Adolescents need more than in-school learning. They need to see the connection between classroom learning and the world around them. Service-learning forges that connection by combining the best aspects of experiential learning, immersion, and social interaction. Yet despite its obvious advantages, there is a critical shortage of practical guides to assist in implementing and sustaining successful service-learning programs for adolescents. Service-Learning…by Degrees changes that.

Service-Learning…by Degrees is based on the more than thirty-five years of collective experience Alice Terry and Jann Bohnenberger have in creating, refining, and managing high-quality, meaningful service-learning projects for middle school students. From the ground up, Service-Learning…by Degrees takes you through the developmental aspects of the most popular and effective types of service-learning, first clarifying competing and confusing notions of what it is (and isn’t) and demonstrating the different levels of commitment and depth that are available to students. Then focusing on how teachers, as facilitators, can maximize the learners’ experiences, Terry and Bohnenberger show how to match a project or program to students’ needs through differentiation strategies while also matching their combination of skills to the needs of their community.

Grounded in research, Service-Learning…by Degrees offers smart ideas for connecting service-learning with the curriculum, assessing its value and impact through student reflection, and nuts-and-bolts ways to implement and coordinate different types of projects at once. Illustrated with in-depth examples of actual projects and filled with useful tips, techniques, tools, and activities appropriate to programs of all types, Service-Learning…by Degrees provides facilitators with an effective, best-practice model for selecting and implementing the most appropriate level of service-learning for adolescents.

Help students make powerful, long-lasting connections between their lives, their communities, and the content they learn. Read Service-Learning…by Degrees and discover the truth in the old saying: there’s no better way to learn than by doing.