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Fact Sheets

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 classroom learning…it is an ideal setting for bridging the gap between the classroom and the street, between the theory of democracy and its much more obstreperous practice…. Service is an instrument of civic pedagogy…. In serving the community, the young forge commonality; in acknowledging difference, they bridge division; and in assuming individual responsibility, they nurture social citizenship" (Barber, 1998).

The research on service-learning and citizenship in K-12 schools is growing rapidly as the issue of citizenship takes center stage on the national level. This fact sheet provides a brief discussion of several emergent issues in the research and provides extended abstracts of a few key studies.

Definitions of citizenship

Citizenship is defined in many different ways in the research literature. Organizations and researchers that discuss citizenship generally speak to the need for young people to see themselves as part of a public or community and as contributors to democracy. For example, the Education Commission of the States, in its publication entitled "Every Student A Citizen: Creating the Democratic Self" (2000), discusses citizenship as a "moral enterprise" which helps young people cultivate a sense of the common good and their place in achieving it. In addition to acquiring civic skills that nurture "judgments that are rooted in such principles as fairness, beneficence, self-denial, liberty, loyalty, honesty, and a commitment to the greater good," young people need to develop a strong capacity for critical judgment and reflection, the ability to conduct thoughtful inquiries about facts and decisions, and the ability to participate in public deliberations impartially and objectively. Other attributes associated with good citizenship include the ability to respect the heritages, diversity, and interests of others; to understand others' views; to be willing to engage in mutual give and take without animosity; and to continue to participate when things do not go their way.

Others emphasize the need for young people to master the skills and knowledge associated with the ways that society and government work. Those who subscribe to this view often point to the particular knowledge, skills, and dispositions measured in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 1998 NAEP Civic Consensus Project defined the civic knowledge and skills that students should possess in Grades 4, 8, and 12. Assessments were administered nationally in 1998 using the framework that emerged from the Consensus Project. The NAEP Civics Assessment (1998) measured knowledge by examining:

  • Civic life, politics, and government;
  • Foundations of the American political system;
  • The Constitution;
  • The relationship between the United States and other nations, and other world affairs; and
  • Roles of citizens in American democracy.

Skills that were measured included:

  • Intellectual - ability to describe and analyze information and evaluate, take, and defend positions on public issues;
  • Participatory - monitor and influence civic life by working with others, expressing ideas, and managing conflict;
  • Civic dispositions - ideals helped by citizens such as the belief in the rights and responsibilities of individuals in society and participation in elections.

Typology of citizenship

Westheimer and Kahne posited a typology of citizenship based on different definitions they encountered in the course of their research. The personally responsible citizen is one who acts responsibly in his/her own community. "Programs that seek to develop personally responsible citizens hope to build character and personal responsibility by emphasizing honesty, integrity, self-discipline, and hard work" or through "nurturing compassion by engaging students in community service" (2001).

The participatory citizen is one who "actively participates in the civic affairs and the social life of the community at local, state, and national levels" (Westheimer & Kahne, 2001) Educational programs that support the development of this type of citizen "focus on teaching students about how government and other institutions (e.g., community-based organizations, churches) work and about the importance of planning and participating in efforts to care for those in need" (p. 4).

The justice-oriented citizen is one who "critically assesses social, political, and economic structures and explores collective strategies for change that challenge injustice and, when possible, address root causes of the problem" (Westheimer & Kahne, p. 5). Programs that intend to develop this type of citizenship emphasize social change and students' skills and commitments to equity and other issues associated with justice.

Indicators of civic engagement/disengagement

There is a large, convergent body of research that shows the growing disenchantment and disengagement of young people with some of the traditional democratic structures of society. This is juxtaposed with the growing engagement with community, often evidenced by increased volunteerism. The following sources are most frequently cited in this regard.

Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), detailed the weakening of civic ties over the past generation and the impact this has had on the quality of education, safety, physical and emotional health, economic development, and citizenship. Highlights from his book include the following:

Political participation:

  • Voting in Presidential elections was down from 62.8% in 1960 to 48.9% in 1996. The decline in voting during off year elections is roughly equivalent. This has occurred despite the fact that registration requirements have been relaxed and more groups have been enfranchised. "Very little of the net decline in voting is attributable to individual change, and virtually all of it is generational. Throughout their lives and whatever their station in life and their level of political interest, baby boomers and their children have been less likely to vote than their parents and grandparents." (Putnam, 2000, p. 34). Only 38% of 18 to 25 year-olds voted in 2000. This trend, however, was reversed in the 2004 election, when at least 20.9 million Americans under the age of 30 voted, an increase of 4.6 million over 2000 (Circle, 2004).
  • A Roper poll conducted each month from 1974 to 1998 asked Americans, "Have you recently been taking a good deal of interest in current events and what's happening in the world today, some interest, or not very much interest?" Figures revealed a drop from 50% to 38%. This was confirmed by DDB Needham Life Style polls that solicited extent of agreement with the statement, "I am interested in politics." Interest declined from 52% in 1975-1976 to 42% in 1998-1999 because younger generations were less interested.
  • The rate of political party identification declined from 75% to 65% from 1960 to 1990 (Putnam, 2000, p. 38) and attendance at a political rally or speech declined from 12% in 1970 to under 6% in 1995 (Putnam, 2000, p. 41).
  • A UCLA study found that only 28% of entering college freshmen in the fall of 2000 reported an interest in "keeping up to date on political affairs," down from 60.3% in 1966.
  • "The frequency of virtually every form of community involvement measured in the Roper polls declined significantly, from the most common-petition signing-to the least common, running for office. Americans are playing virtually every aspect of the civic game less frequently today than we did two decades ago" (Putnam, 2000, p. 41).
  • Communal forms of activity, such as attending local meetings or joining local organizations, declined just as precipitously. From the mid 1970s to 1995, attendance at a public meeting on town or school affairs declined from 23% to 12% and serving on a local committee declined from 10% to 6% (Putnam, 2000, p. 43, citing Roper polls and other surveys).
  • According to Roper polls, from 1973-1974 to 1993-1994, there has been a decline by 23% of those writing to Congresspersons, by 22% of those signing a petition, and by 14% writing to a newspaper to express an opinion.
  • "The faction of the public who engaged in none of the dozen forms of civic participation rose by more than one-third over this period (from 46% in 1973 to 64% in 1994), while the band of civic activists who engaged in at least three different types of activity was cut nearly in half (from 20% to 11%). Moreover, these trends appear consistently in all sections of the population and all areas of the country…" (Putnam, 2000, p. 46).

Civic participation:

  • Across many large civic organizations (e.g., Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Elks, Lions, League of Women Voters, Masons, Hadassah), membership rates have experienced a sustained decline since 1969 and have, on average, 50% less membership (Putnam, 2000, p. 55).
  • The General Social Survey shows that membership in at least one formal organization (e.g., church, labor groups, fraternal organizations, veteran groups) fell from 75% to 70% from the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s (Putnam, 2000, p. 59). However, active participation in these organizations declined significantly, typically by more than half (Putnam, 2000, p. 61).
  • In terms of hours per month, the average American's investment in organizational life, excluding religion, declined from 3.7 hours per month in 1965 to 2.3 in 1985 and 1995 (Putnam, 2000, p. 62).

Informal social connections:

  • In general, Putnam notes the trend that we have become more of a nation of observers than a nation of doers. "Our evidence also suggests that across a very wide range of activities, the last several decades have witnessed a striking diminution of regular contacts with our friends and neighbors. We spend less time in conversation over meals, we exchange visits less often, we engage less often in leisure activities that encourage casual social interaction, we spend more time watching (admittedly, some of it in the presence of others) and less time doing. We know our neighbors less well, and we see old friends less often. In short, it is not merely 'do good' civic activities that engage us less, but also informal connecting" (Putnam, 2000, p. 115).

