Youth Organized for Disaster Action: Why Youth Voice Matters
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Youth Organized for Disaster Action: Why Youth Voice Matters
Kathia Monard-Weissman, Joan Liptrot & Julia Wagner
Abstract
Allowing students to assume leadership roles underscores the importance of
service-learning projects. This paper highlights youth voice as a framework for
examining the impact of service-learning projects on students’ academic and civic
engagement. Presented here is a case study of the Youth Organized for Disaster Action
(Y.O.D.A.) program. Data was derived from surveys, interviews and observations of
schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that implemented safety-related projects during
the school years of 2004 -2005 and 2005-2006. Analysis of the data suggests that
students who made choices and were more actively involved in relevant and engaging
activities while selecting, designing and organizing service-learning projects appeared
more academically and civically engaged. This paper presents specific strategies that can
be put into practice to foster youth voice in our service-learning programs.
Introduction
Youth voice is an essential element in high quality service-learning programs.
Service-learning practitioners and researchers agree that engaging students in choosing
and planning their projects and taking on leadership roles can have a positive effect on
fostering their academic and civic engagement while developing their leadership skills.
Jensen (1998) challenges educators to allow opportunities for students to make choices
and to ensure that students’ learning experiences are relevant and engaging.
Incorporating youth voice in our service-learning programs increases student
participation and allows them to take ownership of their own learning experiences.
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This paper highlights youth voice as a framework for examining the impact of service-
learning projects on students’ academic and civic engagement. We present a case study
of the Youth Organized for Disaster Action (Y.O.D.A.), a program administered by the
Institute for Global Education and Service-Learning and supported by the Corporation for
National and Community Service’s Learn and Serve America program. In this paper we
examine the importance of implementing youth voice in service-learning initiatives and
present specific strategies that can be put into practice to foster youth voice in our
service-learning initiatives.
The Y.O.D.A. Program
Youth Organized for Disaster Action (Y.O.D.A.), is a service-learning program
that helps young people prepare their families, schools, and communities for emergencies
and disasters. Y.O.D.A., supported by the Learn & Serve Grant from the Corporation for
National and Community Service, began in the school year of 2004-2005 as a project of
the Institute for Global Education and Service Learning in collaboration with the New
Jersey Commission for National & Community Service and PennSERVE: The
Governor’s Office for Citizen Service. The participating schools comprised nine school
districts that received Y.O.D.A. funding for two school years and twelve schools that
received funding during the second year of the grant. The schools were located in urban,
suburban and rural locales in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each school identified a
Y.O.D.A. team, a group of students that focused on identifying the disaster preparedness
needs of their school and community and led the service-learning projects. Students were
involved in a myriad of projects. For example: students trained their peers and other
members in their communities on how to prepare for disasters; some evaluated their
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school’s emergency plans and disseminated this information among the school
community; and other students were involved in the Gulf Coast disaster relief efforts, to
name a few. The overall goal of the program was to address homeland security and
disaster response concerns by engaging students in service-learning activities in their
schools and communities while enhancing the students’ academic achievement and
promoting their active citizenship.
Importance of Youth Voice
Researchers and service-learning practitioners suggest that to insure high quality
service-learning practice, educators should incorporate youth voice in their programs.
Youth voice refers to the sharing of ideas, opinions, initiatives and knowledge of young
people. Youth voice entails giving choices and decision making ability to our students.
Research provides the rationale to offer opportunities that allow students to take
ownership of their learning. Scales and Leffert (1999), for example, found that students
whose voices are heard and have decision making capacities tend to have higher self-
esteem, are better at public speaking, show better academic performance and are good
leaders. Bernard’s (1991) extensive research on resiliency shows that at-risk youth can
develop their social competence when involved in decision-making, planning and
problem-solving. In the national study of youth involved in service-learning activities,
Billig et al. (2005) found that civic and academic outcomes were maximized in programs
where students were given the responsibility to select, design and evaluate their
programs.
Jensen (1998), in his book Teaching with the Brain in Mind, challenges educators
to actively engage students in their learning experiences. He posits that for students to
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participate in their own learning they need to be able to make choices. Making choices
adds relevance and meaning to their learning. By implementing youth voice, educators
can provide the choices students need to reach their academic objectives, as well as
prepare them for adulthood as they learn to make age-appropriate decisions.
