After taking an environmental inventory of their community, seventh-graders in a Denver-area middle school decided to tackle the drinking water problem and fix it. The school is one of seven participating in Earth Force, an environmental and community-service-learning program based in Alexandria, Virginia. The program's progress and six-step…

The aim of the report is to inform and ignite interest in moving beyond a reflection on the dual purpose of public education to an action plan that seeks to strike the balance between academics and civic engagement for our students. In the winter of 2004, working under a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, leaders in education reform,…

This issue paper proposes service-learning as a practice educators can use to stem violence by creating situations in which young people experience structure, receive emotional support, have clear behavior expectations, and experience meaningful consequences to unacceptable behavior. Suggests that involvement with service-learning enhances young…

Describes Earth Force's Community Action and Problem Solving (CAPS) learning model that integrates learning across the curriculum by bringing together three experientially based activities: care for the environment, service learning, and skills of civic engagement. Discusses CAPS' six-step sequence, and teacher and student responses. (JPB)