National Academies Press: OpenBook

Volunteers in Public Schools (1990)

Chapter: Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography

« Previous: Appendix A: Data from NCES Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987-1988
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 121
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 122
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 123
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 124
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 125
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 126
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 127
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 128
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 129
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 130
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 131
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 132
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 133
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 134
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 135
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 136
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 137
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 138
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 139
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 140
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 141
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 142
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Annotated Bibliography." National Research Council. 1990. Volunteers in Public Schools. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1458.
×
Page 143

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Appendix B Annotated Bibliography Ainsworth, Ellen. Parent involvement in schools: a parent's view. Thrust for Educational Leadership 6~3~:6~. 1977. The parent's perspective on school volunteer programs is presented by an education consultant with the League of Women Voters and a con- cerned parent. Ainsworth offers a rundown of likely problems as a help- ful warning to those who might expect a volunteer program to run smoothly on goodwill alone. On the district level, administrators are apt to ignore the help that volunteers have given, may have difficulty choosing mem- bers of advisory committees, must arrange training programs, and may encounter frustrations in the course of long-term projects. On the class- room level, teachers must learn to treat parents as coworkers, not rivals, and a coordinator must match volunteers' skills and personalities with needs. She offers suggestions and is convinced that parent volunteer programs do work, resulting in less alienation between the schools and the community. American Association of School Administrators (AASA). Citizens and the Schools: Partners in Education. Arlington, Va.: AASA. 1984. This booklet offers suggestions for citizens to become partners in edu- cation. It instructs them on how to get informed and involved. Those with a variety of skills and experiences may become volunteers and work in classrooms offering special help to children and assistance to teachers. Volunteers can also help children who have special needs. Citizens can participate in school board meetings by serving on task forces, joining the parent/community organization, and getting other organizations involved. 121

122 APPENDIX B Citizens can also speak up about concerns, including budget issues, re- membering that quality education may depend on their understanding and support. Arkell, R. N. Are student helpers helped? Psychology in the Schools 12(1):113-115. 1975. Using a nonequivalent control group design, the study found the three student-helper roles of tutor, clerical worker, and audiovisual operator ineffective in changing students' self-esteem, attitude toward school, per- formance in spelling, and achievement in arithmetic. Armstrong, Patricia M., Cherise Northcutt, and Patrick Davis. Year End Evaluation Reports, Project Years 1985-1986 and 1986-1987, Project Book Your Time. San Francisco School Volunteers, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, Calif. The report evaluates student achievement as measured by the Califor- nia Test of Basic Skills given by the San Francisco Unified School District. It also reviews questionnaires administered to teachers, students, and vol- unteers in an immigrant literacy project in which volunteers supplemented classroom activities by reading and listening to students. Some reading tutors were 5th grade students; others were adults. Test score data showed students in a school where the literacy project was implemented schoolwide (grades K-5) achieved greater gains in reading and language arts than students in a school in which only a few teachers participated. Both schools scored higher than control schools that did not have the program. Questionnaires showed positive reactions to the program by teachers and volunteers. Armstrong, Patricia M., Patrick Davis, and Cherise Northcutt. Final Evalu- ation Report, Project Year 1986-1987, Project Interconnections II. San Francisco School Volunteers, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, Calif. r An independent evaluation of a program designed to increase a group of high school students' oral proficiency in a foreign language by using volunteer college students to lead students in conversation found that the high school students were more confident and fluent in the foreign lan- guage at the end of the program and the college students were more likely to enter a career of foreign-language teaching.

APPENDIX B 123 Armstrong, Patricia M.. Final Evaluation Report, Project Focus. San Fran- cisco, Calif.: San Francisco Unified School District. 1985. The evaluation measured the quality and effectiveness of workshop presentations to volunteers, growth in volunteers' knowledge about learn- ing disabilities and tutoring techniques, and growth in students' basic skills. Techniques included subjective workshop feedback and pre- and pastiest scores of knowledge. Armstrong, Patricia M., and Amy Bassell Crowe. Final Evaluation Report, Project Math in Action. San Francisco, Calif.: San Francisco Unified School District. 1988. An evaluation of a 3-year demonstration project using volunteer teacher college students to help teachers implement cooperative learning and use of manipulatives in mathematics. Improvements were seen in student problem-solving performance and attitudes toward mathematics. Armstrong, Patricia M., and Mary lane Sims. Final Evaluation Report, Proj- ect Year 1987-1988, Project Think/Write. San Francisco, Calif.: San Fran- cisco Unified School District. 1988. Teachers and volunteers from business attended workshops taught by the Bay Area Writing Project. Business volunteers then went into class- rooms to help improve critical thinking and writing skills of middle and high school students as preparation for future employment. Data found positive impacts on students, volunteers, and teachers. Asche, lane A. Handbook for Principals and Teachers: A Collaborative Ap- proach to Effective Involvement of Business/Community Volunteers at the School Site. Alexandria, Va.: National Association of Partners in Edu- cation. 1989. This manual, developed under the joint sponsorship of the National Association of Partners in Education and the National Education Associa- tion, with cosponsorship by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, is aimed at helping principals, teachers, and volunteers work together effectively in schools and classrooms.

