Schools and Service Studied in Report

Foundations and governments should increase spending on efforts to involve public-school students in community-service activities, says a new report from the National Commission on Service-Learning.

To prepare the report, “Learning In Deed: The Power of Service-Learning for American Schools,” commission members spent a year visiting schools across the country, reviewing research data, and speaking with experts on the topic. The commission, which wrote the report, was appointed in 2000 by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and headed by former Senator John Glenn. The commission was cosponsored by the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at Ohio State University.

Among the report’s major recommendations:

• The movement to connect community service with classroom curriculums should include more discussion about how service projects can create stronger bonds between schools and local neighborhoods.
• More money and more program assistance are needed if the movement is to be successful on a broader scale. In particular, money to underwrite research on the benefits and successes, as well as failures, of such programs is needed. Money is also needed to incorporate service projects more effectively into regular school activities.
• A comprehensive teacher-training system is needed to ensure that teachers build strong connections between community service and their curriculums. Training on service efforts should be a required part of programs for new teachers and administrators, as well as part of professional training for teachers already on the job.
• More youth leadership is needed in the field, including expansion of a national network of young leaders.

Copies of the report, an executive summary, and short and long versions of a videotape on the report are available free by calling the W.K. Kellogg Foundation at (800) 819-9997 or by sending an e-mail request to wkkford@iserv.net.