Evaluating service learning activities programs

Service-Learning Because, service-learning is not credit for service or time and because service-learning is an integrated text of an academic course that provides credit for learning, and because service-learning is based on reciprocal University-Community partnerships: We measure academic learning AND civic learning AND We also need to ensure community interest is addressed There are many tools you can borrow or adapt to assess your service-learning class: Assessing the Impact of Service Learning: A Workbook of Strategies and Methods.

A handbook of strategies of assessment using case studies that responds to the complexity of service learning and focuses on all four constituencies of service learning--students, faculty, community, and institution. An instructive manual and workbook for those interested in evaluating a community service program. A valuable resource for program evaluators and researchers who want to inform the practice of service learning. In this way, service learning can contribute to community building by connecting citizens to community issues at a young age and fostering relationships between schools and the local community organizations.

Most schools with service learning programs cited strengthened relationships among students, the school, and the community is key reasons for practicing service learning Skinner and Chapman Service learning evolved partly out of the movement towards formalizing volunteerism, which is a big component of philanthropy. The debate over whether required service is really volunteering notwithstanding, the ultimate impact of service learning can contribute to the "greater good" and attend to community needs.

Program evaluation of service learning can yield indicators demonstrating the effects on the recipients of such service. Such results can support altering service learning programs so that the students meet their learning objectives while the community organizations benefit from their service. Program evaluation can assist those organizations in determining whether their programs are achieving their intended outcomes for service learning.

The funding through CNCS enables service-learning programs to exist in public schools throughout the country. The Surdna Foundation takes a slightly different take on service learning in that they state that they "don't have an educational focus. Corporate philanthropy for service learning also comes in the form of grant awards for successful service learning projects.

By funding these initiatives for service learning, these philanthropists are leveraging dollars to enable youth to address community needs while learning new skills, behaviors and values. Without such support from the philanthropic sector, these service-learning programs would not exist. A framework for program evaluation is a practical tool for summarizing and organizing the essential elements of program evaluation. It involves the steps and standards for an effective program evaluation.

The recommended framework to use is the one developed by the Center for Disease Control. The six steps of a program evaluation include: engaging stakeholders, describing the program, focusing the evaluation design, gathering credible evidence, justifying conclusions, and ensuring use and sharing lessons learned CDC It contains indicators, data sources and data collection methods for each of your outcomes. An indicator is the information that indicates how well the program has met a particular outcome United Way of America For example, the outcome of your students cleaning up a park may be a change in attitude towards their local environment.

An indicator of this outcome for your class would be the percentage of students treating their local environment differently i. Data collection methods may be observing their behavior, group discussion, written surveys or a combination thereof. Phases of an evaluation typically include planning and design, data collection, data analysis and reporting Mattessich A process evaluation evaluates how your program is implemented.

Examples of the standards include: students are engaged in tasks that challenge and stretch them cognitively and developmentally; communication and interaction with the community are promoted and partnerships and collaboration are encouraged; student reflection takes place before, during and after service Billig The standards for program evaluation are grouped into four categories. Utility standards ensure that information needs of evaluation users are satisfied. Feasibility standards ensure that the evaluation is viable and pragmatic.

Propriety standards ensure the evaluation is ethical and conducted with regard for the rights and interests of those involved and affected. Accuracy standards ensure that the evaluation produces findings that are considered correct CDC This paper was developed by a student taking a Philanthropic Studies course taught at The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Service Learning Program Evaluation.

Grade Level:. Effective service learning is now seen as a major vehicle for education. Evaluation is a systematic process for an organization to obtain information on its activities, its impacts and the effectiveness of its work, so that it can improve its activities and describe its accomplishments. Historic Roots Program evaluation of service learning has its roots in experiential learning, a concept of connecting education with personal experience largely attributed to John Dewey from his Experience and Education written in Because youth represent the future, their participation in successful intercultural service projects on the local, national, and international levels can have an impact on global issues that affect all of us.

When service and intercultural learning are combined, young people are able to contribute their time and talent from the perspective of their own diverse backgrounds and enrich not only their own lives but also the lives of those with whom they come into contact.

Cooperating with youth from other countries, cultures, regions, or communities of the world can result in dialogue, tolerance, and universal peace. Moreover, intercultural service-learning projects allow young people around the world to expose and address multifaceted local, national, and global problems. These opportunities contribute to the development of civic responsibility among youth in partnering communities throughout the world and also allow them to design sustainable efforts that focus on issues such as disaster relief, famine, equal rights, poverty, disease, and more.

Coverdell World Wise Schools Coverdell World Wise Schools offer resources to help integrate global issues and cultural awareness into core content areas. The service-learning page provides lesson plans categorized by grade levels K—2, 3—5, 6—8, 9—12 that guide students through planning, undertaking, and evaluating service-learning projects. In addition, students are encouraged to reflect on the importance of community service by reading stories about Peace Corps volunteer experiences, articulating needs within their own communities, and generating ideas about how to address those needs through service.

Each offers unique experiences either domestically or internationally for youth to get involved in so they can make a difference in the lives of others through a variety of community projects. Global Youth Service Day Global Youth Service Day is an annual campaign that celebrates and mobilizes the millions of children and youth who improve their communities each day of the year through service and service-learning.

