008.Institutional structuresAs service-learning in higher education becomes more prevalent, colleges and...
  • Interdisciplinary Models of Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Kara Connors and Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, September 2005.IntroductionThe combination of service-learning and interdisciplinary learning is gaining momentum in higher education. A growing body of evidence...
  • Math and Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Rachel L. Vaughn, Sarena D. Seifer, and Tanis Vye Mihalynuk, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, May 2004 Service-learning in the mathematics curriculum provides a rich opportunity for students to learn while contributing to their...
  • Parent and Family Involvement in K-12 Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO, May 2004 Service-learning programs can offer parents and families the opportunity to participate in innovative learning experiences, and to become engaged in their children's schools in unique ways. Research...
  • Partnerships for Higher Education Service-Learning
    Source: Tanis Vye Mihalynuk & Sarena D. Seifer, Community Campus Partnerships for Health, September 2002; Updated: NSLC Staff, October 2004IntroductionPartnerships serve as the foundation of service-learning programs in higher education. These...
  • Policy: K-12 Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, May 2007. As service-learning continues to become more prevalent, states are adopting policies that both support and regulate its practice. Some states address issues of mandatory service while others focus on...
  • Professional Development for Service-Learning Practitioners
    Source: Shelley H. Billig, RMC Research Corporation, September 2010. Like people in all fields, service-learning practitioners need to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to be effective in implementing activities. The value of professional...
  • Public Health and Service-Learning
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, October 2008.This resource gives an overview of service-learning and provides a list of resources and research on service-learning and public health. Service-learning is a teaching approach in K-12,...
  • Publishing and Presenting in Service-Learning
    Source: Rachel L. Vaughn, Sarena D. Seifer, and Tanis Vye Mihalynuk, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, January 2004Service-learning is becoming increasingly prominent in higher education. Consequently, there has also been an increase in...
  • Raising Funds for Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer and Stacy Holmes, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, June 2002Acknowledgments: CCPH would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions to parts of this document: Dr. Barry Daneman, University of Missouri...
  • Recognition in Service-Learning
    Source: Points of Light Foundation, March 2002.Find new ideas for recognizing your service-learning participants, learn how to select appropriate forms of recognition, and get the resources you need to create a successful recognition program. The...
  • Recognizing Service-Learning in Higher Education through Minors and Certificates
    Source: Rachel L. Vaughn and Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, June 2004. Updated February 2012 with resources from Dan W. Butin. Minors and certificate programs focused on service-learning, leadership, and/or community service...
  • Reflection in Higher Education Service-Learning
    Source: Kara Connors and Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, September 2005The process of reflection is a core component of service-learning. Service-learning practitioners and researchers alike have concluded that the most...
  • Reflection in K-12 Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, March 2003. Updated September 2007. IntroductionIn today's world, it is easy for youth to look for instant solutions to complex problems. Reflection in service-learning provides students and teachers with a way to look...
  • Research in Support of Youth Voice and Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, May 2007.Youth voice refers to the process of involving young people in decisions that affect their own lives and those of their peers. Recently, there has been a growing trend toward increasing youth voice in...
  • Research Standards and Protection of Human Subjects
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, October 2002IntroductionAnyone conducting service-learning research or evaluation should be aware of the research standards and guidance for protection of human subjects. The following provides a brief summary and where...
  • Resilience
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, May 2004.The concept of resilience is based on the theory that particular traits or "protective factors" such as caring relationships and high expectations help strengthen people's ability to persist during...
  • Resources for AmeriCorps Members
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, June 2009.This fact sheet includes resources for those who are interested in finding a way to increase civic engagement, academic, personal, and social outcomes of youth and students. For AmeriCorps...
  • Risk Management and Liability
    Source: Points of Light Foundation, October 2002.IntroductionThe terms risk management and liability strike terror into the hearts of service-learning program managers. However, this does not need to be the case. This fact sheet provides tips for staying...
