Growing to Greatness

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The Growing to Greatness project's primary activity is the annual publication of a book by the same name that seeks to document the scope, scale, and impacts of service-learning. It is published by the National Youth Leadership Council, sponsored by the State Farm Companies Foundation, and is released every year at the National Service-Learning Conference.

Contents

Approaches to Documentation

Research Articles

A number of research articles are published in every issue on a range of topics that address service-learning.

State Profiles

Since 2004, each state profile began with an interview with the State Education Agency responsible for managing the state’s Learn and Serve America program, the federal program providing funding for service-learning. While most states coordinate these funds through their departments of education, others have delegated this responsibility to a state university or a governor’s Commission on National and Community Service. This approach offered a rich perspective on Learn and Serve subgrantees as well as state- and nationally funded service-learning initiatives, but left the potential for some high-quality service-learning activity beyond the scope of Learn and Serve to be left out of the profiles.

Beginning in 2008, the state profiles of service-learning are available online in a Wiki that enables users to contribute to the Growing to Greatness project. There are several key advantages to using this format to create the profiles:

  1. Moving the profiles online allows us to publish more detailed information to supplement our printed content and allows stakeholders to have their voices heard.
  2. In the past we have relied heavily on interviews with key administrators to draw up the profiles, which may tend to ignore some service-learning activity happening in each of the states.
  3. By both having a wiki and producing an edited volume, we're able to achieve both comprehensive coverage of activities (on the wiki) and provide concise headlines of recent happenings (in the printed Growing to Greatness volume).
  4. Print publication naturally produces information that becomes outdated. With the wiki, information is as fresh as stakeholders keep it.

Project Examples

Though the state-level work is essential, service-learning projects take place on more of a local level. The project examples included here, and published in each volume of Growing to Greatness, provide an impression of these local contexts, as well as a sense of what best practices look like.

Current and Previous Volumes

Growing to Greatness has been published annually since 2004. An introduction to the Growing to Greatness Project was published in The Generator in 2003. Each edition features a series of topical research articles from leading scholars in the field. The volumes also include profiles of the state of service-learning in U.S. states as well as profiles of community-based organizations carrying out service-learning programs.

In addition to the annual book, G2G staff work to follow research in the field of service-learning, lead research initiatives, and produce a quarterly publication, The Generator, that helps practitioners put research into practice.

Growing to Greatness 2010

This volume will be published in March 2010. This is a provisional table of contents.
Table of Contents
Service-Learning and Teacher Quality

  • Service-learning in Preservice Teacher Education: An Overview of the Research (Jeffrey Anderson and Susan Root)
  • Roundtable: Best practices in Professional Development for Service-Learning
  • 100 District Leaders and Professional Development in Service-Learning for administrators (Joann Henderson and Jennifer Piscatelli)
  • The Role of Professional Community For Teachers in Service-Learning Programs (Karen Seashore Louis)

Breaking Down Barriers to Service-Learning

  • Youth Contribution Indicators Project: Report From the Convening (Jim Kielsmeier, Dale Blyth, Andy Furco, Peter Benson, Sue Root, Caryn Pernu, Beki Saito)
  • Community Involvement and Social Incorporation of Young Adults (Andrea Finlay and Constance Flanagan)
  • Service-Learning in Elementary Schools Today: Principles, Practice, and Impacts.
  • Service-Learning as a Parent Involvement Strategy (Hedy Walls)
  • A Roundtable Discussion on the Achievement Gap led by Margaret Beale Spencer
  • From Youth Development to Cultural Relevancy: Why Power Matters in Service-Learning Practice (Andrea Yoder Clark)

Growing to Greatness 2009

Table of Contents

  • Measuring Youth Contribution Indicators: A Conceptual Framework (Peter Benson, Dale Blyth, Ann Lochner, Andy Furco, James C. Kielsmeier, and Susan Root)
  • Community Service and Service-Learning in America’s Schools, 2008 (Kimberly Spring, Robert Grimm, Jr., and Nathan Dietz)
  • Notes from the Movement: Analyzing Community Service and Service-Learning in America’s Schools, 2008 (Don Helmstetter, Don Hill, Nur Ibrahim, Teddy Gross, Peter Levine, Alan Melchior, and Jon Schmidt
  • Attributes of Quality Service-Learning: Findings from the Transitioning to Adulthood Survey (Marybeth Neal, Thomas J. Leeper, and Susan Root)
  • Urban Matters: Service-Learning as a Strategy for Improving City Schools (Wokie Weah)
  • Service-Learning as a Means of Addressing the Achievement Gap: A Roundtable Discussion among Urban Education Leaders (Paul Houston, Kathy Lee, Jackie Schmidt-Posner, Julia Sewell, and Andrea Yoder.
  • From Program to Policy: Institutionalizing Service-Learning in Urban Schools from an Administrator’s Perspective (Joseph Erickson and William Hughes)

State Profiles The states of Mississippi through Wyoming were profiled in G2G 2009. Each profile was accompanied by a project example.

