Preconceived expectations for one's behavior drive how people interact with their communities. Messaging via pop culture is a common source for citizens to learn about one community engagement tool: compulsory volunteering. Compulsory volunteering, like court-ordered community service and school-based volunteering, provides an opportunity to learn…

Active learning, with students engaging in research or activities within the community, is a favoured approach in contemporary higher education. To support this approach, the Criminology and Forensic Studies programmes at the University of Winchester have included student research into miscarriages of justice. The students interrogate evidence…

This year, across the nation, state legislators and powerful corporate interests with financial ties to universities and influence over them have launched an unprecedented number of attacks on law school clinics. As universities increasingly seek to educate students through service-learning courses, law school clinics may be the bellwether for…

Recommends involving college students with their local community to establish a better understanding of the consequences of drug abuse, proposing a project in which students monitor driving while intoxicated (DWI) cases utilizing a service learning strategy. After participating in court monitoring of DWI cases, students write and share reflective…

Service learning is not immune from legal problems. In 1993, the third Circuit Court of Appeals quashed a lawsuit claiming a school's mandatory public-service requirement violated the 1st and 13th amendments. The most recent case was pursued against a New York district whose modest public-service requirement supposedly forced students into…

Discusses clear trends in school law regarding compulsory community service and school district liability for student-to-student sexual harassment. The courts are upholding mandatory community service programs, as seen in a recent Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. The courts are also recognizing a student's right to protection by school…

The Federal District Court ruled in favor of the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, school board's requirement that, as a condition for graduation, each student must perform 50 hours of unpaid community service. (MLF)

This book focuses on three court rulings affecting mandatory high-school community service. It examines the rationale, functioning, and outcomes of high-school community-service programs and addresses the significant legal aspects of community service. It also analyzes court opinions and related legislation on community service and points out some…

Within the context of current service learning legislation and litigation, a pilot study investigated effects of a service learning curriculum that was part of middle school advisory and science classes. Quantitative data indicated non-statistically significant growth in self-esteem and motivation. Student journals, essays, interviews, field…

Conflicts between parents' wishes and school authorities' decisions have historically occurred in several areas, including compulsory education, special education, and curriculum. Reviews legal precedents for parental rights, explores current court cases involving parent/school authority conflicts, and critiques recent state legislation concerning…