124 APPENDIX B Baker' Diane V. Effects of Different Volunteer/Tutee Combinations on the Reading and Mathematics Achievement and Self-Concept of Ele- mentary Tutees. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. College of Educa- tion, University of Miami. 1974. The researcher found that the reading and mathematics achievement of minority-group girls (black and Hispanic) was enhanced by assigning high school student volunteers of like race as tutors. On the other hand, white students achieved higher gains when tutored by adults (ages 22~0), as opposed to students (ages 1~21~. Banta, Trudy W., and Sandra S. Lawson. Evaluation of the Lenoir City, Ten- nessee, Schools Retirement Power in Education Project, 1979-1980. Univer- sity of Tennessee, Knoxville, Bureau of Educational Research and Serv- ice. 1980. One year after its inception a project was evaluated in which 14 volun- teers were trained to use Laubach reading materials to tutor 4th and 7th graders. This report provides a general program and location description, a review of the literature on volunteer tutoring programs, a discussion of program objectives, and interpretation of the data. The findings indicate that tutoring did not effect significant differences between tutored and nontutored students in reading achievement, absenteeism from school, attitude toward school, or grades. However, the one-to-one relationship with an adult role model was found to have a favorable impact on student self-concept, especially at the 4th grade level. Barth, Robert Conrad. Perceptions of Volunteers and Children Working in a Second Grade Language-Experience Reading Program. Unpub- lished doctoral dissertation. School of Education, Lehigh University. 1975. A major objective of the study was to investigate perceptions of volun- teers and children as to positive and negative critical incidents in a pro- gram of volunteers working with children in reading. No significant dif- ferences were found among positive or negative incidents reported by volunteers and children. Both perceived volunteer instructional activities as beneficial. The researcher concluded that the "critical incident tech- nique" can be effectively used with young children.

APPENDIX B 125 Bartholemew Consolidated School Corporation. School Volunteer Program Two-Year Evaluation Report. Columbus, Ind.: Bartholemew Consoli- dated School Corporation. 1980. This report evaluates a volunteer program established in the Bartholomew School Corporation. Areas identified for evaluation were (1) the fulfillment or achievement of program objectives; (2) measurable differences in the volunteers' attitudes toward the schooling process and parenting skills, as well as their self-concept development and locus of control; (3) general reactions and perceived impact of the program; (4) the effect of volunteer programs on student achievement; and (5) the cost- effectiveness of the program. Data were gathered from questionnaires and interviews. A copy of the questionnaire is included. Bechtold, Warren Willard. The Effect of a Tutorial Relationship Between High School Student Volunteers and Peer-Aged Moderately Retarded Students Participating in Individually Prescribed Programs of Physical Activity. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. School of Education, Bos- ton University. 1977. Twelve high school student volunteers worked one on one with 14 peer-aged moderately retarded students in Newton South High School and Peabody Special Education School on prescribed physical activities. The moderately retarded students improved significantly in gross motor proficiency and physical performance. The high school student volunteer tutor was positively influenced, cognitively and affectively, by the tutorial experience. Bernstein, Martha. Schools and volunteers. Childhood Education 59~2~: 100-101. 1982. Schools can work with organizations, businesses, and families to in- volve community volunteers in developing educational policy and fiscal resources and in providing classroom teaching activities. Bloom, B. S. The search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational Leadership 41~8~:4-17. 1984. This study found that with a trained tutor 98 percent of students aca- demically outperform those who are taught in conventional classrooms with 1 teacher to 30 students.

126 APPENDIX B Brock, Henry C., HI. Parent Volunteer Programs in Early Childhood Education. Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press. 1976. This book was written, according to Brock, "to provide a practical re- source for parents, teachers, librarians, and administrators-for all now involved, or considering becoming involved, in a parent volunteer pro- gram." There are chapters and subchapters on the need for parent volun- teers, financial considerations, parent volunteer program designs, program goals and objectives, screening and placement of volunteers and recogni- tion of their service, and evaluation of program objectives. Carney, John M., Judith E. Dobson, and Russell L. Dobson. Using senior citizen volunteers in the schools. journal of Humanistic Education and Development 25~3~:13~143. 1987. A grandparents' program of senior citizen volunteers was designed to provide elementary school children access to caring, supportive senior citizens and to provide opportunities for older adults to engage in mean- ingful activities in a school setting. Results of a program evaluation sup- port the value of the volunteer program for both children and adults. Carter, loan. Volunteers in public schools. School Business Affairs 48(10):16-17, 28-29. 1982. The Volunteers in Public Schools program in Volusia County, Florida, has brought expertise from the community to the classrooms, enabled school districts to stretch their resources, and generated support for the schools. The ways in which the program recmits, trains, utilizes, and recognizes its volunteers are discussed. Cherry, Charleen. Parents plant kindergarten . . . children blossom. Momentum 11~2~:1~17. 1980. Parent volunteers refurbished a vacant classroom to create a kindergar- ten and became involved as aides. The author discusses what motivates parents toward school volunteer work: concern for quality education, the need for work experience, and the friendships and personal satisfaction gained from volunteering. Clark, Donald, and James Hughes. Volunteerism in Special Education Through Industry-Education Cooperation. Buffalo, N.Y.: National Academy for Industry-Education Cooperation. August 1986. This report describes activities and products of a 3-year project to pre