  • Risk Management and Liability in Higher Education Service-Learning
    Source: Tanis V. Mihalynuk and Sarena D. Seifer, Community Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), February 2003, updated by Pam Mutascio, Campus Compact, September 2008DisclaimerThis fact sheet is not intended to be a legal document nor to replace legal...
  • Service-Learning with Disadvantaged Youth
    Source: Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Search Institute, December 2007 On average, it's harder to grow up well when you live in poverty. Indeed, low socioeconomic status (SES) is negatively linked to a wide range of indicators of child and adolescent well...
  • Standards and Indicators for Effective Service-Learning Practice
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, July 2008 In April 2008, the National Youth Leadership Council released the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. These standards grew out of a need to update conventional wisdom about quality...
  • STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) Education and Service-Learning
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, October 2010.STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and usually refers to education in one or more of these disciplines. There has been a concern over the past several...
  • Student Engagement and Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, July 2008. Engagement in learning is closely linked to student achievement and other outcomes, such as reduced dropout rates and youth risk behaviors (Blank, 1997; Dev, 1997; Dryfoos, 1990; Woods, 1995).  School...
  • Sustaining Service-Learning in K-12 Schools
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, September 2006 Introduction Teachers in many schools have adopted service-learning as a practice for teaching something of value—be it content knowledge and skills, personal responsibility and efficacy, civic...
  • Teacher Education and Service-Learning
    Source: Shelley Billig and Felicia Freeman, RMC Research Corporation, August 2010.One approach for advancing the practice of service-learning is to promote the adoption of service-learning as an instructional strategy for teacher education programs....
  • The Engaged Community: Maximizing Community Impact
    Source: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse and Campus Compact, October 2010 IntroductionCampus-community partnerships ideally benefit all participants. But while volumes of research exist on how students benefit from civic engagement, less is...
  • The Evidence Base for Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, May 2002 Updated: May 2005The evidence base for service-learning is constantly evolving, with new publications and studies being released every month. What follows is a summary of the...
  • The Use of Technology in Higher Education Service-Learning
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer and Tanis Vye Mihalynuk, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, September, 2003 Updated: May 2005IntroductionWidespread use of technology is changing the way we work, learn, and communicate-even the way we carry out our...
  • Tools and Methods for Evaluating Service-Learning in Higher Education
    Source: Sarena D. Seifer and Stacy Holmes, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, May 2002 Updated: Julie L. Plaut, Campus Compact, May 2009 Julie Elkins, Campus Compact, September 30, 2009Introduction As with any pedagogy and/or program...
  • Traditional Values and Service-Learning
    Source: John Guffey, August 2008 "In the beginning there were the Instructions. We were to have compassion for one another, to live and work together, to depend on each other for support. We were told we were all related and interconnected to...
  • Tribes and U.S. Territories Service-Learning Programs
    Source: John Guffey, August 2008.The safeguarding of traditional values by Indian Tribes and U.S. Territories peoples, the cultivation of those values in ways which address the needs and build upon the assets of the community, and the transmission of...
  • Why Districts, Schools, and Classrooms Should Practice Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, January 2003. Updated June 2007. Service-learning should be practiced in schools because it yields so many simultaneous benefits. It is what many educators consider a "value-added" approach because it helps...
  • Working Effectively with Tribal Councils
    Source: Cynthia Johnson with Brian King, ACKCO, September 2004.This fact sheet was developed by a council member, detailing protocol and procedures for building a good relationship with your Tribal Council. Although each tribe is different, there are...
  • Youth Development and K-12 Service-Learning
    Source: RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO, September 2005 Schools are often faced with the need to address problem behaviors in youth such as substance abuse, violence, and dropping out. Recent research on what leads youth to engage in these particular...
  • Youth Voice in Service-Learning
    Source: Points of Light Foundation, 2001 Introduction to youth voice Youth voice refers to the ideas, opinions, involvement and initiatives of people considered to be young. Traditionally "young people" are defined as between the ages of 5-25....