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A Contextual Examination of High-Quality K-12 Service-Learning Projects

In the service-learning literature, there is limited significant evidence for understanding and describing the context of high-quality service-learning programs. For instance, only four of the eight K-12 Service-Learning Standards of Quality Practice developed by the National Youth Leadership Council have adequate research to support the relationship between the standard and its impact. This qualitative study was conducted to describe the service-learning process in high-performing programs. Using a grounded theory approach, the researchers conducted structured interviews with nine service-learning project organizers to generate a model of an award-winning service-learning experience.  From the data, a set of diverse and complex service-learning themes emerged that exceeded the Standards for Quality Practice. Most prominent among the analysis results were the themes of temporal influences, human capital contributions, locus of support, relationship to topic, and the development of a culture of service-learning. Temporal influences related to the time needed for students to understand and fully engage in the service-learning cycle.  Human capital contributions included the skills and extraneous factors that participants brought to the project.  Locus of support encompassed all the areas of support within the project.  The participants’ relationship to the project contributed to project success, buy-in, and continued engagement.  The culture of support set the tone and expectations of the project.  Overall, the study findings suggest that high-quality service-learning programs evolve over time and that the human element and social context of a service-learning project help to create a highly powerful setting, acting in concert with and going beyond quality standards. The article also identifies specific limitations of the study, as well as directions for future research.