Methods
Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Y.O.D.A. staff conducted
surveys of students and teachers. The student sample consisted of members of the
Y.O.D.A. team in each of the nine participating schools in year 1 and twenty-one schools
in year 2. The Y.O.D.A. team members were the students in charge of organizing the
service-learning activities.
During the first year our primary goal was to examine the outcomes of the
program on students’ development. Students were asked to complete pre- and post-
questionnaires to determine benefits gained through their participation in program
activities. From the first year program evaluations, we observed that programs with
stronger student participation and youth voice had more positive outcomes than programs
where teachers made choices for the students. Thus, during the second year of the grant
cycle, we examined the service-learning activities that fostered youth voice and
contributed to enhancing students’ academic and civic engagement. We looked at the
relationship between service-learning activities that incorporated youth voice and
program outcomes. Individual regressions were conducted to examine the relationship
between the student responses on Y.O.D.A. academic and civic outcomes and the
service-learning activities that foster youth voice. The sample for this analysis included
573 students from grades 6 through 12.
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In addition to questionnaires, at the end of the school year, both individual and
group interviews with students and teachers were conducted during program site visits.
Through interviews we identified relevant themes regarding the impact of integrating
youth voice in service-learning programs. We also carried out observations of the
participating schools. These observations helped us triangulate data to enhance
confidence in our findings. Through observations, we identified projects with various
degrees of youth voice. Here we describe a high quality program that encouraged youth
voice from the beginning of its implementation; a program that increased youth voice
from year 1 to year 2; and a school that failed to incorporate youth voice in its projects.
Findings
During year 1, we identified the overall outcomes of the program. Survey data
suggested that the Y.O.D.A. program helped raise student awareness and interest in
issues that pertain to the safety of their schools and communities. At the end of the first
year we observed that students appeared to be more aware of what to do in the event of
disasters, they knew how to provide first aid and CPR; they were aware of their schools’
plans for emergencies, they felt prepared to show people in the community how to
prepare for a disaster, and they knew what they could do to make their communities
safer.
In year 1 (N = 408), the majority of the students indicated that the program helped
them increase: their ability to work with others (90.7%); their commitment to helping
others (88.1%); and their ability to solve problems (86.7%). Most of the students
reported that the program also helped them increase: their understanding of the problems
in their community (84.9%); their interest in learning new things (84.9%) and in
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community safety issues (84.5%); their attendance in school (72.2%); and, their interest
in school subjects (69%).
Similarly in year 2 (N = 573), most of the students reported that their involvement
in the Y.O.D.A. program had helped increase: their commitment to helping others
(93.2%), their ability to solve problems (91.7%), and their ability to work with others in a
team (90.2%). Most students indicated that program activities helped foster their interest
in learning new things (89.6%), their interest in community safety issues (87.3%), their
understanding of the problems in their community (86.6%), their interest in school
subjects (81.9%), and their ability to speak in front of groups (80.5%).
In year 2, we added a section in our survey that prompted students to determine to
what extent they were involved in selecting and organizing their service-learning
projects. Our goal was to determine the relationship, if any, between the degree of
student participation in service-learning activities and the outcomes of the program.
Through individual regressions we examined the relationship between the student
responses on Y.O.D.A. academic and civic outcomes and the service-learning activities
that foster youth voice. A sum score of service-learning program activities related to
youth voice was calculated and treated as an independent (predictor) variable. Service-
learning program activities included: researching the safety needs of the community;
reflecting on their service-learning experiences; evaluating the project goals;
researching about disasters; teaching others how to respond to disasters; and, selecting
projects to address community needs. A summary table of these regressions, in
descending order of strength of relationship, is provided.
