The information contained in this publication, a brief introduction to literacy, is designed to help potential literacy workers gain a basic understanding of literacy issues. The publication notes that current literacy efforts in the United States, especially the new America Reads initiative, are focused on helping young children up to the third…

This book invites schools to consider the use of mentorship, peer support, and student leadership programs to positively support the growth and learning of all students. It presents research on successful K-12 programs and case studies of individual programs and people. Eighteen chapters are: (1) "Introduction and Overview"; (2)…

This report shares findings from research that examined service learning, a teaching strategy that combines service to the community with classroom curriculum in K-12 schools. The research focused on how service learning was relevant to schools. The results show that many U.S. youth feel alienated from both their schoolwork and from traditional…

Over 1,000 colleges and universities have joined the America Reads initiative and have placed Federal Work-Study students in high-needs schools, the majority in urban settings. Few outside the reading field recognize the complexities associated with instruction for emergent readers, particularly for students who arrive at school with few literacy…

This report summarizes the activities of the Trinidad-based Service Volunteered for All (SERVOL) from 1970 to 1993. SERVOL works with Caribbean communities to assist them in making social changes that they not only want but also can afford. Projects from 1970-1976 highlighted in the report include: (1) community based preschools; (2) training…

This collection of selected reminiscences of a volunteer teacher in the Pennsylvania prison system recounts her experiences teaching illiterate and near-illiterate prisoners (and others) how to read. The collection describes several different individuals (in and out of prison), their diverse reactions to reading, and their understanding and use of…

This directory lists the names of volunteer groups, individual transcribers, and nonprofit and commercial organizations that transcribe and record books and other reading materials for persons who are blind and physically handicapped. It was compiled from information supplied by organizations and groups who perform these services. The listing is…

Every community has areas--public parks, schoolyards, sidewalks--that are neglected, vandalized, or just plain run down. Young people can help clean up those places by getting involved in a community cleanup project. As explained in this bulletin, a community cleanup is a project in which volunteers of all ages work together to spruce up a chosen…

Service learning, an instructional strategy for educators, has the potential to challenge students in diverse ways. It offers students experiential learning opportunities that are personally engaging, are educationally rigorous, require the direct application of knowledge and critical thinking skills, and transform both the community and the…

The Reading Excellence program seeks to provide a cadre of trained volunteers to deliver tutorial assistance in reading to at-risk students during non-instructional times that will result in significant improvement in student performance on reading and language arts as measured by their age-appropriate standardized tests. This paper describes the…

Using the talents of student volunteers allows students to tackle social problems and deal with human needs. The curricular approach to experiential learning integrates students' schooling with community needs. (Author/RK)

A student considers the recommendations of the Russell Report emphasizing his interests in the teachers, the curriculum and the locus of education. (RK)

Describes a seven-week unit on Sensitivity to the Aging Process'' for elementary students, and a program which utilizes retired persons as classroom aides. (SP)

A pilot project of subsidized family day care, designed for low-income working mothers and aimed at fostering a child's developmental needs, turned out to be a comprehensive service that also altered attitudes of middle-class volunteers. (Editor)

New kinds of productive liaison" are developing between parents and school professionals, based on mutual respect and shared understandings. (Editor)