APPENDIX B 127 pare private sector volunteers to become actively involved in special edu- cation through a networking system of industry-education partnerships. The project conducted workshops and produced a training package that includes a program development handbook and an instructor's guide. The handbook describes the principles, advantages, processes, and tech- niques for involving industry volunteers in special education. It includes seven program planning steps and implementation guidelines for man- agement orientation, community and public relations, recruitment of vol- unteers, performance monitoring, recognition and appreciation, and pro- gram evaluation. The guide also includes such information as position titles of target workshop participants, draft letters and brochures, a sug- gested workshop agenda, and evaluation forms. Cleveland, Linda Crawford. The Use of Community Volunteers in a Ru- ral Secondary School Gifted and Talented Program. Unpublished doc- toral dissertation. Florida State University. 1980. Thirty-one community volunteers were used to field-test a model de- veloped by the researcher in which members of the community served as adjunct instructional personnel for gifted and talented 12th grade stu- dents. Overall findings indicated the model could be implemented as a strategy for enriching the education of gifted and talented children in rural areas. Cohen, Neal M. Volunteerism in education: translating spirit into state action. Educational Horizons 60~3~:101-105. 1982. Criteria for implementation of school volunteer programs include ef- fective incentives, resources, and political and administrative feasibility. Alternatives for state action include maintaining current state policy, pro- viding leadership by endorsement and mandate, and enacting legislation to provide incentives for volunteerism. Cohen, Peter A., lames A. Kulik, and Chen-Lin C. Kulik. Educational out- comes of tutoring: a meta-analysis of findings. American Educational Research Journal 19~2~:237-248. 1982. A meta-analysis of findings on the educational outcomes of tutoring found positive effects on academic outcomes from both structured and unstructured tutoring programs in which students tutored other students, but effects were stronger in structured programs.

128 APPENDIX B Cone, Richard, and Judith Johnson. Volunteers in Education. Paper pre- sented at annual meeting of the American Educational Research Asso- ciation. New York City, April 1981. The results of nine studies evaluating the effectiveness of volunteer programs in schools were reviewed in an effort to answer three questions: What is the value of volunteers to schools? Why do people volunteer to work in classrooms? What is the effect of volunteering on the volunteer? Volunteers were from a university and a corporation in the late 1970s. The review points up the need for research specifically addressing the motivations for and benefits of volunteer activities. Cuninggim, Whitty. Citizen volunteers: a growing resource for teachers and students. Teaching Exceptional Children 12~31:10~112. 1980. The author offers guidelines for utilizing volunteers in educating handi- capped children. Several programs using volunteers are mentioned: the kindergarten screening project, listener program, primary classroom vol- unteers, and secondary school volunteers. The importance of teacher support is stressed. Steps for the teacher to follow for involving volun- teers in the classroom are reviewed. Cuninggim, Whitty, and Dorothy Mulligan. Volunteers and Children with Special Needs. Alexandria, Va.: National Association of Partners in Education. 1979. This report includes case studies of progams that use volunteers to help educate handicapped children and provides guidance for volunteers who work with handicapped children. Dade County Public Schools. School Volunteer Development Project. Mi- ami, Fla.: Dade County Public Schools. 1975. An evaluation of performance in reading and mathematics of students in grades 2~ compares those assisted by volunteer tutors with unaided students. The evaluation found a mean gain in grade equivalent of 1.02 for tutored students in reading, while those without tutoring gained 0.038 grades. In mathematics, the tutored groups' mean gain was 81 percent of a grade level, compared with a decline of 6 percent for the untutored. Dade County's School Volunteer Development Project was validated for national distribution by the Joint Dissemination Review Panel of the U.S. Office of Education as a National Diffusion Network program in 1981.

APPENDIX B 129 Dade County Public Schools. Evaluation of Training for Turnabout Volunteers. Miami, Fla.: Dade County Public Schools. 1980. This report on changes in reading and mathematics performance by students in grades 1 - who were tutored by students in grades 7-9 com- pared the effects achieved by tutors who were given special training with those achieved by untrained tutors working under teacher supervision. Dade County Public Schools. Evaluation of Adopt-A-Grandparent Program. Miami, Fla.: Dade County Public Schools. 1987. An evaluation of the 198~1986 Dade County Public Schools Adopt-A- Grandparent program showed that the program appeared to impact fa- vorably on all participating students' self-concepts and at-risk students' attitudes toward the elderly. Some positive impact was noted in senior citizen participants, particularly with respect to their levels of depression, but these changes were not as consistently positive as were those noted for students. Dolly, John P., and Patricia D. Page. The lack of parent participation in rural schools. Research in Rural Education 1~2~:5~57. 1983. Parents of rural students with low California Test of Basic Skills scores were provided with free training to serve as classroom volunteers. The study report notes that most parents refused to serve as volunteers, did not complete training, and refused to believe their children needed reme- diation because of conflicting grade reports. Eberwein, Lowell, Lois Hirst, and Susan Magedanz. An Annotated Bibliog- raphy on Volunteer Tutoring Programs. Lexington: University of Ken- tucky. 1976. The first section of this annotated bibliography is a selected review of research on the effects of volunteer tutoring. The second section reviews eight articles and books on training programs for tutors. Programs re- viewed included peer, cross-age, and adult tutors. Federal City Council. Scientists in the Classroom: One School District's Ex- perience with Science and Mathematics Volunteers in Elementary and Secon- dary Schools. Washington, D.C.: Federal City Council. 1987. Reports on a 2-year project funded by the Federal City Council to de- termine if scientists, engineers, and mathematicians, working or retired, could be recruited as volunteers to work in their disciplines in District of