The survey of states demonstrates that states are finding innovative ways to make their service-learning programs more sustainable and less dependent on funding from Learn and Serve America. For example, in Nevada LSA subgrantees are required to create at least five partnerships and are also encouraged to have an advisory committee. Many of these committees have helped projects live on beyond the grant year. In New York, many districts receiving LSA funds have appointed a service-learning coordinator, an important step toward sustainability and outliving LSA funding.

The high number of environmental service-learning initiatives is one of the clearest signs that practitioners are serious about offering students meaningful service experiences. For example, rural Montana schools have demonstrated incredible creativity and ingenuity by utilizing GPS and other advanced technologies to address geographical and environmental challenges. In Texas, a unique partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department means that service-learning experiences there involve overseeing state parks and historic sites.

Growing to Greatness 2008

Table of Contents

  • Service-Learning and the Five Promises (Alma Powell and Marguerite Kondracke)
  • K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice (Shelley H. Billig and Wokie Weah)
  • Scope, Scale, and Impacts of Service-Learning: The Challenges of Measurement (Dana Markow and Marybeth Neal)
  • Service-Learning Dissertations and Theses, 2004-2006 (Liberty Smith and Heather J. Martin)
  • A Three-Year Evaluation of Learn and Serve America Grantees (Kimberly Spring)
  • Altruism in Children: Consumer Behavior and Responsible Business Practices (Suzanne Martin)
  • Middle School Youths as Problem-Solvers (Theresa K. Sullivan)
  • Service-Learning in Latin America: Past and Present (María Nieves Tapia)
  • Persistent Voice, Continuing Vision: 25 Years of the National Youth Leadership Council (Stina Kielsmeier)
  • Supporting Service-Learning through Policy (Jon Schroeder)
  • Service-Learning and the National Education Debate (Peter Levine)
  • Service-Learning in the United States: Recent Policy Developments (Thomas J. Leeper)

State Profiles
The states of Alabama through Minnesota and the District of Columbia were profiled in G2G 2008. Each profile was accompanied by a project example. The collection of profiles presents a variety of approaches that states are taking to encourage, support, and sustain service-learning in their schools and communities. The profiles demonstrate how service-learning is becoming integrated into related state efforts, often as a key implementation strategy. As a result, there is alignment of the common interests shared by practitioners in service-learning and related areas, including work readiness, character education, afterschool programs, and 21st Century Schools initiatives.

Including service-learning in state K-12 learning standards was another trend emerging in 2008. Some states, including Arizona and Florida, have developed detailed guidelines showing educators how service-learning can be utilized to meet existing content standards. Maine, in contrast, has included service-learning experiences that meet specific criteria directly in their social studies content standards for each grade span. These and other state policies focused on service-learning are captured in the profiles under “Policy Support.”

State-by-state data
While there is currently no ongoing way to capture national and state data on the extent of service-learning beyond that funded by Learn and Serve, it is increasingly apparent that this important federal program has done much to create the scaffold upon which additional programs have developed. In the state profiles for this year, NYLC found that several states have collected data about the prevalence and quality of service-learning through statewide surveys of school administrators. Massachusetts, Michigan, and Missouri are among the states deserving particular recognition for their efforts in this regard.


Growing to Greatness 2007

Table of Contents

  • Advancing Youth Academic Success, School Engagement, and International Leadership through Service-Learning (Andrew Furco, Ph.D.)
  • Toward Research-Based Standards for K-12 Service-Learning (Wokie Weah)
  • Unpacking What Works in Service-Learning: Promising Research-Based Practices to Improve Student Outcomes (Shelley H. Billig, Ph.D.)
  • Walkabout: Learning from Others (Richard J. Kraft, Ph.D.)
  • The 2006 Gulf Coast WalkAbout: A Promising Summer School Program (Tom Berkas, Ph.D.)
  • Service-Learning for Homeland Security and Disaster Relief: A Report from Learn and Serve America (Monique Caston, Elson Nash, Scott Richardson, and Kimberly Spring)
  • The Power of Service-Learning in Urban Settings: An Interview with Patricia Harvey (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D., and Sarah Pearson)
  • Service-Learning in Urban Settings (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D.)
  • Digital Miracles in Philadelphia (Faith Goldstein and Margit Myers)
  • Social Justice and Service-Learning (Richard Gelb, Ph.D., Laura LeMone, and Juan Carlos Ocon)
  • The Effectiveness of Service-Learning in Afterschool Programs (Elizabeth McCarthy, Ph.D.)
  • Service As a Developmental Opportunity: Building Connections for Vulnerable Youth (Andrea Finlay, Connie Flanagan, Ph.D., and Sarah Black)
  • The Promise of Service-Learning (John Bridgeland)
  • The New Mexico Blueprint for Civic Engagement (Greg Webb)
  • Youth Perspectives: How Young People Improve Their Communities (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D.)
  • Youth Civic Contributions Indicators (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D.)

State Profiles
All states having been profiled between 2004 and 2006, no states were profiled in 2007. Preparations were made to begin a two-year profile cycle, wherein half of the states would be reported on each year.

State-by-state data
The 2007 volume saw the first attempt at reporting state-by-state data on youth civic contributions.


Growing to Greatness 2006

Table of Contents

  • Introduction: From Both Sides of the Hyphen (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D.)
  • The Impact of Service-Learning on Transitions to Adulthood (Suzanne Martin, Ph.D., Marybeth Neal, Ph.D., James C. Kielsmeier, Ph.D., and Alison Crossley)
  • Lessons from Research on Teaching and Learning: Service-Learning as Effective Instruction (Shelley H. Billig, Ph.D.)
  • Measure What Matters, and No Child Will Be Left Behind (Marty Duckenfield and Sam Drew, Ph.D.)
  • Resources For Recovery: Young People, Service, Learning, and Disasters (Teddy Gross and James C. Kielsmeier, Ph.D.)
  • Youth Courts: An Alternative to Traditional Juvenile Courts (Sarah S. Pearson)
  • Service-Learning: A Context for Parent and Family Involvement (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D., and Cathryn Kaye)
  • Native American Service-Learning (Calvin T. Dawson, McClellan Hall, and Lynn LaPointe)
  • A Framework for Future Research: The Community Impacts of Service- Learning (Lawrence N. Bailis, Ph.D., and Tony Ganger)
  • Toward Statewide Documentation of Positive Youth Contributions (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D.)
  • Learning that Lasts: Integrating and Sustaining Service-Learning Through Policy, Practice, and Capacity (Jennifer Piscatelli)
  • Equity in Service-Learning: Comparing Scope, Institutionalization, and Quality across Low-Income Urban and Suburban Schools (Suzanne Pritzker and Amanda Moore McBride, Ph.D.)

State Profiles
Profiles for Alaska, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Guam, and Puerto Rico were published in G2G 2006.


Growing to Greatness 2005

Table of Contents

  • A Time to Serve, a Time to Learn: Theoretical Framework for Growing to Greatness (James C. Kielsmeier, Ph.D.)
  • Can Service-Learning Help Reduce the Achievement Gap? (Peter C. Scales, Ph.D. and Eugene C. Roehlkepartain)
  • Service-Learning and Good Work (Howard Gardner, Ph.D.)
  • Symbiosis: When Service-Learning Meets the Work of Howard Gardner (Marybeth Neal, Ph.D. and Barbara Holland, Ph.D.)
  • A Reflection on the Catalytic Effects of Learn and Serve America (Elson Nash, Amy Cohen, and Kimberly Spring)
  • K-12 Service-Learning Impacts: A Review of State-Level Studies of Service-Learning (L. Richard Bradley, Ph.D.)
  • Service-Learning Research: What Have We Learned from the Past (Robert Schumer, Ph.D.)
  • Bridging from High School to College: Findings from the 2004 CIRP Freshman Survey (Lori J. Vogelgesang, Ph.D.)
  • Sustaining Service-Learning and Youth Voice through Policy (Jennifer Piscatelli)

State Profiles
Profiles for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont were published in G2G 2005.

Community-Based Service-Learning Organizations
In 2005, G2G profiled community-based service-learning in the following organizations:

Growing to Greatness 2004

Table of Contents

  • Preliminary Findings Community Service and Service-Learning in Public Schools (James C. Kielsmeier, Ph.D., Peter C. Scales, Ph.D., Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, and Marybeth Neal, Ph.D.)
  • Heads, Hearts, Hands: The Research on K-12 Service-Learning (Shelley H. Billig, Ph.D.)
  • Service to Others: A 'Gateway Asset" for School Success and Healthy Development (Peter C. Scales, Ph.D. and Eugene C. Roehlkepartain)
  • Learn and Serve America: Reflecting on the Past, Focusing on the Future (Amy B. Cohen, Robert Bhaerman, Elson Nash, and Kimberly Spring)
  • Service-Learning Policy (Jennifer Piscatelli)

State Profiles
Profiles for California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin were published in G2G 2005.

Community-Based Service-Learning Organizations
In 2004, G2G profiled community-based service-learning in the following organizations:

The Generator 2003: An Introduction to Growing to Greatness

External Links

Retrieved from "http://www.servicelearningwiki.org/wiki/index.php/Growing_to_Greatness"
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