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Table 1: Relationship between Youth Voice & Y.O.D.A. Outcomes
Reported Y.O.D.A. academic and civic outcomes R2 from regression
Your interest in community safety issues. 0.327
Your understanding of the problems in your community. 0.292
Your ability to work with others in a team. 0.258
Your interest in learning new things. 0.216
Your commitment to helping others. 0.215
Note: In general, an R
2 between 0.20 and 0.25 indicates a moderate relationship between variables, and an
R2 greater than 0.25 indicates a strong relationship between variables. The R
2 measures the amount of
variation in one variable explained by another. For example, in the first row of the table, an R2 of 0.327
indicates that 32.7% of the variation in response to the student’s increased interest in community safety
issues could be explained by their reported level of involvement in program activities. Additional details of
the regression are as follows: F(1,336) = 193.097 (p < 0.0001); estimated 1 (slope) = 0.750, t = 13.896 (p
< 0.0001); estimated 0 (intercept) = 8.825, t = 12.3 (p < 0.0001).
The table shows that there was a strong relationship between youth voice and their
increased interest in community safety issues, their understanding of the problems in their
community, and their ability to work in a team. In other words, students who reported
being actively involved in identifying community problems, in reflecting and evaluating
their projects, and teaching others about disaster preparedness and response were more
likely to report an increased interest in and understanding of community safety issues and
an increased ability in working collaboratively. Moderate relationships were found
between student involvement in service-learning activities and their interest in learning
new things, and their commitment to helping others.
What specific service-learning activities might have affected program outcomes?
Here we present programs from three schools with varied degrees of student involvement
and youth voice. An overview of each school will help us showcase the importance for
implementing youth voice in our service-learning initiatives2.
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Truman Middle School
Truman Middle School is a public middle school located in Eastern Pennsylvania.
The Y.O.D.A. activities were carried out by seventh and eighth graders. The projects
were tied to the health, physical education and science curricula. Activities were initiated
by students researching the safety needs of their community. The goal for students at
Truman Middle School was for their disaster preparedness and response projects to
increase community awareness about the frequency of disasters. In year 1, students
researched the community; they created a survey that helped them identify the specific
needs in their neighborhood and town. After tabulating the data they found that the
community lacked information on what to do in the event of a disaster. Based on these
findings, they created an action plan to increase public awareness of what to do when a
disaster occurs. Their action plan included a PowerPoint presentation, which was later
broadcast on public television. Students created emergency kits and a magnet to inform
families of what to do during an emergency. A teacher describes the students’ research
skills and ownership:
“They survey all the students, their parents, and policy makers. They want to find
out what they know about the subject. From that, the math teachers show them
how to graph and what to do with the data they collected and develop their action
plans. Math is integrated right away.”
Concerned about the victims of the Delaware flood in April 2005, students
decided to respond to this local emergency by collecting money and preparing flood
buckets with supplies for the victims. One of the teachers facilitating the program
activities describes the students’ active involvement:
“[Students] selected a project, researched it, began to focus on a specific topic.
From there, we did a needs assessment survey to figure out exactly what people
knew and what things we should focus on. They had selected flooding because of
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the floods in the fall and that had somewhat started before and YODA fit right in
[sic]. When the April 4th floods happened again, then they responded
immediately - collected money, collected cleaning supplies, created flood buckets,
had them delivered to the people who were out of their homes. [They] were
cleaning them up, got businesses to join in.”
Students made choices and were involved in projects they identified as needs in their
communities. They envisioned their message reaching out to the larger community.
Thus, they contacted local authorities and informed them about the importance of
educating people on disaster preparedness and response. Students were involved in
making public presentations at conferences and at school assemblies. These activities
made their learning relevant and engaging.
Truman students made their projects known in their school, neighborhood and
community. Program banners, brochures and magnets could easily be found in the
school facilities. There was an array of activities from which students could choose, use
their skills, and develop new abilities. For example, a teacher reported that one of the
major achievements through Y.O.D.A. was the students’ improved oral skills. She
reflected:
“I think what I see out of the kids that is so phenomenal to me is their speaking
abilities in public and how they have really improved. Kids that I never thought
would get up in front. Kids that would get up in front and talk and they get up
there at the convention and they are totally different people. It’s good for their self
esteem and they do really well. I’m pretty impressed by some of them.”
The program allowed opportunities for her students to make presentations to others about
school and community safety. Some students reported being more self-confident and
many were no longer afraid to speak in public.
During year 2, with the threat of the avian flu, students decided to focus their
research on past pandemics in the country and ways to prevent the spread of the bird flu.
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This research showed them that good hygiene could help prevent these kinds of
pandemics. They researched school-wide awareness of proper hand washing procedures.
