1. Academically talented students' attitudes toward service in the community
- Author
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Webster, Nicole S. and Worrell, Frank C.
- Subjects
Talented students -- Behavior ,Talented students -- Surveys ,Community service -- Surveys ,Community service -- Social aspects ,Student service -- Surveys ,Student service -- Social aspects ,Education ,Family and marriage - Abstract
In this study, the authors examined participation rates in, and attitudes toward, service in community settings in a sample of 936 academically talented adolescents. Results indicated that about 50% of the participants participated in both classroom-sponsored and organization-sponsored service activities, with female students reporting higher rates than male students. Participation rates increased with increases in socioeconomic status, and rates in organization-sponsored activities increased across grade levels. Attitudes toward service were generally positive, with female students having more positive attitudes than male students. These findings mirror results from studies of nonidentified students and suggest that differences in participation rates in service activities may be reflecting differences in economic circumstances that allow for participation. Putting the Research to Use: As service learning involves combining academic content with meaningful service in communities, there are those who believe that service learning is particularly well suited to students who are at the upper end of the academic achievement distribution and that these students have the potential to benefit from service learning to a greater extent than their less talented peers. The results of this study suggest that in many ways, academically talented students' participation in service activities is similar to that of their nonidentified peers but also raise important questions about the relationships of context for participation in service activities. Findings from this study suggest that socioeconomic status may limit options for participation in service activities, both at the individual and school levels, and if this proves to be correct, this needs to be countered both by teachers and through policies at the district level. Keywords: academically talented youth; service learning; service activities; minority youth
- Published
- 2008