Altruism, volunteering, and philanthropy:

  • Total giving by individuals as a fraction of national income fell from 2.26% in 1964 to 1.61% in 1998 (Putnam, 2000, p. 123).
  • In 1975-1976, more than 40% of American adults said that they had worked on a community project during the past year, while in 1998-1999, less than one-third said they did so (Putnam, 2000, pp. 127-128). However, the same sample of people who said that they volunteered more often (i.e., were "involved in any charity or social service activities, such as helping the poor, the sick, or the elderly") rose from 26% in 1977 to 46% in 1991. Much of the group that increased volunteerism, however, was 60 years old or older (Putnam, 2000, p. 128). People under age 25, however, also dramatically increased volunteerism over this period of time, though participation in community projects for this age group also declined by almost 50%.
  • "A wide range of evidence…suggests that young Americans in the 1990s displayed a commitment to volunteerism without parallel among their immediate predecessors. This development is the most promising sign of any that I have discovered that America might be on the cusp of a new period of civic renewal, especially if this youthful volunteerism persists into adulthood and begins to expand beyond individual caregiving to broader engagement with social and political issues" (Putnam, 2000, p. 133).

Putnam attributes the decline in civic engagement to pressures of time and money, including special pressures on two career families, suburbanization, the effects of electronic entertainment, and most importantly, generational change. He believes that we must create more social capital to reverse the alarming trend in civic disengagement. Social capital is characterized by social networks, norms of reciprocity and high levels of trust that advance coordination and civic life for mutual benefit (1993). "To build bridging social capital requires that we transcend our social and political and professional identities to connect with people unlike ourselves" (Putnam, 2000, p. 411).

As cited in Putnam's book, studies by Goss (1999) and the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (2000) confirmed that volunteerism is on the rise. "Both the fraction of adults under 30 who volunteer and the average number of times they volunteer per year have increased significantly over the past generation" (Saguaro Seminar, 2000, p. 76).

The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (Saguaro Seminar, 2000), a project of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, maps the relative strengths and areas for improvement in communities' civic behavior. Composed of a national sample of 3,000 respondents and a representative sample of 26,200 respondents in 40 communities across 29 states, the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey found:

  • 88% of respondents reported some sort of religious affiliation and 84% said that religion played an important role in their lives. Respondents engaged in religion were more likely to also be involved in civic groups, to vote more, to be more active in community groups, to give blood, to socialize, and to have a wider circle of friends. They are more politically conservative than their secular peers.
  • Respondents from more racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods are less likely to trust other people, connect with other people even informally, to participate in politics, and to connect across class lines. Within ethnically diverse areas, those with a college education are four to five times more likely to be politically involved than those with a high school education.
  • Social connectedness is "a much stronger predictor of perceived quality of life in a community than the community's income or educational level. In the five communities surveyed having the highest social trust, 52% of residents rated their community as an excellent place to live…. In the five communities with the lowest levels of trust, only 31% felt good about their quality of life" (Saguaro Seminar, 1999, p. 7).

The final report of the National Commission on Civic Renewal, entitled "A Nation of Spectators: How Civic Disengagement Weakens America and What We Can Do About It" (1998), developed an Index of National Civic Health, averaging 22 trend lines. The index, called INCH, combines trends for political participation, political and social trust, associational membership, family integrity and stability, and crime. The index shows an increasingly disengaged populace over time.

"During the past generation, our families have come under intense pressure, and many have crumbled. Neighborhood and community ties have frayed. Many of our streets and public spaces have become unsafe. Our public schools are mediocre for most students and catastrophic failures for many. Our character-forming institutions are enfeebled. Much of our popular culture is vulgar, violent, and mindless. Much of our public square is coarse and uncivil. Political participation is at depressed levels last seen in the 1920s. Public trust in our leaders and institutions has plunged." (p. 1)

"Too many of us have become passive and disengaged. Too many of us lack confidence in our capacity to make basic moral and civic judgments, to join with our neighbors to do the work of the community, to make a difference. Never have we had so many opportunities for participation, yet rarely have we felt so powerless. Indeed, according to sociologist Alan Wolfe, an unpleasant feature of contemporary middle-class morality is a 'perverse pleasure in powerlessness.' In a time that cries out for civic action, we are in danger of becoming a nation of spectators." (p. 1)

"A generation ago we realized that the degradation of our physical environment was the result of countless millions of decisions, by individual citizens as well as large corporations, and that if we really wanted to clean it up we would have to change our habits as well as our laws. The degradation of our civic environment stems from similar causes and requires similar remedies. It is legitimate and honorable for a free people to work as hard to protect its moral ecology as its natural environment. As citizens, we must ask more of ourselves." (p. 2)

Students' civic knowledge

A large scale study of civic education of American youth was conducted in 1999 by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, located at the University of Texas, Austin. According to the project director, Kenneth Tolo (cited in Black, 2000, p. 48), more than one-fourth of all state constitutions base their system of public education on the belief that "an informed and capable citizenry is vital to the preservation of a free and democratic government." Despite this, Tolo found that only Alaska, Colorado, and Vermont have standards specifically related to civic education, though 23 other states included civics as part of social studies standards. Researchers found the standards to be "relatively hard to find and use, and varying in thoroughness, attention to content, and specificity.

