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5
Some Exemplary
Volunteer Programs
Supplementing the analysis of available data and the review of the
research literature, committee members and staff made 13 site visits to
"exemplary" volunteer programs. The main purpose of the visits, fulfill-
ing a major study objective, was to provide committee members with
first-hand exposure to a variety of volunteer programs, to talk with and
question those involved in giving and receiving services, and to interact
with policy makers and teachers. The visits also resulted in a detailed
description of each program based on personal observation, as well as
analysis of data and materials on the program. This chapter presents
summaries of the committee's observations and findings from the site
visits.
Most visits involved teams of two or three members and staff for 1 or 2
days: 11/2 days at the site and 1/2 day for reviewing and consolidating
notes and other information materials. During the visits, extensive inter-
views were conducted with the volunteer coordinator or other person re-
sponsible for the operation of the program at the city or district level.
Interviews were also conducted when possible with the school superin-
tendent and other top administrative or policy officials and at building
sites with the principal, teachers, and the school volunteer coordinator. In
many instances, interviews were also held with volunteers and students.
Interview guides for each of these groups were prepared to help assure
that some agreed-on core questions would be asked at all sites. These site
visits and interviews could not confer instant expertise, but they did serve
to give the committee and staff a feeling for what volunteers actually do,
how the different levels of the school system view such programs, and
how each of the programs is organized and operated.
44
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
45
Without exception, all of the site visit hosts were extremely coopera-
tive, willingly answering all questions and helping the team see specific
instances of exemplary use of volunteers. Although the case histories in
this chapter are based on materials supplied at each site as well as notes
from interviews and observations, the committee takes responsibility for
the descriptions and observations.
Selection of sites was based on programs suggested by state and local
coordinators of volunteer services organizations, including the National
School Volunteers Program (now the National Association of Partners in
Education), the National Education Association, the National PTA, the
National School Boards Association, and others.
Recognizing the difficulty of selecting a few programs that are labeled
as exemplary, the committee established the following criteria for a pro-
gram to be selected:
· have administrative- and policy-level support and show evidence of
sound organization and management;
· have written goals and objectives, clearly defined, based on school
or district priorities and supported by a needs assessment process;
have a written plan of action (i.e., procedures for administering pro-
gram design);
be largely student centered and involve human interaction;
collect data and information (e.g., the number of volunteers used,
number of students served) and conduct periodic evaluations of
progress made toward goals and objectives; and
· have been in operation for at least 2 years.
In addition, an effort was made to select programs from different parts of
the country and from small and medium-sized as well as large school
districts. The committee also attempted to select programs representing a
variety of organizational arrangements.
The number of programs visited was limited by the time and funds
available. Although the programs reviewed met the criteria established
for "exemplary" programs, the committee was very much aware that there
are dozens, probably hundreds, of others that are as good or possibly
even better. The descriptions of the 13 programs in this chapter (pre-
sented in alphabetical order) should be regarded, therefore, as illustrative
of some of the many models that have been developed in different parts
of this country, largely over the last two decades.
The committee recognized the existence of unsuccessful programs. To
deal with this issue, several such programs were identified, and persons
were interviewed to provide some insight as to why the programs were
unsuccessful. Furthermore, the committee also questioned persons inter
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46
VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
viewed during site visits about problems they encountered and how they
resolved them. We asked questions about what inhibited successful op-
eration such as what happens when administrators, teachers, or teacher
organizations are disinterested or even hostile toward use of volunteers,
questions on recruitment problems, adequate screenings, liability issues,
commitment problems, and others-that the committee had identified as
possible inhibiting or even negative factors. Our findings from the inter-
views are addressed in the next chapter on factors in school volunteerism.
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
The visit was to the primarily Teaching-Learning Communities (T-LC)
program, an intergenerational program housed in the Scarlett Middle
School in Ann Arbor. The committee also visited briefly a T-LC program
in one elementary school, Carpenter Elementary. In the T-LC program,
senior citizens are recruited from the community to work with students.