130 APPENDIX B Columbia schools. The report concluded that volunteers are available in a metropolitan area, but teachers must be trained to work with other pro- fessionals. The project included an evaluation of the effects of the volun- teers on students' feelings about science and mathematics. The evaluation design is available. Filipczak, lames, Ann Lordeman, and Robert M. Friedman. Parental In- volvement in the Schools: Towards What End? Paper presented at an- nual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York City. April 1977. A comprehensive review of the literature on parental involvement casts a critical eye on the work done in four areas-volunteerism, parent-school communication, parent training, and policy making-and finds it gener- ally lacking in rigor. The literature often neglects to describe the causal relationships between increased parental involvement and its results, leav- ing the links to be inferred. The methodologies do not allow for careful measurement, and there is a paucity of follow-up information. In the field of volunteerism, for example, the literature extolls the virtues of various projects and outlines many ways of utilizing community resources. But for all the apparent success of these programs, little attention has been paid to measuring the outcomes or to evaluating the effect of volunteer activities on students, parents, teachers, and administrators. With such significant gaps in scholarship, the authors cannot help but reserve judg- ment on the worth of volunteer programs; more than plaudits are needed to demonstrate the value of parental involvement in the schools. The study includes an eight-page bibliography. Gordon, Ira. What Does Research Say About the Effects of Parent In- volvement on Schooling? Paper prepared for annual meeting of the As- sociation for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 1978. Sum- mary taken from The Evidence Continues to Grow; Parent Involvement Im- proves Student Achievement, an annotated bibliography, Anne Hender- son, ea., National Center for Citizens in Education, Columbia, Md. 1987. Gordon, developer of the Follow Through program, reviews pertinent research on parent involvement, including the School Impact Model, which involves direct participation by parents in the schools, from volunteering to serving on governance councils. He found almost no research on the effects of the school impact model on student achievement, partially be- cause it is much more difficult to study.

APPENDIX B 131 Gottesman, Ruth L., Frances M. Cerullo,and Ruth G. Nathan. Helping the Child with Learning Disabilities: A School Volunteer's Guide. New York: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University. (In collabora- tion with the New York City School Volunteer Program, Inc.) The manual explains the nature of learning disabilities and offers guid- ance to volunteers who work with learning disabled children. Gray, Sandra T. Increase productivity with volunteers. School Business Affairs 50(2):18, 36. 1984. Advantages of volunteer programs including school business partner- ships are described. Among them are lower costs, improving productiv- ity, increasing student achievement, and expanding community support. Hints for successful implementations are offered. Halperin, Samuel, and Daniel W. Merenda. Noble Allies: Volunteers in the Schools. Washington, D.C.: Council for Basic Education. 1986. The need for and benefits of school volunteer programs are examined. The authors discuss the kinds of help citizen volunteers can offer, main- tain that volunteers mean better schools, suggest new missions and new roles for volunteers, and point out that the business community's greatest contribution will come through activities that support not one but all schools. Ham, Wayne Albert. Effects of a Voluntary Tutor Program on Self-Es- teem and Basic Skills Achievement in the Primary Grades of a Southern Rural School System. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Florida. 1977. The purpose of the study was to determine what effects, if any, volun- teer tutors might have on primary students in terms of academic achieve- ment and self-esteem and whether it was worth the time, finances, and manpower required of a small rural school district to set up a volunteer tutoring program. Ham concluded that volunteer tutoring in basic skills, such as that which took place during the study, affected achievement scores positively in the areas of curriculum addressed directly by the tutoring effort. Language arts and reading scores showed "significant gains," but mathematics was less affected. However, it was clear that "a modest expenditure of funds may bring to pass significant gains in vo- cabulary, reading comprehension, and language expression."

132 APPENDIX B Hedges, Henry G. Using Volunteers in Schools: Final Report. Ontario Insti- tute for Studies in Education, St. Catherines Niagara Center. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Department of Education. 1972. The two main sections of this report describe the general model for the Volunteer Parental Involvement Program and provide program documen- tation. The model is accompanied by materials developed for its implem- entation in schools. The report includes an evaluation of volunteer use in three schools, an analysis of the findings, and a general and selected bibli- ography. Hedin, Diane. Students as teachers: a tool for improving school climate and productivity. Social Policy 17~3~:42~7. 1987. The article describes current use of peer and cross-age teaching; ex- pected benefits to tutees, tutors, teachers, and society; and research on educational outcomes. The author believes peer and cross-age tutoring is less widely used than it should be because of lack of awareness on the part of teachers and administrators of the power of such interventions or lack of information about how to organize programs. Herzig, Shoshana. Junior high school students as teaching aides. Arith- metic Teacher 21~4~:33~335. 1974. The use of student aides to help implement and staff a mathematics laboratory is discussed. The actual types of help given are presented, as well as the effect the program had on the aides themselves as they were able to demonstrate acceptance of responsibility and gain self-confidence from the experience. Hickey, Howard W. Community education's implications for teaching. journal of Teacher Education 28~4~:19-20. 1977. Hickey notes a growing movement to break down the walls between the community and the classroom. '~Volunteers can offer their expertise and experience, as well as their concern, and community activities can offer the most stimulating classroom of all." He suggests the major ob- stacle to community education is not logistics, finances, or politics but educators' attitudes. '`They should continue to make the crucial decisions about the most rewarding environment for learning, but they must some- times relinquish their podiums to the unacknowledged experts around us the veteran next door, the musician across the street, or the service station owner down the block."