In the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measure of civics knowledge of students in Grades 4, 8, and 12, only about 25% of students scored at the proficient or advanced levels (NCES, NAEP 1998 Civics Report Card for the Nation). On this assessment, students were asked to identify and describe factual information, and explain, analyze, take, and defend a position. As cited in the article by Black, the 1998 NAEP also showed that:

  • 93% of fourth grade students could identify Clinton as president; 74% knew that laws were to be applied equally to all citizens; 43% knew that the President signs bills into law; and 15% identified two services that the government funds with tax revenues.
  • 81% of eighth grade students knew that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a person concerned about the injustice of segregation laws; 58% understood that people had rights beyond those cited in the Constitution; 26% identified two ways that citizens can be involved in Presidential campaigns; and 6% described two ways that the country benefited by having a Constitution.
  • 90% of students in their senior year of high school knew that the elderly were concerned about Social Security; 60% identified a legitimate way to protest local policies; 45% knew that the President and Department of State have the greatest authority over foreign policy; and 30% understood the Supreme Court's power of judicial review to protect the rights of minority groups.

According to a small study conducted by the Center for Civic Education (cited in Black, 2000, p. 50), "more than half of the high school government teachers surveyed could not give adequate explanations of such key concepts as judicial review, federalism, checks and balances, and popular sovereignty. Civics classes commonly concentrate on memorizing the basic workings of government and government institutions and discussing current events. Although this basic knowledge is important, it is not enough, he argues: What is often lacking is the development of an understanding of the philosophical foundations, values, and principles of our democratic institutions and processes."

Relationship between citizenship and service-learning

Many researchers believe that service-learning can be effective in re-engaging young people. The beliefs tend to stem from two distinct theories. On the one hand, researchers believe that problems of disengagement stem from the lack of social capital, that is, the lack of attachment to social networks that many young people display. Putnam, cited previously, is the greatest proponent of this theory. On the other hand, researchers believe that the problems can be traced to a lack of civic identity, that is, too little connection of self with society. Yates and Youniss (1999) are major proponents of this theory. Different perspectives are represented in various research studies.

There is increasing evidence that high quality service-learning practice that is carefully designed to increase civic outcomes can encourage civic engagement in young people. Detailed descriptions of a few of the key studies are presented below.

Sample studies of service-learning and civic skills in k-12 populations

Mary Kirlin. (2002, September). Civic skill building: The missing component in service programs? PS: Political Science and Politics.
This article provides a review of research and a discussion of issues related to best practice for promoting adoption of democratic values and civic engagement in high school students. The paper suggests that many service and service-learning programs have weak impacts in the area of civic engagement because they have not sufficiently addressed the development of fundamental civic skills, including expressing opinions and working collectively to establish common goals and action plans. The author argues that participation in student clubs and organizations is strongly linked to activities related to civic engagement later in life. She believes that the reason for this relationship is not because students have developed a civic identity but because they have learned specific skills related to citizenship.

According to the author, learning about political life through participation is the key. Particular program components must be built into service and/or service-learning activities in order to produce the three participatory factors proposed by Verba, Schlozman, and Brady (1995) as necessary to produce civic engagement. These factors are motivation , defined as the desire to get involved; capacity and skills , defined as the ability to contribute something to the effort; and networks , defined as connection to networks of individuals who ask others to become involved. Citing the extensive research that shows that participation in extracurricular organizations, including religious organizations but not including sports, leads to later civic involvement, Kirlin posited that important program components are participatory activities such as facilitating students' discovery of community problems that exist, giving them the opportunity to establish goals and organize themselves to reach goals, understanding whom they need to contact, expressing opinions and identifying like-minded individuals, and reaching consensus about actions. Service-learning that is "pre-packaged," that is, predetermined by a teacher or a community-based organization, does not have these features and therefore may not produced desired civic outcomes.