They concluded that the majority of the students and school staff did not exercise proper
hygiene. Results from their research allowed them to make a decision on the project to
focus on. They led a campaign to teach members in their school and community on hand
washing procedures which will prevent infection, and created a brochure outlining bird
flu facts along with prevention information. During both years students took ownership
of their projects. By making decisions about their projects, they became more
academically engaged and felt they made a difference in their schools and communities.
Students were also actively involved in fostering relationships with the community. They
contacted community organizations and invited them to give feedback about their
projects. Some of their community partners included the Red Cross and the local waste
management company.
Students’ engagement in service-learning made their learning more significant.
Knowing that their communities had a genuine need increased their motivation for
learning new things and for serving their communities: A teacher describes her students’
increased interest in learning:
“Any topic where students are interested they learn more and sharpen their skills.
When there is an interest they increase their learning. This touches them
personally. They want to be safe and not worry that their family is not going to be
prepared. It’s about keeping your family healthy, safe, and happy. They really
were involved in school and were more positive.”
The students’ response efforts to disaster relief were timely. Concerned by the damage
caused by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, students reflected in class about the devastation
left in the areas affected by the hurricane and with initiative and determination, they
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planned activities to respond to the needs of the people in the affected region. They
created school bags with supplies and they included the disaster preparedness magnets
they created earlier that year to help schools in the Gulf Coast.
In addition to these projects, students awarded mini-grants for safety projects to
other schools in the district. They acted as reviewers of grant applications, discussed each
application’s strengths and weaknesses and voted on the projects to grant financial
support. By connecting and working with others, they learned to work collaboratively
and to make decisions more democratically. When prompted to talk about the challenges
she faced, a student reflected,
“Not agreeing with my other partner. We sat down and had to come up with an
agreement. We had members of the team vote on what they wanted done. It was
not easy, not hard, it was in the middle somewhere.”
Overall, students at Truman Middle School were empowered. The teachers acted
as facilitators and guided students as the youth designed and carried out their projects.
Youth voice has helped build service-learning sustainability. As the director of the
Y.O.D.A. projects stated:
“Not only do the students select the service-learning projects but they continually
have decision-making authority in the design, development and implementation of
each project. [The school] promotes sustainable service-learning activities by
managing a student directed funding board, with the goal of developing student
leadership skills while reviewing service-learning grant applications for other
institutions and providing matching mini -grants for implementing service-
learning projects in K-12 public and private schools in our community.”
Central High School
Central High School is a public high school located in an urban area of New
Jersey. The Y.O.D.A. team was formed by students from tenth, eleventh and twelfth
grades. Activities took place as part of the school’s emergency response team, which
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formed right after the 9/11 attacks. The emergency response team was formed with the
goal to assist local authorities when emergencies occur.
During the first year, the school experienced difficulties in engaging students in
meaningful and relevant activities. When the Y.O.D.A. grant was awarded, students had
already been identified and were part of an existing elective emergency management
training course (EMT). The course required rigorous academic training and demanded
many hours of hard academic learning from students. Students were trained to respond to
the emergency needs of their community. They were aware that learning this material
was important, but they were not actively engaged in a meaningful service project that
would give them the opportunity to share the knowledge learned. Towards the end of the
first year, we observed that the students were more likely to know academic content that
related to emergency preparedness and response, but did not feel a personal obligation to
help their communities become safer. Students did not have the opportunity to use their
skills to choose a project where they could best meet the safety needs of their community.
Based on our evaluations, we shared our concerns with the program administrator and
teachers and provided training and technical support. We also helped teachers identify
ways students could be involved in meaningful service-learning activities. Together, we
examined possible projects where students could apply their knowledge and they could
see the relevance of what they were learning.
During year 2, we observed changes in students’ decision making and
participation in projects. Students developed a partnership with a local elementary
school. They created a three-hour lesson plan to train elementary school kids on first aid.
They also designed a training program for people attending the National Service-
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Learning Conference. Their EMT training became more relevant as they began
responding to non-emergency calls and utilizing their knowledge in real-life situations.
