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 | Action research |
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| In its simplest form, action research is a way of generating
research about a social system while simultaneously attempting
to change that system. While conventional social science aims
at producing knowledge about social systems (some of which may
eventually prove useful to those wishing to effect change),
action research seeks both to understand and to alter the problems
generated by social systems. |
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| America Reads Challenge |
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| In 1994, 40 percent of our country's fourth graders failed
to attain the basic level of reading. The America Reads initiative,
launched in August 1996 by President Clinton, aims to ensure
that every child in America can read independently by the end
of third grade. |
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| American Association of Higher Education |
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| From the AAHE mission statement, AAHE promotes "the changes
higher education must make to ensure its effectiveness in a
complex, interconnected world." One Dupont Circle, Suite
360 Washington, DC 20036-1110; website ww.aahe.org |
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| AmeriCorps |
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| The national service program made possible by the National
and Community Service Act of 1993. The legislation requires
that programs fall into four broad areas -- human needs, education,
environment, and public safety. Grants are made to non-profit
organizations; local, state and federal agencies; Indian tribes;
institutions of higher education; local school and police districts.
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| AmeriCorps Promise Fellows Program |
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| AmeriCorps Promise Fellows spearhead state and local efforts
dedicated to seeing that all children and youth receive the
Five Promises set forth at the Presidents' Summit for America's
Future in 1997.
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| Assessment |
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| The process of gathering information in order to make an evaluation.
An evaluation is a decision or judgment about whether an effort
is successful and to what extent that effort has or has not
met a goal. Evaluation of effects of service-learning on students
who take classes that employ service-learning as a pedagogy,
on the community partner or agency that delivers services students
assists with, on faculty members who teach those courses, and
on the institution under whose auspices service-learning courses
are offered. Assessment may be descriptive or evaluative; involve
conventional Likert-type items or narrative reports; and be
directed toward above-named stakeholders. |
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| Campus Compact |
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| A national coalition of more than 650 college and university
presidents committed to increasing the number of service programs
on higher education campuses across the state. At the national
level, work promotes public and community service, development
of resource materials, workshops and institutions, and support
for 22 state offices and the National Center for Community Colleges. |
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| Civic Responsibility |
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| The commitment of a citizen to his or her community to take
responsibility for the well-being of the community. Service-learning
and community engagement are often cited as developing students'
civic responsibility. |
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| Co-curricular |
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| Signifies community service that is not explicitly connected
to an academic course. |
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| Community |
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| Community can be used in a number of ways to apply to almost
any group of individuals. It is often used to describe a geographic
group whose members engage in some face-to-face interaction.
The term community can also be used in a more meaningful sense
to emphasize the common bonds and beliefs that hold people together. |
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| Community development |
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Community members working together to achieve long-term benefits for the community and an overall stronger sense of community. Effective development has four important characteristics: |
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- It is predicated upon the importance of social and economic
institutions in the lives of community members.
- It is planned and achieved with representation, input,
and guidance from a cross-section of community members.
- It builds efficient, self-sustaining, locally controlled
initiatives to address social and economic issues in the
community.
- It promotes the economic self-reliance of community members
and of the community as a whole.
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| Community Engagement |
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| A central value affirmed by the service-learning movement.
Colleges, universities, and community colleges cooperate with
nonprofit agencies, government agencies, faith-based organizations,
and individuals to improve the community in which the institution
resides. Service-learning, faculty participation, and student
volunteers represent community engagement. This ethic of service
affirms the responsibility of educational institutions to bring
their resources to impact gaps in community services. |
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| Community Partner |
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| The agency that acts as a conduit for bringing resources into
the community, e.g., government, nonprofit agency, or faith-based
agency, bringing needed services to the community via existing
distribution channels while taking responsibility for students
work. Often a community partner identifies community needs and
utilizes its existing infrastructure for project implementation. |
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| Community Service |
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| Community Service is volunteerism that occurs in the community--action
taken to meet the needs of others and better the community as
a whole. Programs of all types, like scouts, schools or YMCAs,
often perform "community service." |
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| Daily Points Of Light Awards |
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| Co-sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation, the Corporation
for National Service and the Knights of Columbus, these awards
recognize and honor outstanding service efforts. The award is
presented five days a week to help raise the profile and legitimacy
for volunteer initiatives and activities, and to call public
attention to the contributions that volunteers are making toward
solving local and national social problems. |
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| Domestic Volunteer Service Act (DVSA) |
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| This statute created VISTA and the National Senior Service
Corps in 1970. |
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| Engaged campus |
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| A college or university which emphasizes community engagement
through its activities and its definition of scholarship. The
engaged campus is involved in community relationships, community
development, community empowerment, community discourse, and
educational change. |
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| Experiential education |
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| Emotionally engaged learning in which the learner experiences
a visceral connection to the subject matter. Good experiential
learning combines direct experience that is meaningful to the
student with guided reflection and analysis. It is a challenging,
active, student-centered process that impels students toward
opportunities for taking initiative, responsibility, and decision
making. |
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| FamilyCares |
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| www.FamilyCares.org An on-line resource of the Points of Light Foundation that provides
resources for parents, teachers and community leaders who want
to support children in volunteer activities. |
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| Family Volunteering |
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| Family volunteering strengthens families, addresses critical
social needs, improves employee morale within participating
businesses and creates a renewed community spirit. A number
of family-oriented volunteer programs and websites are focused
on engaging families in year-round community-oriented volunteer
projects. |
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| Foster Grandparents |
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| As Foster Grandparents, low income persons age 60 and over
provide companionship and guidance to children with mental,
physical, or emotional disabilities or are abused, neglected,
in the juvenile justice system, or who have other special or
exceptional needs. A program of Senior Service Corps funded
by the Corporation for National and Community Service. |
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| Join Hands Day |
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| Join Hands Day is a day of service that specifically targets
youth and adults volunteering together. Sponsored by America's
Fraternal Benefit Societies in partnership with the Points of
Light Foundation and the National Network of Volunteer Centers.
