Bending towards justice: service‐learning and social capital as means to the tipping point

This article examines the persistent gaps in academic achievement among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. The magnitude of the gaps is documented and potential causes summarized. One of the causes, and potential solution, is social capital. Research documenting the strong correlations between social capital and academic achievement is examined. Finally, the paper reports on a service‐learning project in an urban middle school that sought to increase social capital. Pre/post data indicate that the number of service learning projects in which a student participated was significantly correlated with a decline in the number of hours spent watching television, the biggest contributor to a decades‐long decline in social capital.

[1]  R. Putnam.  Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America , 1995, PS: Political Science & Politics.

[2]  Richard Breitman,et al.  Breaking the Silence , 2022 .

[3]  Wilma Lund,et al.  National Council for the Social Studies , 1922 .

[4]  R. Rothstein.  Class and schools : using social, economic, and educational reform to close the Black-white achievement gap , 2004 .

[5]  Daniel J. Losen,et al.  Racial inequity in special education , 2002 .

[6]  J. Coleman,et al.  Equality And Achievement In Education , 1993 .

[7]  R. Putnam,et al.  Better Together: Restoring the American Community , 2003 .

[8]  G. Breeuwsma.  Geruchten als besmettelijke ziekte. Het succesverhaal van de Hush Puppies. Bespreking van Malcolm Gladwell, The tipping point. How little things can make a big difference. London: Little, Brown and Company, 2000 , 2000 .

[9]  F. Nielsen,et al.  The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. , 1995 .

[10]  Harlan W. Jencks.  Who Gets Ahead , 1979 .

[11]  R. Wade.  Community service-learning : a guide to including service in the public school curriculum , 1997 .

[12]  Waldo E. Martin.  Brown v. Board of Education , 1998 .

[13]  R. Herrnstein,et al.  The bell curve : intelligence and class structure in American life , 1995 .

[14]  Thomas E. Patterson,et al.  The vanishing voter : public involvement in an age of uncertainty , 2002 .

[15]  Better Together: Restoring the American community , 2005 .

[16]  Cecilia,et al.  Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal ? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination , 2007 .

[17]  Chungmei Lee,et al.  "Brown" at 50: King's Dream or "Plessy's" Nightmare?. , 2004 .

[18]  Jonathan Diamond.  Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement , 2005 .

[19]  Daniel J. Losen,et al.  Losing Our Future: How Minority Youth Are Being Left behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis. , 2004 .

[20]  Robert D. Putnam,et al.  Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community , 2000, CSCW '00.

[21]  Chris Chapman,et al.  Service-Learning and Community Service in K-12 Public Schools. , 1999 .

[22]  A. Steller.  Who Gets Ahead? The Determinants of Economic Success in America. By Christopher Jencks, et. al. New York: Basic Books, 1979 , 1980 .

[23]  Claude M. Steele,et al.  Stereotype threat and the test performance of academically successful African Americans. , 1998 .

[24]  G. Israel,et al.  For whom does the school bell toll?: Multi-contextual presence of social capital and student educational achievement , 2001 .

[25]  R. Wade.  Building Bridges: Connecting Classroom and Community through Service-Learning in Social Studies. NCSS Bulletin 97. , 2000 .

[26]  W. Galston.  Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community , 2001 .

[27]  N. Nie.  Sociability, Interpersonal Relations, and the Internet , 2001 .