Students’ enthusiasm and engagement increased; they felt empowered to make decisions
about their projects and felt a personal obligation to help their communities. Survey data
confirmed these findings. By the end of the second year, students were not only more
knowledgeable of emergency related issues, but they also reported that they enjoyed
being at school, that their classes were interesting, and they felt their school work was
meaningful and important. Students reported being actively involved in safety projects
and feeling responsible for serving their schools and community. We also found that at
the end of the second year, students appeared to be more experienced at identifying
community problems, figuring out ways to solve problems and leading service-learning
projects. A student points out one of his major achievements through the Y.O.D.A.
program:
“[I gained a] career path, looks good on college application, and knowing you can
save a person’s life. The more I took the course the more I realized it wasn’t even
about that anymore. It’s about saving a life, being an EMT, they trust you.”
Another student reflected,
“Before coming to this school I never helped somebody like this. With Y.O.D.A.
I learned to help other people. This sounds really cheesy but I never really
believed in myself but I’ve progressed so much that now I can make a difference
if I want to.”
Comments like these exemplify the students’ personal satisfaction and civic commitment.
By helping others students felt empowered and gained the trust and respect of their peers,
teachers and the community. For some students, their involvement in Y.O.D.A. helped
them make decisions about their careers. A student reflected on how the program
influenced his career choice:
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“Not to bring anybody down but being the number one student was my
achievement. Studying for the course I had no life. I had work, gym, and studied.
I’m an average student in everyday school. I realized [that] it gave me a career
for the future. I’m going to go to paramedic school.”
Other projects initiated by students included a blood drive, a security system to
track school visitors and emergency trainings to their peers and school staff. Being
involved in meaningful activities helped increase the students’ interest in learning. The
service projects led by students provided an added value to their learning. One of the
teachers described the students’ involvement in the Y.O.D.A. program:
“When kids feel included and they feel excited and important and valued then
they want to come to school. If you can get them to school then you can teach
them. There is a guy here today and I’m not sure how seriously he’s taken school
in the past but he’s been mature through all this and come into his own.”
Central High students’ commitment to serve their community was strengthened. Students
felt the obligation and had a strong desire to continue serving their community. Teachers
described some students’ success stories: a student for example wanted to continue
helping his community by serving in the local volunteer ambulance corps and 911
services; another student continues to help at her school’s football games as an
emergency response team member. Students’ active engagement in service-learning
activities instilled a sense of civic responsibility for responding to the needs of their
families and communities.
Southville Middle School
When students lack choices, their development can be affected as their learning
becomes irrelevant and passive (Jensen, 1998). This was the case of Southville, a middle
school located in rural Pennsylvania. The service-learning projects at Southville focused
on addressing bullying problems in the school and on creating emergency kits. Activities
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were selected by sixth grade teachers who identified the theme for the projects. During
site visits, we observed that students played a minor role in deciding a project that would
best address safety needs in their schools and community. Throughout the first year,
students read a book that discussed issues relating to safety, but no specific service
projects were derived from their learning. Students were required to put together
emergency kits. Without their input, emergency kits were purchased and delivered to
members of their community. Surveys attest to our observations. By the end of year 1,
no differences were observed in the students’ responses to statements regarding their
knowledge about school safety issues, their academic or civic engagement. At the end of
the second year, students reported being less interested in school work; and were less
likely to report feeling a personal responsibility for learning about safety and for serving
their community. Students did not take leadership roles in preparing and implementing
project activities to address community needs. Teachers failed to give students the
opportunity to lead projects even though they were given technical assistance on how to
engage youth in more meaningful and relevant activities throughout both school years.
During informal conversations, they appeared to be overwhelmed by school requirements
and did not see service-learning as a central component or as a tool to achieve their
academic goals.
Discussion
Service-learning projects that allow students to make choices to actively
participate in problem solving can help foster their academic engagement as well as build
their leadership skills as they connect with others. The three project examples presented
above show different degrees of student involvement in service-learning projects. We
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observed that by allowing students to take on leadership roles and to make choices about
their programs they increased their engagement in learning and their civic development.
Students who were given choices and were more actively engaged in designing and
selecting project activities reported enjoying school work and feeling that they could
make a difference in their communities. At Truman Middle School, students were
engaged in relevant and engaging activities from the beginning of the program. They led
and chose their projects based on their research, solved problems while working in teams,
selected and organized activities and continuously reflected on and evaluated the goals of
their program. Central High found from year 1 to year 2 that allowing students to take
active roles in leading safety projects had a positive impact on students’ development.