Kirlin suggests that four civic skills are particularly important to nurture, and that each of these has a series of underlying skills that teachers can nurture in their classrooms. Students need to monitor public events and issues. The skills are:

  • Underlying skills necessary for this include understanding distinctions between public, nonprofit, and private sectors of society, understanding the context for events and issues, and acquiring and thoughtfully reviewing news;
  • Deliberating about public policy issues. Underlying skills are the ability to think critically about issues and understand multiple perspectives on issues;
  • Interacting with other citizens to promote personal and common interests. Underlying skills are the ability to understand democratic society and collective decision making as a norm for democracy, the capacity to articulate individual perspectives and interests, working with others to define common objectives, and creating and following a work plan to accomplish a goal; and
  • Influencing policy decisions on public issues. Underlying skills are identifying decision makers and institutions, and understanding appropriate vehicles for influencing decisions.
Service-learning program design that intentionally includes activities to help students acquire these skills should lead to stronger civic outcomes.

David E. Campbell. (2000, September). Social capital and service learning. American Political Science Association PS Online
This article posited that youth participation in service-learning can serve as an important source of social capital, which in turn can lead to stronger likelihood of adult volunteerism and political participation. The article cites the theories of Putnam, Leonardi, and Nanetti (1993) and Coleman (1988). Coleman's theory that schools embedded in functional communities produce students "rich in social capital" is supported through data on the increased volunteerism of young people generally and of young people in Catholic schools particularly.

Campbell refuted the conclusions of the National Association of Secretaries of State who reported in 1999: "Young people are volunteering in much greater numbers, but this activity is distinctly apolitical. Instead, youth participation often takes the form of social service, with the goal of directly helping other people. In the minds of these young volunteers, there is not political end or motivational goal to their volunteer activities. This more personal, one-to-one volunteerism most often takes place in community institutions like soup kitchens, hospitals, and schools" (p. 22). Rather than seeing volunteerism as an apolitical activity, Campbell demonstrates that volunteering builds social capital, which facilitates collaborative efforts including those that lead to political activity.

Using data from a national survey, Campbell showed that political participation among youth started declining in 1976 while volunteerism started increasing in the 1990s. Regression analysis showed that there was a positive, not negative, correlation between volunteerism and political activity from the early through the mid 1990s. Further, the data demonstrated that young people who volunteered were more likely to volunteer later in life and those who participated in political activity were more likely to engage in political activity later in life. Campbell concluded that these data show that participation in community service activities "facilitates civic engagement generally and political activity more specifically, both while individuals are young and when they become adults" (p. 5). This appears to be the case because social capital is being built through the development of networks of social connectedness, as theorized by Coleman. Thus "the thicker the networks of social connectedness among students and between students and adults within their community, the more opportunities a norm of generalized reciprocity will have to development. Service-learning, then, should be directed toward thickening these bonds of connectedness…. This is best accomplished by instituting programs that maximize interaction between students and adults and that constitute collaborative effort, providing, as Putnam (2000) put it, a 'template' for future collective action" (p. 5).

William Morgan and Matthew Streb. (undated). First do no harm: Student ownership and service-learning. Unpublished paper. Indiana University, Center for Participation and Citizenship.
This paper argued that the level of student voice within service-learning programs, defined as student leadership in the process and ownership of a project, is the factor that determines whether there are large and statistically significant changes in students' academic and civic outcomes. The authors also posited that the lack of student voice has no or even negative impacts on those outcome areas.

The authors began this paper with a summary of Dewey and Piaget's theories pertinent to explaining why experiential education should lead to development of positive civic attitudes. Dewey suggested that traditional experiences in classrooms often lead to "ennui and boredom" and suggested that students need to have experiences that are not "straight-jacketed" by schools in order to have learning that develops skills needed to participate in democracy. Piaget discussed the need to assimilate information, fitting it with current schema, and accommodate information, changing schema to fit information. Kolb and Lewin took this further, positing that individuals need to experience all parts of the learning cycle, including abstract conceptualization, active experimentation, concrete experience, and reflection, for effective learning to take place. Thus, as the authors pointed out, if students only provide service at a homeless shelter without having a class discussion or otherwise reflecting on the experience (reflective observation), linking it to social policy (abstract conceptualization) and discussing how the shelters can be improved (active experimentation), effective learning will not occur.