The goal of Join Hands Day is to begin making connections and
friendships across generations that will continue long after
the day is over. Developing these relationships is essential
to creating healthy organizations, neighborhoods and communities. |
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| Kids Care Clubs |
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| www.KidsCare.org An initiative of the Points of Light Foundation, is a program
designed to develop compassion and the spirit of service and
philanthropy in elementary and middle school aged youth. Local
organizations such as schools, YMCAs, Volunteer Centers, scout
troops and religious communities, can be registered as clubs.
Kids Care Clubs provide ideas, resources and a network to clubs. |
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| Make A Difference Day |
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| A national effort designed to mobilize citizens in communities
across the country in volunteer service. |
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| Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |
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| Always the third Monday in January, the day focuses the nation
on the ideals expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who
believed that people's worth should not be measured by color,
culture, or class but rather by a commitment to making a better
life for all. |
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| Mentor |
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| In the context of community service, the term mentor is often
used to refer to a specific type of relationship between an
adult and a youth. Mentors act as role models who offer youth
the friendship and guidance of a caring adult. Mentors provide
youth with examples of life experiences that can show younger
people what to aspire to. Mentors support and enable a young
person to become whomever and whatever they choose. |
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| Multiculturalism |
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| Multiculturalism is used in its broad sense as respect and
understanding for various differences between people, including
those based on race, gender, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic
status, age, sexual orientation, and physical and mental abilities. |
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| National and Community Service Act of 1990 |
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| Originally passed into law in 1990 to establish the Commission
on National Service, the Act was amended significantly by the
National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 to establish
the Corporation for National and Community Service. |
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| The National and Community Service Trust Act (NCSTA) |
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| With bipartisan support, NCSTA was signed by President Clinton
on September 21, 1993. The legislation reauthorizes K-12 and
higher education service learning programs from the National
and Community Service Act of 1990 and creates AmeriCorps, national
service progrma that allows members to earn educational benefits
in exchange for community service. |
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| National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) |
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| NCCC is the Corporation's federally-managed residential program
which is located in four sites across the country (San Diego,
California; Denver, Colorado; and Charleston, South Carolina)
and headquartered in Washington, DC. The NCCC utilizes excess
military capacity and personnel in the creation of a full-time
or part-time service corps. |
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| National Family Volunteer Day |
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| This day of service is designed to showcase the benefits of
families working together, to provide a great way to introduce
community service, and to encourage those who haven't yet made
the commitment to volunteer as a family to begin doing so. |
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| National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) |
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| A clearinghouse project of ETR Associates funded by Learn
and Serve America, Corporation for National and Community Service
that supports the service-learning community in higher education,
kindergarten through grade 12, community-based initiatives,
and tribal programs, as well as all others interested in strengthening
schools and communities using service-learning techniques and
methodologies. Contact toll-free at 1-866-245-SERV (7378); www.servicelearning.org |
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| National Senior Service Corps |
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| The National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 has renamed
the Older American Volunteer Programs (OAVP) to become the National
Senior Service Corps. Program divisions include Retired and
Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), the Foster Grandparent Program
(FGP), and the Senior Companion Program (SCP). |
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| National Volunteer Week |
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| Begun in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive
order establishing the week as an annual celebration of volunteering.
Every President since has signed a proclamation promoting National
Volunteer Week. Governors, mayors and other elected officials
also make public statements and sign proclamations in support
of National Volunteer Week (typically held at the end of April).
Sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation and the Volunteer
Center National Network, National Volunteer Week has become
the official time to recognize and celebrate the efforts of
volunteers at the local, state and national levels. |
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| National Youth Service Day |
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Brings together more than 13 million people in thousands of communities nationwide during the last decade. Celebrated as part of National Volunteer Week; National Youth Service Day has three primary goals: |
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- to recognize the year-round service and volunteering efforts
of millions of young people nationwide;
- to recruit a new generation and cadre of citizens that
are both participants and supporters of youth service organizations;
- and to promote young people as resources rather than problems
in their communities.
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| Pedagogy |
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| The study of the teaching and learning process; service-learning
provides a method that that informs and enhances the teaching/learning
process. |
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| Peer Helping |
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| Peer Helping programs began in the early 1970's in response
to the great increase in guidance needs for youth. Popular uses
of peer helpers within the schools are peer tutoring, cross-age
education, mentoring, welcoming new students, parent education,
teen theater, and conflict mediation. Such programs almost always
involve people helping people, and utilize strong training and
reflection components to produce significant gains in both knowledge
and skills among the participants. Because of this, peer helping
is considered a type of service-learning program. |
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| President's Service Award |
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| Established in 1982 and co-sponsored by the Points of Light
Foundation and Corporation for National and Community Service,
and presented yearly to individuals, families, organizations,
corporations and labor unions for outstanding community service
in solving serious social problems. The President of the United
States traditionally presents the awards at a White House event
during National Volunteer Week. |
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| President's Student Service Awards |
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| Sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service
and administered by the American Institute for Public Service,
the Points of Light Foundation, and Youth Service America, is
modeled after the Presidential Physical Fitness Awards. The
President's Student Service Awards provide an opportunity for
schools, colleges and community organizations to recognize youth
for their outstanding community service and to encourage more
young people to serve. |
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| Reciprocity |
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| A central component in service-learning and community engagement
that suggests that every individual, organization, and entity
involved in service-learning functions as both a teacher and
a learner. |
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| Reflection |
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| The critical component of successful service-learning programs
is "reflection". Reflection describes the process
of deriving meaning and knowledge from experience and occurs
before, during and after a service-learning project. Effective
reflection engages both teachers and students in a thoughtful
and thought-provoking process that consciously connects learning
with experience. It is the use of critical thinking skills to
prepare for and learn from service experiences. |
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| Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) |
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| This program of Senior Service Corps offers opportunities
for citizens age 55 and up to use their talents and experience
in a wide range of community projects. RSVP operates through
grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service
to private and public non-profits in local communities. |
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| Senior Companion Program |
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| A program of Senior Service Corps, participants are low-income
persons age 60 or older who provide care and companionship to
other adults, especially the frail elderly, in an effort to
help them achieve and maintain their highest level of independent
living. |
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| Social Capital |
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| A term that refers to features of social organization, such
as networks, norms, and trust, that facilitate coordination
and cooperation for mutual benefit; enhances the benefits of
investment in physical and human capital. |
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| State Commission |
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| The 15-to-25 member, independent, bipartisan commissions appointed
by governors to implement service programs in the states. Funding
for national service programs is provided by the Corporation
for National and Community Service. |
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| Student Ownership |
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| At the very heart of the youth service movement is the notion
that students can make important contributions to their schools
and communities. Such philosophy requires a strong student-centered
approach, where young people identify problems, brainstorm,
implement solutions and evaluate their projects, while the teacher
takes the role of the facilitator. |
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| Student Volunteer Service |
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| A clearinghouse that serves as a link between community organizations
and university/college students for volunteer opportunities;
often located in the Dean of Student's office or student union. |
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| VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) |
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| Program goals strive to alleviate poverty in the United States.
Members are age 18 or older and serve on a full-time, full-year
basis at the request of private or public non-profit organizations. |
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| Volunteer Centers |
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| A community-based organization that mobilizes people and resources
to deliver creative solutions to community problems. While services
vary from one Volunteer Center to another, centers in communities
around the nation connect people with opportunities to serve,
build capacity for effective local volunteering, promote volunteering,
and seek collaborative opportunities to involve volunteers in
addressing community issues. 1-800-VOLUNTEER is a national volunteering
hotline that connects callers to local Volunteer Centers. |
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| Volunteerism |
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| The performance of formal service to benefit others or one's
community without receiving any external rewards; such programs
may or may not involve structured training and reflection. |
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| Workplace Volunteerism |
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The process whereby companies make a significant commitment to company-sponsored volunteer programs with the following values: |
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- Acknowledge that the corporation's community service involvement
and its employee volunteer efforts contribute to the achievement
of its business goals;
- Commit to establish, support, and promote an employee
volunteer program that encourages the involvement of every
employee and treat it like any other core business function;
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- Target community service efforts at serious social problems
in the community.
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| Youth Service |
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| An umbrella term to identify a vast number of program models,
titles, and organizations which share one core attribute: the
utilization of youth to provide service to their schools and/or
communities. The term should not be confused with "youth
services," which typically refer to programs that serve
youth. |
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