Educating for Active Citizenship: Service-Learning, School-Based Service and Youth Civic Engagement

Between January and March 2005, the Corporation for National and Community Service, in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and the nonprofit coalition Independent Sector, conducted the "Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey." The survey gathered information from 3,178 American youth between the ages of 12 and 18 on their volunteering habits and experiences with school-based service projects, as well as information related to positive youth development. The survey found among other things: 38 percent of students participate in school-based service, school-based service increases volunteering, 77 percent of students in school-based service practice 'quality' service-learning elements, type of school, grade level, and academic achievement affect school-based service, and high-quality service-learning activities yield positive benefits. (CNCS)