2.1: Students
Engaging Students in Communities Other Information:
Summary: Educational institutions (elementary, secondary, and higher education) play a key role in guiding students to become
responsible citizens and leaders who use their academic and other experiences to support the common good. Volunteering and
service are powerful factors that support and enhance the learning experience and need to be further incorporated into academic
curricula. Detailed Narrative: Student involvement in service and service-learning produces valuable benefits to local communities
and enables young people to become proactive members of society, while also experiencing the mutual benefit gained from such
involvement. Service and servicelearning opportunities create avenues for our nation to develop the next generation of citizens
who sustain or enhance their service commitments. Students develop an understanding about the importance and impact of service,
strengthen their character and roles as engaged citizens, and improve their academic performance. Schools—both K-12 and postsecondary—as
well as community-based and other service-learning programs provide useful places for engaging students in volunteer opportunities
and in helping them start off on a solid path toward a lifetime of service and civic participation. Driving Greater Service
on Campus -- Virtually every American college articulates a dual mission—on the one hand supporting the pursuit of knowledge
and skill development, and on the other hand building strong character for effective citizenship. Many post-secondary institutions
are making significant progress in supporting the civic engagement of their students; however, additional opportunities to
energize meaningful service and volunteering on campus exist. Research indicates that high school students volunteer at a
higher rate than college students. Although it is true that college students’ participation in service is slightly higher
than the adult average, it is also true that our efforts to engage college students could be far more robust. Since its inception,
the Corporation for National and Community Service has built a strong network of relationships with higher education. Since
1994, AmeriCorps members have earned more than $1 billion in AmeriCorps Education Awards to further their educational opportunities.
Roughly one quarter of all institutions of higher education have received support from Learn and Serve America funding. In
FY 2004 alone, the Corporation invested approximately $180 million in higher education. Yet, college investment in service
and service-learning (a teaching method that combines service to the community with academic learning) has not kept pace with
demand. Over the next five years we will build upon our relationship with post-secondary institutions of higher education
through our three major programs—Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America, encouraging higher education institutions
to offer more service-learning courses as well as more co-curricular opportunities to serve. In addition, we will support
colleges and universities in providing more service opportunities through the Federal Work-Study program. In particular, we
will focus colleges on efforts designed to give youth in disadvantaged circumstances the skills and tools to be prepared for
and attend college. The Corporation currently offers significant benefits, in the form of AmeriCorps education awards and
stipends, to members who commit to full or part-time service. We will continue to promote these and other benefits of service
in an effort to increase the number of students engaged in service by 40 percent over the next five years. We will work to
ensure that at least half of all higher education institutions provide, or stimulate the creation of resources to coordinate
service, service-learning, and community partnerships. In order to make service and volunteering more a part of the college
experience over the next five years, we will: Strengthen and expand our network of intermediaries (Volunteer Centers, Campus
Compact, State Service Commissions, national foundations and public service non-profits, faith-based and other community based
organizations at the state, community, and campus level) that support service and service-learning; Reduce barriers that inhibit
students from engaging in service (such as transportation, information, relationships with community agencies, and lack of
institutional support); Ensure that students have opportunities to serve as part of their academic studies through high-quality
service-learning; Increase the number of college students serving as tutors and mentors to youth from disadvantaged circumstances,
particularly to prepare them for high school completion and college attendance; and Provide a national platform to promote
the value and importance of service on campus. By supporting those educational institutions that make service an integral
part of their academic mission and connect education to the needs of the local community, we will help to promote an ethic
of service among America’s younger Americans. Bringing Service to the Classroom -- The Corporation’s programs have been catalysts
for the growth of service-learning in our nation’s K-12 schools. In 1984, nine percent of schools offered service-learning
opportunities. Today, service-learning reaches approximately 30 percent of all schools. The Corporation will work to build
service-learning into the curriculum of half of all K-12 schools by 2010. Since President George H.W. Bush signed the legislation
authorizing grants to schools to support service-learning, we have worked to support service for young people both during
the school day and in after school programs. Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America have all provided support
to student service. The U.S. Department of Education has made service-learning a key feature of many of the programs it supports
as well. The Corporation will build on this existing infrastructure to disseminate effective practices and spread service-learning
to new schools and districts. We will expand support for teacher education and professional development programs that provide
training in community partnership development and service-learning. In addition, we plan to pilot a new “summer of service”
program for young teens that will also support effective training for educators. In order to incorporate service-learning
in more K-12 schools, we will work toward the following goals over the next five years: Identifying quality program models
to highlight effective practices, increase visibility of service-learning, and evaluate the outcomes of service-learning;
Expanding the number of teachers, faculty, and school administrators using service-learning; Strengthening the value of service-learning
to educational institutions; and Working with non-profit groups to help them recognize students as valuable resources and
enable them to more effectively connect K-12 students with appropriate and effective service opportunities. Taking Service-Learning
Beyond the Classroom -- The practice of engaging individuals in service-learning extends beyond engaging students in an academic
setting. People other than students, including working or retired individuals, can also engage in service-learning, particularly
through structured community-based projects and programs. Throughout their service-learning experience, individuals, either
serving alone or in a group, increase the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively carry out projects, strengthen communities,
serve as leaders, and expand their future opportunities. Service-learning in this context, as well as in the academic context,
is a systematic, thoughtful, and programmed approach to learning that emphasizes the links between service, community, and
civic responsibility. NATIONAL TARGETS FOR 2010: Engage 5 million college students in service, up from 3.27 million in 2005
Ensure half of all higher education institutions provide at least one full-time person responsible for coordinating and supporting
service on campus Ensure 20 percent of Federal Work-Study funds are devoted to college students who engage in service, up
from 15.9 percent in 2005 Ensure at least one-third of teenagers are exposed to service-learning in school Ensure at least
50 percent of America’s K-12 schools incorporate service-learning into their curricula, up from 32 percent in 1999 CORPORATION
TARGETS FOR 2010: Engage 300,000 college students in service supported by Corporation-sponsored national service programs
as participants and volunteers Ensure 80 percent of Learn and Serve America higher education institutions have service-learning
as part of their official core curriculum (in at least one discipline or school major) Ensure 65 percent of Learn and Serve
America K-12 schools and school districts have service-learning as part of their official core curriculum (in at least one
subject in at least one grade) Double the number of higher education institutions matching the AmeriCorps Education Award
or providing other incentives for volunteering
Indicator(s):
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