APPENDIX B 133 Hill, Corrine Paxman. A Comparative Study of Formal Volunteer Pro- grams in Educational Settings. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. De- ~artment of Educational Administration, University of Utah. 1980. . Data were collected from 58 school volunteer programs and 20 were judged to be outstanding in a national contest sponsored by the National School Volunteer Program. Components of the programs were classified by frequency, producing a checklist of elements characteristic of an effec- tive school volunteer program. Organization and management were found to be key factors in determining successful programs; senior citizens were the most likely candidates to fill gaps left by mothers who have entered the work force; volunteers who are specifically trained to work with the handicapped are becoming increasingly important; and students who are being served by volunteers have been all but ignored in evaluating those programs. Holzmiller, Robert Joseph. Using Volunteer Aides in a K-5 Elementary School. Unpublished doctoraldissertation. University of Arizona. 1982. The study found that teachers at an elementary school believed volun- teers in clerical, supervisory, and noninitiated instructional tasks had very positive effects on their ability to teach students. Peer, student, and par- ent aides were helpful, but teachers most strongly supported community aides. In classrooms where volunteers were used, students exceeded an- ticipated achievement in reading and grammar as the result of teachers having more instructional time and as a result of activities by the volun- teers themselves. lamer, T. Margaret. School Volunteers. New York: Public Education Asso- ciation. 1961. This is a general review of school volunteering. It includes chapters on organizing volunteer programs, administering them, selecting schools, preparing staff, recruiting and interviewing volunteers, and providing them with orientation. Another chapter profiles volunteers by age, educational background, and paid work experience. Another lists the different kinds of work volunteers can do and appraises volunteer programs in general. '~Whatever the paths may be that the School Volunteer Program will fol- low," Tamer says, "it Grill continue to be true, as many teachers are now aware, that a volunteer can enrich the day for a child and that good must accrue whenever a good adult gives added attention to a child."

134 APPENDIX B Janowitz, Gayle. Helping Hands: Volunteer Work in Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1965. This is a seminal research book on the subject of school volunteers. lanowitz began working with volunteers in tutoring and homework help in 1962, at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club Study Center in Chicago, applying the philosophy of respect for individual children that she had acquired from work with Bruno Bettelheim. In 1964, she started a 3-year demonstration and evaluation program with the support of the U.S. Of- fice of Education, "to help improve our understanding of the problems of academic achievement and the role of the volunteer in education." The book was written while this research was still in progress. Karnes, Merle B. The use of volunteers and parents in mainstreaming. Viewpoints in Teaching and Learning 55~3~:11 56. 1979. Feasible ways of mainstreaming the preschool child are viewed, and alternative ways of using volunteers and parents in this effort are deline- ated. Katz, Douglas S. Planning to use volunteers. Voc. Ed. 58~3~:28-29. April 1983. Extensive planning by group process is important for establishing suc- cessful volunteer programs, as demonstrated by the process developed and tested in a number of demonstration programs nationwide. Katz, Douglas S. Volunteers and Voc Ed. Information Series 271, National Center for Research in Vocational Education. Columbus: Ohio State University. 1984. This report describes the benefits to vocational educators of involving volunteers in vocational programs and presents a model for planning and implementing a volunteer program. Guidelines are presented for moni- toring program progress and evaluating the effects of the program. It includes a bibliography of related readings. Lefkowitz, Leon l. Paraprofessionals: an administration/school board conspiracy? Phi Delta Kappan 54~8~:546 547. 1973. The failure of the teaching profession to react to the infiltration of para- professionals into the teaching ranks, a board conspiracy, suggests that teachers are doomed to second-class status.

APPENDIX B 135 Lewis, Mary Woolsey. Volunteer Programs for Secondary Schools. Palo Alto, Cal: RUE Research Associates, Inc. 1978. A handbook for teachers, administrators, volunteers, and especially volunteer coordinators, it describes the steps in program development; the responsibilities, resources, and rights of volunteers; and benefits to teachers and their concerns. McClure, Milton Andrew. A Clinical Approach to Remedial Reading in the Secondary School Using Volunteer Community Aides: A Pilot Study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. School of Education, Boston Uni- versity. 1973. The purpose of the study was to determine whether use of volunteer community aides in remedial reading classes at the high school level under direct supervision and guidance of a reading specialist would show a difference in reading attainment in contrast to classes where aides were not used. The study also attempted research on the proper use of teacher aides in the classroom. The period of time devoted to the study (9 weeks) was judged insufficient. It was hard to find volunteer aides, and reading classes lacked sufficient programmed materials. The researcher found no cognitive improvement, but attendance of students appeared to improve. Merenda, Daniel W., Richard A. Lacey, and Virginia Robinson, eds. A Practical Guide to Creating and Managing School/Community Partnerships. Alexandria, Nla.: National Association of Partners in Education. 1986. The manual uses the 12-step process for program development, which sets forth a systematic approach to planning, implementing, and evaluat- ing school volunteer programs. The manual is the curriculum for training academies in which teams from schools are trained to develop programs responsive to local needs and instructional objectives. It includes work- sheets and self-assessments to be completed by participants for each chap- ter and an extensive appendix of sample matenals. Mosley, Elaine S. Christi. The Effects of a Classroom Volunteer Program on Achievement, Self-Concept, and Behavior Among Primary Grade Pupils. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Oklahoma. 1982. The researcher developed a volunteer program in four primary class- rooms in each of four experimental schools; three classrooms from each of two schools served as controls. Tutoring was a major component of the

