Chapter 4: Jumpstart’s Service-Learning Initiative: Enhanced Outcomes for At-Risk Children

The research literature on the effect of service-learning (SL) on community outcomes is limited, and has focused predominantly on community organizations’ perceptions of students’ service and not on outcomes for service recipients. This chapter addresses this significant research gap by discussing the results of a quasi-experimental study that compared outcomes for low-income preschool children mentored by Jumpstart college students enrolled in SL courses to a matched group of low-income children mentored by Jumpstart students not enrolled in SL courses. The results indicated that gains in early language, literacy, and social skills were significantly greater for children working with SL students than children not paired with SL students.