The authors also cited a number of studies within service-learning that bolster their arguments, and explained that voice is important because students will be more absorbed in projects of their own design, are more likely to succeed at a task with greater significance, and are likely to feel capable when they do so. "Student voice is a major component of any service-learning program and it is only when students have an input in their project that the pedagogical approach will have a positive effect on participants; otherwise service-learning is likely to do only harm" (p. 6).

The study undertaken by the authors involved administration of a survey to 220 high school students in 19 classrooms in 10 different schools in five states: Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Kentucky. Respondents were evenly split across high school grade levels, representative of the population as a whole in terms of race and ethnicity with a slight overrepresentation of African American students, overwhelmingly female (76%). Service-learning projects varied greatly, though all had goals in terms of community impacts, student learning, and student development.

Surveys were administered before the service-learning projects began and then again after the project ended. Most questions used a 5-point Likert scale asking the extent to which students agreed with the items. Student voice was measured using four items that became a scale: I had real responsibilities; I had challenging tasks; I helped plan the project; and I made important decisions. Authors analyzed effects of service-learning participation on 11 variables that measured school education and civic education. Academic variables included discussion of school with others outside of class, political knowledge, personal competence, and number of school days skipped in the past four weeks. Civic education variables included political attentiveness, social action, social networks, hours participating in out-of-school activities, attitudes toward the elderly and toward the disabled, and efficacy. Authors statistically controlled for student grade point average, the degree to which students liked school, and preparation for class since these variables are all related to student voice. Authors also controlled for grade level and race/ethnicity.

An analysis of pre/post surveys indicated that overall effects of service-learning were minimal, and in some cases, such as efficacy, the effect was slightly negative. However, when the authors tested data to examine the effects of youth voice, the results were very different, showing statistically significant positive effects for each of the dependent variables. Students who had service-learning experiences with student voice also showed an increase in their knowledge of political events in greater numbers than their peers who had service-learning experiences without the same levels of voice. Finally, students with voice were less likely to skip classes. They were less cynical about government, wanted to be more politically active, increased their amount of social capital (social networks and participation in out-of-school organizations), and became more tolerant of groups different from themselves. They were also more likely to develop relationships with mentors in the service-learning program and participate in social action. This held true for every variable except efficacy when "average voice" from each class was used as the independent variable rather than each student's response to the questions.

Further, this study showed that low quality service-learning programs, that is, those where students have no voice, produces negative effects. Students are "less likely to want to participate in the future, less efficacious, and even less likely to show up to school!" (p. 21). The authors conclude by warning that "mandating service-learning could backfire if the projects do not provide the opportunity for the students to have a significant voice in the projects" (p. 21). Further, extensive professional development is needed to ensure that educators design their programs effectively. The results also showed that service-learning does not have to be tied to any particular content area to yield educational and civic benefits. Suggestions for further research are provided.

Joseph Kahne, Bernadette Chi, and Ellen Middaugh. (2002, September). City Works Evaluation Summary. Unpublished evaluation report for the Surdna Foundation, New York, NY.
This report summarizes results of an evaluation of City Works, a curriculum developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation and implemented in many cities across the United States. Pre and post survey data were collected from 204 high school students, interviews were conducted with six participating teachers, and eight focus groups were conducted with 36 high school seniors. Two classrooms that did not use the City Works curriculum, taught by two participating teachers, were used as control groups. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between particular curriculum components and student outcomes.

Results of the analysis revealed that students who participated in City Works demonstrated statistically significant greater gains on measures of civic engagement and development than nonparticipants. The strongest differences occurred on measures of interest in service, indicators related to becoming a "participatory citizen," indicators related to becoming a "justice oriented citizen," development of social networks, leadership efficacy, personal responsibility, and civic efficacy, respectively.

Participants also showed greater gains in knowledge of government. City Works participants scored higher on tests that measured knowledge of the Constitution, identification of county officials, sources of local government revenue, forms of city government, head of state executive branch, and location of trials for misdemeanors. On items that paralleled measures from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics Test, City Works participants scored higher than their nonparticipating peers on items that addressed federal and state jurisdictions, zoning variances, and actions needed to change municipal laws.