This website offers resources, information about funding opportunities, news, and opportunities to connect with service-learning projects. International Education Resource Network iEARN iEARN is a nonprofit organization consisting of more than 20, schools worldwide in more than countries that seeks to empower students and teachers to work together online on selected projects that are integrated into their classrooms.

The site offers an online learning center, a library of downloadable publications, an events calendar, and a collection of practices and program examples. National Youth Leadership Council This organization aims to create a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world with young people, their schools, and their communities through service-learning. A Practical Guide for Integrating Civic Responsibility into the Curriculum PDF, pages This curriculum guide discusses civic responsibility, how it is tied to service-learning, how faculty can integrate concepts and exercises in a practical way, and how faculty can assess the development of civic responsibility in their students.

It also provides practical, easy-to-use applications and includes numerous exercises, activities, and assessment tools. Service-Learning—Learning by Doing, Students Take Greening to the Community PDF, 32 pages This booklet from the Environmental Protection Agency contains several service-learning projects that focus on various aspects of safe solid waste management, such as reducing household hazardous waste and buying recycled-content products.

Each profile includes contacts who can provide information on how students can start a similar program. Additional resources, including grants to help start such a project, are located in the back of the booklet. Learn more on the EPA website. Service for Peace Service for Peace is an international nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable and participatory community development through service.

Youth Service America YSA YSA aims to improve communities by increasing the number and the diversity of young people, ages 5—25, serving in substantive roles. This project is sponsored by the U. Department of Justice, the U.

Department of State, and other organizations. Kennedy Serve America Act of , p. Department of Education, , p. Youth who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA and especially young adults of transition age, should be involved in planning for life after high school as early as possible and no later than age Research links early leadership with increased self-efficacy and suggests that leadership can help youth to develop decision making and interpersonal skills that support successes in the workforce and adulthood.

In addition, young leaders tend to be more involved in their communities, and have lower dropout rates than their peers. Youth leaders also show considerable benefits for their communities, providing valuable insight into the needs and interests of young people. Nearly 30, youth aged out of foster care in Fiscal Year , which represents nine percent of the young people involved in the foster care system that year.

This transition can be challenging for youth, especially youth who have grown up in the child welfare system. Read about how coordination between public service agencies can improve treatment for these youth. Civic engagement has the potential to empower young adults, increase their self-determination, and give them the skills and self-confidence they need to enter the workforce. We need your ideas! Click here to share. Benefits All youth, including those with disabilities, can benefit from participation in service-learning.

Researchers have found a statistically significant impact of service-learning programs on multiple outcomes, 16 including improved social skills; lower levels of problem and delinquent behavior; better cooperation skills in the classroom; improved psychological well-being; and a better ability to set goals and adjust behavior to reach these goals.

New energy, ideas, and enthusiasm as well as specialized skills that young people can bring to the organization such as community skills. New partnerships and resources that emerge when agencies for service-learning partner with schools, youth development organizations, faith-based organizations, or others that provide service-learning as part of their programming. Cultivation of a new generation of volunteers by an organization for either itself or its broader cause by working with youth and getting them committed to its mission.

Benefits for Service Recipients, Communities, and Society Beyond the young people the organizations directly involve, community-based service-learning benefits the people served, their communities, and, ultimately, society: It meets real needs and priorities for individuals and communities, as young people bring new energy, capacity, and creative ideas.

Community residents have opportunities to build positive relationships with young people. Communities see youth in a different way—as resources, not problems. A new generation of caring and experienced citizens, activists, and volunteers is cultivated.

Ensure sufficient duration and intensity of the service-learning program, which will enable age-appropriate and topic-appropriate pacing of several aspects of the service-learning program, including researching the topic; preparing for community service; putting together an action plan; training students; reflecting at each step of the service-learning process; generating conclusions; and acknowledging accomplishments.

State-Level Policies A scan of state policies 26 suggests that many states are adopting policies that both support and regulate the practice of service-learning e. Recognition of service-learning in the school improvement plan. Social Studies Middle school students cleaned and decorated bus shelters in their town to spread messages of cultural appreciation.

Service-learning actively engages participants in meaningful and personally relevant service activities. To meet this standard, service-learning needs to be age-appropriate and personally relevant; interesting and engaging; well understood by participants in the context of social issues addressed; and outcome-oriented with specific attainable outcomes. To meet this standard, programs need to have clearly stated goals; be aligned with the academic curriculum; include explicit teaching of transferring skills from one setting to another; and for school-based programs, be formally recognized in school board policies and in student records.

Students should participate in a variety of activities to demonstrate changes in their knowledge, skills, or attitudes.

Additionally, students should examine their beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes about issues, perceptions of their roles as members of their community, and the overarching issues of community problems. Service-learning promotes understanding of diversity and mutual respect among all participants. To meet this standard, programs should integrate teaching focused on taking the perspective of the other, resolving conflicts, and promoting tolerance of diversity and overcoming stereotypes.

Service-learning provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service-learning experiences with guidance from adults. Service-learning programs should consistently integrate opportunities for participants to voice their opinions, propose ideas and solutions, and participate in decision-making processes. Service-learning partnerships are collaborative, mutually-beneficial, and address community needs. Service-learning engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals and uses results for improvement and sustainability.

Service-learning programs should encourage participants to collect evidence of progress toward specific service goals and learning outcomes as well as the quality of implementation and use and communicate the evidence to improve the service-learning experience.