Dan Butin exmines and questions whether the goal, or dream, of service-learning has been actualized in practice. He raises the possibility that what educators dream of-a critical service-learning able to ameliorate persistent real-world inequities-may be a case of their dreaming being fulfilled, rather than their dreams. More specifically, he…

Developing good citizens is an historic role for higher education (Sullivan & Rosin, 2008) and the emergence of service-learning as a pedagogical strategy has heightened attention to the intentional educational objectives to be addressed in higher education. This article examines the role of service-learning in developing philanthropic values…

This article highlights elements of civic engagement programs that have the rich potential to facilitate civic identity development. Focusing on research with alumni, the study examines 3 civic engagement programs, the approaches of which are guided by critical service-learning. It explores elements of the experiences that alumni name as…

The purpose of Science in Action (SIA) was to examine the relationship between implementing quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) service-learning (SL) projects and the effect on students' academic engagement in middle school science, civic responsibility, and resilience to at-risk behaviors. The innovative project funded…

Urban education is a complex system that is often shrouded in stereotypes, labels, and barriers. Service-learning is well-entrenched in suburban institutions, but is a fledgling or grassroots organization in the urban education community. Often, suburban service-learning initiatives have taken the tone of community service in that it is often…

The goals of teacher education must evolve beyond the teaching of strategies and methods toward a process for beginning teachers' critical interrogation of their social locations and the ways they engage with the realities of teaching and learning. One way that this is accomplished is by incorporating opportunities for community engagement…

This article argues that the instructional scaffolding metaphor may be reconceived as distributed scaffolding when multiple means of influence are provided in a service-learning setting. In the service-learning course described here, the professor's role is largely as designer of activity settings for preservice teacher candidates, through…

Influenced by Third World Liberation social movements in the United States and abroad, this article applies a serve-the-people concept to service-learning in education. Rooted in pedagogies more traditionally associated with ethnic studies and community organizing, and informed by sociocultural and critical frameworks in education, this article…

This article describes a critical service-learning project that resulted from an educational partnership among a national teachers' union, a local teachers' union, and a major research university. The partnership-funded by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Learn and Serve program--focused on professional…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top (RTTT) are part of a widely heralded and visible change effort, providing a powerful force--replete with evidence, logic, money, and voice--that is changing public schooling away from locally run and state-subsidized, into a federal-state-controlled enterprise. The article begins by situating the…

A longstanding tradition criticizes education schools for their presumed vapid curriculum, out-of-touch faculty, irrelevance, and suffocating ideology. What is different at present is the enthusiasm for alternatives to university-based teacher preparation, as well as the increasing interest in holding teacher preparation programs accountable. I…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) of 2010 represent a new chapter in the 25-year history of standards-based reforms (SBR). The CCSS attempts to bring the system back to the principles of its founding--more rigorous, focused, academic content and performance expectations collectively embraced by the nation. The new standards depart…

This article focuses on the importance of recognizing and appreciating the ways that a teacher integrates her personal and professional life with an English-only policy. Much can be learned from the ways in which she negotiates social forces and integrates them into her individual reality while making sense of the restrictive language policy.…

Given the increasing demand for a well-educated American workforce, college and career readiness has become a significant educational priority. New educational initiatives, including the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, are being developed and implemented to prepare students for success in postsecondary education and the…

Our article focuses on using portfolio assessment to craft quality teaching. Extant research literature on portfolio assessment suggests that the primary purpose of assessment is to serve learning, and portfolio assessments facilitate the process of making linkages among assessment, curriculum, and student learning (Asp, 2000; Bergeron, Wermuth,…