Gains across the participating sites were uneven. Those sites that have strong implementation of the simulations and role plays, use of role models through field trips and speakers, and engagement in a service project had the strongest outcomes. Of these three strategies, the most significant differences were found with sites that had strong implementation of the role-play/simulations and use of role models. These teaching strategies affected a wide range of civic commitments and capacities. Service-learning had a slightly lesser, but still statistically significant impact on commitments and capacity. Service-learning specifically impacted personal responsibility, formation of social networks, and increased commitment to service later on in life.

The authors also showed that certain classroom features had more of an influence on student civic commitment and capacity than others. Strongest correlations occurred between:

  • Learning about things in society that need changing and personal responsibility, justice orientation, increased capacity, and interest in politics;
  • Learning about how to improve my community and justice orientation, increased commitment, and increased capacity;
  • Talking about issues that matter and increased commitment, increased capacity, and interest in politics; and
  • Working on issues that matter and participatory citizenship, social trust, having good ideas that would help others, and increased commitment.
There was a statistically significant negative relationship between feeling that community work was frustrating and interest in politics, course satisfaction, and increased commitment.

Rahima Wade and Donald Yarbrough. (2005, October). Infusing Service-Learning in the Social Studies: Civic Outcomes of the 3 rd -12 th Grade CiviConnections Program. Paper presented at the 5 th Annual K-H Service-Learning Research Conference in East Lansing, Michigan.
This study examined the responses of more than 3,000 3 rd -12 th grade students' responses to pre/post surveys administered to assess their growth in the CiviConnections program, a nationwide effort of the National Council for the Social Studies with funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service. The program was based on influential factors identified in the literature on civic outcomes of service-learning. CiviConnections integrates local history inquiry with community service-learning and the study of U.S. history and government documents.

During the 2004-2005 school year, 96 teachers from 21 states and U.S. territories participated in the program. All teachers were trained in the model during a required summer institute and received additional supporting materials to assist them in developing service-learning projects that could be integrated with their social studies curriculum. Teachers and students developed projects based upon students' interests and abilities, the needs or problems of the local community, and local social studies curriculum requirements. Basic steps of the program included students:

  • Choosing a current issue of concern or need in the local community in cooperation with their teachers;
  • Investigating the issue through their community's history;
  • Comparing local findings with learning about the issue in U.S. history;
  • Looking at how the issue is impacted by government documents such as the Bill of Rights;
  • Designing and conducting quality service-learning activities to work on the issue and strengthen their community; and
  • Creating a public display to educate the community and celebrate their collaborative service projects.
Researchers developed and administered two versions of a 25-item survey at two time periods, prior to the beginning of the project and then again after the completion of the year's activities. The first survey instructed students to respond to the survey as they felt at that time. The second survey asked students to respond as they felt "right now" and also respond as they remember feeling before the project began. Students on average scaled themselves higher on the aggregated score at post-survey than at pre-survey, indicating that substantial growth occurred over the course of the project, as self-reported by student respondents. Generally, the study found that the integration of local historical inquiry with service-learning can lead to significant self-reported increases in civic knowledge, skills, attitudes, and intention to participate in community improvement in the future for 3 rd - 12 th grade students. The large and diverse sample in this study supports the results in a variety of community settings.

Shelley H. Billig, Susan Root, and Dan Jesse. (2005 ). The Relationship Between the Quality Indicators of Service-Learning and Student Outcomes: Testing Professional Wisdom. In Susan Root, Jane Callahan, and Shelley H. Billig (Eds.) Improving Service-Learning Practice: Research on Models to Enhance Impacts. Information Age Publishing: Greenwich, CT.
This study examined the effects of service-learning on high school students' civic engagement and the elements of quality that were associated with the strongest outcomes. The sample included a total of 1,052 students, with 645 service-learning participants and 407 comparison group students. Student surveys were administered in the fall and spring of the 2003-2004 school year. In addition to questions about student characteristics, student surveys included measures of civic outcomes attitudes towards school. Civic outcomes addressed by the surveys were civic knowledge, skills, dispositions, civic engagement, and efficacy.

