MAKE IT LAST FOREVER: THE ... - National Service Resource Center

Evidence of Impact:
Resources:
SUPPORTIVE STRATEGIES
School Structures:
Logistical Structures:
Pre-Service Education:
Peer Mentoring:
Public Support:
Students should also conduct trainings and presentations, receive team-building and other training,
coordinate projects for other students and faculty, write and distribute grants, and serve on advisory
boards, centers, and policy panels to advocate for service-learning policy.
Service-learning should be isolated for study by teachers and/or external evaluators or researchers as an
indicator of possible improved student performance, attendance, and motivation. Efforts should be
made to track standardized test scores, grades, higher education attainment, dropout rates, and
incidences of truancy among students who are and are not engaged in regular service-learning
experiences.
Service-learning practitioners and advocates should widely disseminate printed, video, and web site
information about projects, curricula, resources, and policy, as these resources will only help to
demonstrate the power of the pedagogy and help outstanding practices to be replicated nationwide.
The best places in which service-learning can flourish are service charter or magnet schools that often
use service as an integral part of the educational philosophy, small schools or families within larger
schools that have strong faculty relationships, and scheduling options that provide regular, flexible, and
longer blocks of time in which students can participate in projects.
Transportation is a critical need, particularly for rural schools, so funds for school buses should be made
readily available. In some cases, the district, rather than the teacher, can pick up these costs.
Colleges of education are now beginning to incorporate service-learning into teaching methods courses,
and in a few cases, a service-learning methods course is offered. These pre-service institutions should
have formal relationships with local school districts so that these educators can intern with experienced
service-learning practitioners.
Novice and experienced service-learning practitioners should have numerous opportunities to share
stories and build skills among colleagues at the local, state, and national levels, including networks,
councils, and ambassador programs. Teachers who act as mentors should receive stipends for their time
and expertise. These networks should be publicized widely to ensure that they are used.
Communicating the power and importance of service-learning, through the media, signs, legislative
visits, printed materials, and celebrations, is critical to leveraging additional resources and support for
this learning approach.
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