Students went from being passive learners in year 1 to being leaders in year 2. By the
end of the Y.O.D.A. program, students felt better about themselves, and reported being
more experienced at solving problems and leading service-learning projects. Sharing
their knowledge with others in creative ways made their learning more relevant and
engaging. Southville, on the other hand, failed to incorporate youth voice into their
projects. Activities were led by teachers, and students were passive learners. Teachers
had difficulty relinquishing power to the students and were overwhelmed by the school
requirements. At the end of the second year, the students appeared to be even less
interested in learning and less committed to helping their community. Lacking youth
voice made the student learning irrelevant. These three examples show that youth voice
can help maximize the outcomes of our service-learning programs.
In their national research of youth involved in service-learning, Billig et al. (2006)
found that genuine need does not predict academic and civic outcomes. In our study, we
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observed that when genuine need is tied to youth voice, it does predict program academic
and civic outcomes. In other words, when the students are involved in researching the
needs of the communities and selecting projects based on their research, the importance
of their project becomes clear to them, adding value to their learning and engagement.
Youth voice needs to be present at each stage of project planning and implementation.
Students should be able to make choices as they carry out their needs assessments, select
the project, organize activities, reflect and evaluate their projects, identify the skills and
knowledge they are acquiring and document their learning. Jensen (1998) encourages us
to help our students see the connections between their actions and the outcomes by
providing students with rich experiences of choice. Having choices allows students to
make decisions about their programs. Youth voice is a powerful service-learning
component that empowers students and can enrich their personal lives. Implementing
youth voice requires a change in the traditional style of teaching, where teachers act as
facilitators of student learning. Encouraging our students to act as active participants
rather than mere learners and to become leaders rather than passive followers is a central
goal of service-learning. A teacher comments on the empowering effects of service-
learning and youth voice on her students:
“It makes them see that their actions and decisions have an outcome. They see
they can make someone more comfortable and make a neighborhood look better.
Things that I do matter. Now, do I do my homework or not might matter. I can
benefit my family and I can benefit myself. All things from service-learning can
help the kids see school is school but you need to use what you have and apply it
to better yourself.”
Recommendations
Being open to the students’ ideas, opinions, and input while they plan and
implement their projects is essential for a successful service-learning program. Here we
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provide some recommendations to assist practitioners in their efforts engaging students in
leadership and decision making.
Involve youth in the planning process: Provide opportunities for students to take
active roles in investigating the needs of the community and in identifying the service
projects that can best meet those needs. If the focus area has already been identified, as
we have done in our Y.O.D.A. projects, students can research the history or the statistics
surrounding a particular issue to help them see the relevance of the service-learning
project they are going to develop.
Surveys created, conducted, and analyzed by students allow them to gain
information about public opinion, and the knowledge level of people in the community.
From the information collected they can make choices about the types of projects that
need to be pursued. Having students contact local experts and conduct interviews is
another excellent strategy for engaging youth in the planning phase of the service-
learning process. These activities not only promote youth voice but help to increase
student ownership of the service-learning projects they are going to undertake.
Allow students to generate potential projects: The service selected by students
can take many forms and should be directly related to the information gathered during the
needs assessment and planning phase of the service-learning project. Choice is
encouraged as students decide the best strategy to meet the identified need by teaching
others, creating a product that can be distributed to community members, or by directly
engaging in and providing a service to the community.
Provide varied and ongoing opportunities for program reflection: Reflection
activities should meet the needs of various learning styles and ability levels. In addition,
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reflection should be a continuous process that allows youth to assess their personal
development, their connection to others, their commitment to active citizenship, their
understanding of new content or skills, and enable them to reframe what they think about
complex issues (Eyler & Giles, 1996).