136 APPENDIX B volunteer program; volunteers were recruited and trained by the researcher. Findings did not show statistical evidence of positive effects of volunteers on achievement, self-concept, and school behavior, but the researcher remains convinced that trained volunteers working in classrooms are of vital importance to the quality of learning in public schools. Mott Institute for Community Improvement. The Use of School Volunteers. East Lansing: Michigan State University. 1973. The problems of using school volunteers are, according to this report from the Mott Institute, "more than offset by the results better commu- nity in which to educate children and adults." The bulk of the report covers the process of developing a program. There is a general discussion of problems encountered in program development, with suggestions for overcoming them, such as recruiting volunteers for a trial commitment of 8 weeks rather than the typical indefinite commitment and allowing pro- spective volunteers to participate in the development of their job descrip- tions. Nathan, foe. Wanted? School volunteers. Teacher 97~1~:71-75. 1979. Criticisms of school volunteer programs are discussed. The report suggests ways to counteract these concerns with a well-planned program. Appended is a directory listing three nationally validated volunteer pro- grams and three other resource agencies. Newman, Sally, Cindy Kramer, Charles Lyons, Rita O'Kane, and Eve Siegel. Manual for Developing Intergenerational Programs in Schools. Alexandria, Va.: National Association of Partners in Education. 1987. The manual is intended to guide school systems through systematic procedures that will result in the creation of successful intergenerational programs. An intergenerational program is defined as "planned activities and experiences that are designed to bring the generations together for their mutual benefit." The authors are from the Generations Together project, Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the San Francisco School Volunteer Program. An in- troduction discusses, '~Why Intergenerational Programs in Schools?" Plantec, Peter M., Joyce Hospodar, and Barbara Paramore. Final Report on the Evaluation of Project Upswing's First Year. Silver Spring, Md.: Op- erations Research, Inc. 1972. This technical report describes the evaluation of the first year of Project

APPENDIX B 137 Upswing, a 2-year experimental study to determine the potential contri- bution of volunteers in helping young children overcome learning diffi- culties. Two groups of 1st grade children received tutoring from either trained or untrained volunteers; a third group received no tutoring. Vol- ume I of the report profiles the participants. Volume II provides an analy- sis of tutoring results and final impressions of the project. An appendix gives facsimiles of evaluation questionnaires. Powell, Bob. Volunteers in the schools: a positive approach to schooling. National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin 70~494~:32-34. 1986. The article describes the benefit of parent volunteer programs in schools, including maximizing teacher effectiveness and broadening parents' knowl- edge and appreciation of the educational process. It provides parent and teacher testimony and helpful hints for starting a successful volunteer program. The key is one principal's involvement. Powers, Louis I. The Effectiveness of Volunteer College Student Helpers in Improving the Social and Academic Behaviors in Educable Mentally Retarded Children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Oregon. 1974. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of college student helpers in modifying the academic and deviant social behaviors of mentally retarded children in special education classrooms. A secon- dary consideration was to determine if teachers trained in the use of be- havior modification strategies would be more effective in bringing about such changes than teachers who were untrained in the use of those tech- niques. Powers found that reading achievement was significantly increased in all three groups after the college students assisted. Arithmetic achieve- ment showed less improvement. Deviant social behavior also decreased when the students helped, although there was no more improvement when teachers were trained in behavior modification. Rauner, Judy. People who need people the volunteer component. Momentum 16~3~:35-37. 1985. The article explains steps in developing a volunteer program in a school. It also looks at trends in the number of volunteers, the competition for their services, volunteer expectations, and strength through networking.

