Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics environmental restoration service-learning projects in selected California watersheds that produced gains by participating at-risk high school students. A second purpose was to describe the characteristics of service-learning programs that at-risk students and their teachers perceived to be most helpful in making gains in school attendance, sense of connectedness to community, sense of social responsibility, sense of personal efficacy in solving problems, and understanding of watershed stewardship, and to determine if a difference existed between those perceptions. Methodology. Descriptive and ex post facto research were used. Three programs were identified and selected by the researcher and an expert panel. Program characteristics were determined through telephone interviews of program directors, content analysis of archival data and e-mail, and observations during site visits. Perceptions of sixty-five students and seven teachers were obtained through surveys and focus group interviews. Ordinal data were analyzed by frequency, means, and percentages. Descriptive data were content coded and summarized by program. Findings and conclusions. Twelve common program characteristics were identified and described. The program characteristics that were most helpful to students were: hands-on learning, opportunities to do good and help others, adult roles and responsibilities, real challenges, sense of accomplishment, sense of ownership/community, personal/social relationships, and increased knowledge/skills/ecological understanding. Teachers and students were most in agreement over the program characteristics that impacted students' sense of connectedness to community, personal efficacy in problem solving, and understanding of watershed stewardship, and most different over those that impacted students' school attendance and sense of social responsibility. Recommendations. Future researchers should study at-risk, middle school, and high school students to see if benefits of service learning accumulate, and under what conditions; be aware that it can be difficult to get under-age students to return their informed consent forms signed by a parent; and utilize efficient, Internet-based, data collection techniques.