Variables observed at different service-learning sites included the degree to which projects were:

  • Linked to class goals;
  • Explicitly focused on skills needed for effective democratic engagement such as problem analysis, collaborative problem-solving, civic dialogue, and the ability to work within the political system to improve society; and
  • Given sufficient time and/or student participation.
A multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine whether there was a relationship between students' overall scores on the measure of quality and their post-test scores. Results showed that students' perceptions of the quality of their service-learning experience were a strong and positive predictor of their post-test scores, especially on school attachment and civic knowledge. A multivariate regression analysis was conducted to test for a relationship between student engagement in service-learning and outcome measures. Students who reported stronger engagement in service-learning were more likely to be academically engaged; to value schooling; to become attached to school and community; to enjoy content courses; to perceive a gain in civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions, to become more civically engaged; and to feel greater efficacy.

The study also looked at whether the type of service activity would service as a moderating variable. The analysis suggested that students who participated in civic or political action had higher post-test civic knowledge and self-reported civic knowledge than those involved in indirect or direct service. In addition, students who engaged in civic or political action had higher scores on civic dispositions than others, while students who performed direct service had higher scores on community attachment. Finally, students who were involved with indirect service had higher levels of academic engagement, valuing school, and enjoyment or specific subject matters than those involved in direct service or civic and political action.

Generally, service-learning activities that were one to two months in duration had the highest academic impacts, while those that lasted for an entire semester had the greatest civic impacts. All of the civic outcome areas, except for community attachment, were strongly related to service-learning program quality as reported by teachers.

Texas Center for Service-Learning: Evaluation of K-12 SCP and CHESP Programs. RMC Research Corporation, Denver, CO.
This report presented the results of an evaluation of two Texas Center for Service-Learning grant programs: a K-12 School Community Partnership (K-12 SCP) grant, including 27 local education agency (LEA) subgrants, and a Community-Higher Education-School Partnership (CHESP) grant, which included 7 LEA subgrants. Multiyear subgrants were designed to develop and institutionalize service-learning programming with collaboration among institutions to improve education and communities. Programs were designed to increase youth civic engagement as well as improve student academic achievement and promote volunteerism among all age groups.

Data were collected at K-12 SCP sites using pre/post student surveys of service-learning and comparison students as well as surveys of service-learning teachers. In-depth case studies were conducted at 8 CHESP sites that included interviews and focus groups with grant coordinators, teachers, students, and representatives or partner organizations. The K-12 SCP evaluation included data from 1,235 service-learning participants and 117 comparison students in grades 3-5, 1,977 service-learning participants and 81 comparison students in grades 6-12, and 177 surveys from teachers.

The results of the K-12 SCP student pre/post surveys indicated that service-learning participants showed increases in civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that were significantly higher than those of comparison students. Teachers at SCP and CHESP sites indicated that participation in service-learning helped students to develop a range of civic disposition and skills including increased empathy, awareness and knowledge of community issues, sense of belonging to the community, a belief that they could make a difference, and an understanding of how to effect change. Respondents also cited a strong positive impact on academic engagement and academic performance outcomes. Students surveyed in SCP sites emphasized their acquisition of work experience, job skills, career awareness, and skills in academic subject areas.

Nearly all measures of service-learning quality were significantly and positively related to student outcomes. Teacher-reported measures such as overall quality, academic integration, presence of relevant and challenging activities, meaningful student involvement, use of reflection, and duration were significantly and positively related to school engagement, school attachment, community engagement, and civic skills for students across grade levels. Student ratings of service-learning engagement, quality, number of different activities, and duration were significantly and positively related to school engagement, school attachment, valuing school, community engagement, civic skills, and civic dispositions for students in grades 3-5 and 6-12.

References

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Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (2004, November). Youth turnout up sharply in 2004 . Washington, DC: CIRCLE.

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Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America. (2000). Retrieved online January 29, 2003.

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Wade, R.C. and Yarbrough, D.B. (2005). Infusing learning in the social studies: Civic outcomes of the 3 rd -12 th grade CiviConnections program . Paper presented at the 5 th Annual K-H Service-Learning Research Conference, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (2001). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. Unpublished paper.

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