138 APPENDIX B Recruitment Leadership and TrainingInstitute. Volunteers in Education. Philadelphia, Pa.: Recruitment Leadership and Training Institute. 1975. This is a handbook for coordinators of volunteer programs, with chap- ters on funding sources and proposal preparation, organizing and devel- oping a volunteer program, administering a program, recruiting volun- teers, interviewing and assigning them, providing volunteer orientation and training as well as orientation and training of professional personnel, using students as volunteers, maintaining volunteer morale, and evaluat- ing volunteer programs. Reisner, Elizabeth R., Christene A. Petry, and Michele Armitage. A Re- view of Programs Involving College Students as Tutors or Mentors in Grades K-12. Washington, D.C.: Policy Studies Associates, Inc. 1989. A survey and analysis were conducted of programs in colleges and universities in which college students served as volunteers in elementary and secondary schools. The study was mandated by the U.S. Congress in 1987 to determine whether college students can be effective tutors of chil- dren in Chapter I compensatory education programs. Rick, Susan Snell. The Effects of a Volunteer Tutoring Program for First Graders with Learning Problems. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. St. Louis University. 1975. The study attempted to determine if 1st graders with learning prob- lems who are provided one-to-one volunteer tutorial assistance make greater gains in measures of reading, visual-motor integration, basic expe- riences, and intelligence than those not receiving one-tomne tutorial assis- tance. Rick concluded that there was greater mean improvement in read- ing by the tutored children than by those who were not tutored. Ruffin, Santee C., Jr. School-business partnerships: why not? Journal of Educational Public Relations 7~2~:4-9. 1984. The article describes a volunteer program that used retired people to work in their neighborhood schools. Volunteers received training and provided an invaluable resource for students and teachers. Sawyer, Diane I. Preparing volunteer tutors. The Cleaning House 51~4~:52-56. 1977. The author points out that one-to-one tutoring is judged necessary for

APPENDIX B 139 many disabled readers, but it is simply too costly to allocate the time of highly trained teachers to cover the magnitude of tutorial services that might be identified in any given school district. Volunteer or peer tutor- ing programs continue to be suggested as alternative means for providing one-to-one instruction in reading, but in practice tutoring programs are not generally successful over any long period of timee Sawyer believes this is because coordination of such programs tends to be informal and "added on" to the responsibilities of some interested teacher. She offers a brief orientation guide that teachers and administrators might use as the foundation for training sessions with inexperienced volunteers. Schaffner, Deanne. A Study of the Effectiveness of Volunteers in the Classroom. Unpublished master's thesis. College of Education, Uni- versity of Central Florida. 1987. A survey was distributed to all instructional personnel in every ele- mentary school (grades K-5) in Seminole County, Florida, asking if they had used volunteers, for how many hours a week, and the teachers' per- ceptions of the value of volunteers. Volunteers were perceived to make a difference in the classroom and to positively affect student learning and attitude. Schulze, Sally Reddig. Evaluation of a Paraprofessional/Volunteer Pro- gram to Improve the Reading, Language, and Math Skills of Dyslexic Students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Department of Educa- tion, Case Western Reserve University. 1979. Would a paraprofessional/volunteer program help solve the academic problems of dyslexic students by improving reading, language, and math skills? Schulze concluded that "paraprofessionals/volunteers can help dyslexic students achieve significant academic gains." Seeley, David. Teachers' Choice: Whether to Accept the Bureaucratic Structure or Change to a New Partnership Model. Paper prepared for a symposium of the American Educational Research Association, Chi- cago, Illinois, 1985. Seeley says most public school systems operate on the "delegation/ service delivery,' model, in which teachers are the lowest-rung bureau- cratic functionaries. He proposes a partnership model in which education is seen as a responsibility shared by many people who help a child learn. He discusses the advantages and drawbacks for teachers who share power with nonprofessionals.

140 APPENDIX B Shannon, Thomas A. Build support through volunteers. The American School Board journal 170~1~:38,42. Alexandria, Va. Shannon, executive director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA), cites a resolution adopted by NSBA's Delegate Assembly that reads: "NSBA urges local school districts to use volunteers as a means of enriching the learning experiences of students and to build school-com- munity ties." He notes benefits to the instructional program, such as helping children to learn how to deal constructively with adults, and he describes volunteers as a "safety valve" for teachers. Reasons for hesi- tancy in using volunteers include lack of dependability and the "author- ity" issue-"the state turns its children over" to people who are qualified. Slater, Marcia. Volunteers in the schools: a gift of service. OSSC Bulletin 23(2):1-37. 1979. Increasing expenditures for education and a desire to more directly involve the public in the education of children have led many school districts to seek the assistance of school volunteers. This guidebook by the Oregon School Study Council (OSSC) discusses the growth of the volunteer movement, suggests procedures for establishing an organized school program, and appraises potential problems that might be encoun- tered. An extensive appendix supplements the general text by offering specific suggestions for setting up, promoting, and recognizing volunteer- ism in the schools. Steele, Sara. Extension-volunteer partnerships: cooperation with other agencies. National Accountability Study and Evaluation of Extension and Volunteers. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1988. A 5-year (198~1988) study was conducted by the Division of Continu- ing and Vocational Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was sponsored by the Cooperative Extension System of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One of five format papers on Extension-Volunteer Part- nerships deals with cooperation with other agencies, including schools. Researchers conducted interviews with teachers, students, and volunteers in 12 counties in 12 states where extension volunteers worked in school projects involving curriculum, enrichment, and special cooperation. De- scriptions are anecdotal; each includes a brief conclusion about the value of the project.

