K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice

This article discusses the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. For decades, the echoes of "quality matters" were evident in many evaluations and research studies. Without fidelity to quality, service-learning does not live up to its promise of positive outcomes; but with quality, significant impacts on participants have been found in the areas of academic performance, civic engagement and responsibility, personal and social skills, career aspirations, reduction of risky behaviors, and more (Billig 2007; Weah 2007). Over the years, quality has been defined in various ways, but only recently has the research base provided strong direction. In Growing to Greatness 2007, we presented the Principles of Effective Practice. This year, we celebrate the collective work of many communities around the country in refining those original principles and translating them into the new K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice.

This article is a discussion of the standards for quality practice. Read the full text of the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice