School-sponsored service programs and the educational development of high school students

A growing number of K-12 schools are encouraging students to provide service to the community as part of their overall educational experience. While a few studies have explored the educational outcomes of service activities, these studies, for the most part, have been limited in scope and have not produced definitive findings. This study utilized 11 instruments and protocols designed to measure high school students' development in six educational domains: academic, career, ethical, social, personal, and civic development. The study examined differences in educational outcomes between a group of students who performed service (n = 344) and a group of students who did not (n = 185).; Based on data from a 41-item pre-test/post-test survey that measured student attitudes across the six domains, ANCOVA's revealed that for each of the six domains, the post-test score means were significantly higher for the service group than for the no service group. However, the effect sizes within each domain were small and the domain reliabilities of the survey were low. Qualitative analyses, based on additional data from students, teachers, and community agency representatives also found discernible differences in outcomes between students who performed service and students who did not. The qualitative analysis revealed that for each of the six educational domains, the service group data tended to contain more elaborate and profound discussions about student development than did data from the no service group.; Using the same sample, the study also compared the outcomes of students participating in different types of service programs--community service, service-learning, and internship. The ANCOVA conducted for each domain found significant differences between certain program types for the academic, career, ethical, and social domains. However, no firm conclusions could be drawn. The qualitative analysis did not find any discernible differences in outcomes among the three service groups.; The qualitative analysis did identify several common themes that appeared among the three service groups: (1) individual students' interests and abilities played a crucial role in the outcomes students gained; (2) students were empowered by meaningful service experiences; (3) a student's belief in a service activity's "cause" influenced the outcomes; (4) the schools' perceptions of service influenced how students approached their service activities; and (5) service programs provided opportunities to establish various collaborative units.; The study's limitations included researcher selection and sample self-selection biases, minimal controls for potential differences between non-equivalent groups, and faulty assumptions regarding independence of the educational domains. The researcher recommends that research of service programs move away from trying to determine direct links between students' participation in service and outcomes in the six educational domains. The researcher concluded that the K-12 service field needs to develop a theory that focuses specifically on service and its implications for students' educational development.