APPENDIX B 141 Streit, John Frederick. The Effect of an Instructional Volunteer Program on an Elementary School. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Wayne State University. 1975. The researcher surveyed volunteer effectiveness with children, training and placement of instructional volunteers, the volunteer-teacher relation- ship, and the impact of instructional volunteers on parents and the public. Survey results showed that students who were taught reading skills by volunteers made progress; there was positive change in attitude, social adjustment, overall academic achievement, and letter grades. The re- searcher found a discrepancy between what volunteers can do and what teachers will allow them to do and between what volunteers were trained to do and what they were asked to do by teachers. Teacher effectiveness was greater because of the instructional volunteer, but some teachers viewed instructional volunteers as a threat. Parents whose children worked with an instructional volunteer positively supported the program. Sullivan, George, and Carol Florio. Policy 7~3~:103-106. 1976. Senior citizens in education. Social The authors describe a survey by the Academy for Education Develop- ments, Inc., New York City, of 2,140 public school districts and 1,170 colleges and universities to determine how many people aged 65 and over were employed or contributing their services to education, what they were doing, and how well they were doing. Their report discusses volunteers, noting that traditionally the classroom has been the sacrosanct domain of the teacher and traces of this attitude linger. Taltavull, Frances Adeline. An Investigation of the Effect of Volunteer Tutors and Readers on Reading Achievement of Fifth Grade Pupils in an Inner City School. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Temple Uni- versity. 1974. A volunteer program was established in Philadelphia in 1963 as a pilot project cosponsored by the Citizens' Committee on Public Education and the School District. The researcher asked whether a tutoring program utilizing volunteer tutors can raise the reading achievement level of dis- advantaged pupils. In the study, no control was exerted over the type of tutoring done; tutoring and reading sessions were limited to one 45-minute period per week for 8 weeks. Students made small gains, but they were not statistically significant and may have been due to the regular instructional program. The researcher recommended training for volun- teers and two or three tutoring sessions per week for a full school year.

142 APPENDIX B Tierce, ferry Wood. The Role of the Secondary School Volunteer as Per- ceived by School Volunteer Coordinators. Unpublished doctoral dis- sertation. Texas A&M University. 1982. A survey of coordinators of volunteer programs examined functions and tasks of secondary school volunteers and coordinators' perceptions of the difficulties, strengths, and domains for improvement of secondary volunteer programs. - -r Tierce, ferry Wood, and Wayne C. Seelbach. Elders as school volunteers: an untapped resource. Educational Gerontology 13~1~:33 41. 1987. The article reviews the role and scope of school volunteerism and sug- gests ways to integrate Retired Senior Volunteer Program participants into school volunteer programs. The authors conclude that schools need the assistance of volunteers and that elders can benefit from serving in such socially meaningful roles. Vassil, Thomas V., Oliver C. Harris, and Donald V. Fandetti. The Percep- tion of Public School Administrators Regarding Community Education Pro- grams Sponsored by Maryland State Department of Education. Baltimore, Md.: Maryland State Department of Education. 1988. Data were collected by questionnaires completed by school principals and program coordinators on volunteer services to schools in Maryland. Volunteer services were found to be widely used throughout the school system in various ways such as assisting teachers, providing support for administrative and clerical services, and tutoring students. School pro- grams have been impacted positively by volunteer services, including an increase in resources for instructional programs, improvement in students' behavior, and more use of school facilities after regular school hours. Volunteer services were perceived as making a significant contribution to school programs. Walter, Franklin B. Volunteers . . . a vital resource for our schools. School Slate 485~June):2. 1988. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Walter notes that Ohio's Minimum Standards for Elementary and Secondary Schools support in- volvement of volunteers in schools, and the Ohio Department of Educa- tion endorses the use of volunteers in schools. The article was published in the newsletter of the State of Ohio Board of Education.

APPENDIX B 143 Wyckoff, Lorna M. School volunteers face the issues. Phi Delta Kappa n 58~101:755-756. 1977. In this editorial director's report on a 1977 National School Volunteer Program conference, Wyckoff notes that the very success of volunteer projects has unsettled many professionals. The relationship between the educator and the volunteer remains unclear and is potentially volatile. The author wonders, for example, what would happen if teachers went on strike. A massive volunteer program might well undermine the walkout and force teachers back into the classroom with their demands unmet. Recent history already includes examples of principals and superinten- dents who have tried to keep school doors open with the help of volun- teer aides. There is also fear that these days of budget constraints may lead to the permanent displacement of professionals by unpaid citizens.

Next: Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff »
Volunteers in Public Schools Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $50.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Among the most prominent of President Bush's "thousand points of light" are volunteers who work with our nation's students. The last several decades show considerable growth in the numbers of school volunteers, with increasing participation by people from the business community, retired citizens, and college students, in addition to the traditionally active mothers of school children.

Yet, we must do more to ensure the success of volunteer programs in schools. It is not enough to assume that any volunteer effort will produce results, nor is it wise to use volunteers simply because they are "free."

This new volume from the National Research Council provides the first overview ever compiled of volunteer activity in U.S. public schools—reporting on how volunteers are being used in schools, what factors make programs successful, what further research will enhance our ability to create good programs, and what directions our national policy should take.

Included in this study of volunteers in public schools are the reports of the committee's site visits to 13 volunteer programs identified as "exemplary" from Boston Partners in Education to "Project Rescue" for dropout prevention in Corsicana, Texas. Each site report describes local economic conditions and their effects on education, the organization and size of the school system, and the volunteer program—with details on how each program functions and what results have been achieved.

This book will be immediately useful to federal, state, and local policymakers, school boards and administrators, principals and teachers, PTA members, business firms involved with schools, and, of course, managers or coordinators of volunteer activities and concerned volunteers.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!