Ensure diversity in all aspects of the service-learning initiative: Students of all
ability levels and backgrounds can benefit from meaningful opportunities to participate in
the project. Students should be given choices regarding involvement of activities. When
students choose activities they are interested in they are more likely to take on leadership
roles and use their skills in a meaningful way. For example, if the project chosen is
creating a brochure about disasters, students can be involved in various activities: a
group of students can do the research of the information to be included; a second group
can select the targeted audience and distribution methods; and the last group can be
engaged in the layout and design. This way you will be providing choices for students to
use their skills and strengths. Having opportunities to explore the diverse groups in their
community including sensitivity training and discussions of other diversity topics (race,
power, and privilege) allows students to become better able to relate to others different
than themselves. Participating in sensitivity training to better understand the aging
process helps students to choose appropriate information and strategies to include in
service-learning projects geared towards the elders in their community. The same applies
to seeing the relevance of adapting information for other audiences (which could mean
translating information for a non English speaking population).
Allow students to take more active roles as trainers, funders, or evaluators:
Students that were allowed to identify what information to teach others and who to teach
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it to (younger students, peers, or adults) felt most engaged. When youth act as
evaluators, designing and analyzing the effectiveness of the training, the impact of their
efforts is realized. Getting students involved in grant making helps them to understand
the responsibility of program design. Working together to design and evaluate requests
for proposals, increases students’ ability to work collaboratively and understand the ideas
of others.
Notes
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge and thank the Y.O.D.A.
students and teachers for sharing their candid reflections. We would also like to thank
colleagues who provided insightful feedback on earlier drafts of this work.
1An analysis of student responses was conducted to examine the relationship
between level of youth voice and Y.O.D.A. learning outcomes. To determine whether
sum scores of responses could be utilized for analyses, internal construct validation was
performed by factor analysis of all items of interest. A linear regression was conducted
with the sum score of Y.O.D.A. learning outcomes items as dependent variable, and the
predictor variable: the sum scores of the related youth voice items. Results of this linear
regression showed that responses to the related youth voice items could predict responses
to the Y.O.D.A. outcome items.
2Note that to insure confidentiality, pseudonyms for each of the schools were
used.
References
Benard, B. (1991). Fostering Resiliency in Youth: Protective Factors in the Family,
School and Community. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
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Billig, S. (2005). The Impact of Participation in Service-Learning on High School
Student Civic Engagement. Maryland: CIRCLE Working Paper 33.
Fredericks, L. et al. (2001). Integrating Youth Voice in Service-Learning. Denver:
Education Commission of the States. Available at:
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/23/67/2367.htm
Jensen, Eric. (1998). Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Virginia: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Eyler, J. & Giles, D. (1996). Practitioner's Guide to Reflection in Service-Learning:
Student Voices and Reflections. Tennessee: Vanderbilt University.
Scales, P. and Leffert, N. (1997). Developmental Assets: A Synthesis of the Scientific
Research on Adolescent Development. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
About the Authors
Kathia Monard-Weissman serves as evaluation consultant for the Institute for
Global Education and Service-Learning. She received her doctorate from the University
of Pittsburgh’s School of Education. Prior to her doctoral studies she directed
international service-learning exchanges in Ecuador. Her research focuses on ways
service-learning fosters civic responsibility and reciprocal relationships between school
and community. She has published in the Michigan Journal of Community Service-
Learning, the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, the UNESCO
Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems and Academic Exchange Quarterly.
Joan Lennon Liptrot is the Executive Director of the Institute for Global
Education and Service Learning in Levittown, Pennsylvania. The IGESL is a non-profit
training organization that creates service-learning programs in collaboration with schools
22
and community organizations across the country. As the Executive Director of the IGESL
Joan provides training and technical assistance to schools, community, and faith based
organizations as well as National Service programs. With 20 years of experience in
education, international teacher training, and curriculum development, she has helped
youth and adults develop, expand, and enhance their service-learning practice. Co-author
of “Getting Started In Service-Learning” and “Developing Citizenship Through
Community Development” Joan is a founding member of the Philadelphia Service-
Learning Support Organization Collaborative.
Julia Wagner serves as the Program Manager for the Learn & Serve America -
Youth Organized for Disaster Action (Y.O.D.A.) program at the Institute for Global
Education and Service Learning. After graduating from Miami University in Ohio with a
Bachelor of Science in Marketing, Julia spent a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA in
Vermont. In addition to coordinating service-learning projects at Rivendell Academy
High School, Julia was certified as a Critical Friends Coach by the National School
Reform Faculty to facilitate district-wide Critical Friends groups focused on 'Improving
student performance through reflective practice".
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