What Is Service-Learning? Service-learning is a teaching/learning strategy requiring students to develop and apply knowledge and skills pertaining to challenging projects that help meet real community needs. The modern educational roots of service-learning can be tied to research in cognitive psychology and is grounded in the work of John Dewey, sometimes referred to as the "father of American education." A vast array of studies have shown service-learning to be effective in promoting growth in a wide variety of domains including academic learning (particularly math and reading from studies of tutoring), more complex thinking and problem solving skills, heightened self esteem, deepened sense of social responsibility, and a greater inclination on the part of students to participate actively in their communities. - Adapted from: Essential Elements of Service-Learning, National Service-Learning Cooperative. Essential Elements of Service-Learning Preparation, Planning, and Active Student Voice Meaningful Service Connected to Learning Structured Reflection and Evaluation Celebration and Recognition "What is needed is improvement of education, not simply by turning out teachers who can do better the things that are now necessary to do, but rather by changing the conception of what constitutes education." - John Dewey, The Relation of Theory to Practice in Education.