When young people engage in the asset of Service to Others, they are more likely to experience more of the other assets over time. Longitudinal analysis of Search Institute’s ongoing study of Developmental Assets in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, found that students who reported serving at least one hour per average week in 1998 were 3.6 times more likely than nonvolunteers to have high asset levels (31–40 assets) three years later.
Since the early 1990s, Search Institute has been engaged in a wide range of research and action projects related to service-learning—that is, strategies that intentionally link service to others with education and learning. Below are tools and insights to integrate service-learning with asset building.
Inspired to Serve: Youth-Led Interfaith Action
Funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service through its Learn and Serve America community-based grants program, this three-year pilot project with Interfaith Youth Core seeks to build the capacity of churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other faith-based organizations to engage in effective service-learning in an interfaith context. Visit the project Web site.
Service-Learning Fact Sheets
Search Institute serves as the community-based organization advisor for the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. The following fact sheets from Search Institute are available through the Clearinghouse:
- NEW Beyond Needs Assessments: Identifying A Community’s Resources and Hopes
- Developmental Assets: A Framework for Enriching Service-Learning
- Benefits of Community-Based Service-Learning
- Service-Learning with Disadvantaged Youth
- Developing Partnerships for Service-Learning: Starting Points for Community-Based Organizations
Recent Research
- Service to Others: A ‘Gateway Asset’ for School Success and Healthy Development, published in National Youth Leadership Council’s annual Growing to Greatness report on the state of service-learning
- Community Service and Service-Learning in U.S. Public Schools, 2004: Findings from a National Study (2004), a collaborative project with National Youth Leadership Council.
Available Resources from Search Institute
- An Asset Builder’s Guide to Service-Learning
- Teaching Kids to Change the World: Lessons to Inspire Social Responsibility For Grades 6–12
- Service Learning in Grades K–8: Experiential Learning That Builds Character and Motivation
