Engaging At-Risk Students Socially and Educationally During a Time of Critical Transition From Elementary to Junior High: a Case Study of a Summer Service-Learning Intervention Program

This study examined how seventh grade students' educational and social engagement is affected when they participated in a summer service-learning orientation program. Incoming students participated in a four-week summer intervention designed to build Latino students' social capital by engaging them in a local community-based orientation curriculum complemented by a week-long service-learning project. The results confirmed the statistical significance and suggest that a brief but purposeful intervention during the critical transition periods in students' lives can have a meaningful impact on social and educational engagement.