The program emphasizes development of relationships across generations,
with the major goal of enhancing the self-esteem of both volunteers and
students. The major focus is on working with youths who are at risk of
dropping out. A component of the secondary school T-LC program in-
volves college students from the University of Michigan who perform
much the same functions as the senior volunteers.
Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, is a medium-sized
university town, with traditionally high expectations of its public schools.
The-community recently approved a $30 million bond issue for education,
although 70 percent of the population has no children in school. The
district's 14,000 students attend 3 high schools, 5 middle schools, and 22
elementary schools. Overall, the T-LC program operates in 2 middle
schools, 2 high schools, and 12 elementary schools in the district-just
over one-half of all schools.
An Ann Arbor elementary school art teacher developed the T-LC pro-
gram almost 20 years ago and is now coordinator of the T-LC program in
Ann Arbor secondary schools. Another coordinator has responsibility for
the program in elementary schools. The T-LC program is strongly sup-
ported by the Ann Arbor Education Association, an affiliate of the Na-
tional Education Association, which was instrumental in obtaining fund-
ing for the program in its early years. The NEA cites the program as a
model teacher-created and -supported volunteer activity.
The senior volunteers act in specific roles. As mentors, they may talk
with students, usually at least once a week, by telephone or in person,
helping with concerns about doing well in school or problems with friends
or at home. As career guides, they visit schools to explain and discuss their
careers. As tutors, they work with individual children on mastery and
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
47
practice. As "grandpersons," they go to school, perhaps once a week, to
help with creative projects in arts or humanities and their relationship to
learning in the areas of basic skills. Because the intergenerational pro-
gram is based on mutual learning and teaching by volunteers and stu-
dents, the program is "constantly reinvented," with activities depending
on the particular strengths and needs of individual students and volun-
teers as well as the needs of teachers and administrators in the school.
Currently, there are 95 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 94, 60 in
elementary schools and 35 in middle schools and high schools; 40 percent
are men, and approximately 30 percent are minorities.
The program director explained that it is a fundamental tenet of T-LC
that volunteers as well as students learn on the job, so she does little or no
training of volunteers beyond a 2-hour orientation. Screening of volun-
teers for the secondary school program is also minimal; the director says
that the program is inclusive rather than exclusive and that she would
rarely screen anyone out. However, paid school personnel work closely
with volunteers so that liability issues are covered and the volunteer has
support when needed.
The principal of Scarlett Intermediate was supportive of the T-LC pro-
gram. He indicated that in his building the coordinator has responsibility
for the program, including record-keeping on volunteers and assignments.
At the district level, the superintendent and assistant superintendent for
community relationships expressed approval of the T-LC program. They
also explained that Ann Arbor has volunteer facilitators or coordinators in
other areas such as tutoring in the high schools and a Partners for Excel-
lence Program with local businesses, separate from the T-LC program.
The teachers' union supports volunteer programs, and teachers welcome
the extra help, they said.
For the program as a whole, evaluations have been conducted since
1975; generally, these are opinion forms that are filled out by students,
teachers, principals, and volunteers, with responses scaled from 1 ("defi-
nitely yes") to 5 ("definitely now. These evaluations are overwhelmingly
positive about the program. In addition, the college students in the secon-
dary schools, but not the senior volunteers, are evaluated by teachers. In
1987, data collection began on grades, test scores, and attendance.
The committee found a great deal of commitment and caring among
volunteers in the T-LC program, and teachers and volunteers were uni-
formly positive about the program.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Partners in Education (BPIE), known as School Volunteers for
Boston before 1988, is an independent, apolitical, multicultural organiza
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48
VOLIINTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
tion with the mission of strengthening the education experience of the
city's public school students. Serving a school system with a large popu-
lation of students scoring much lower than the national medians for read-
ing and math on national standardized educational tests, this volunteer
service organization works with the school system in a broad array of
activities.
The 118 Boston public schools serve approximately 58,600 students: 48
percent are black, 18 percent Hispanic, 8 percent Asian, and 26 percent
white. Analysis of Metropolitan Achievement Tests (MAT) scores showed
that close to one-half of all Boston public school students need remedia-
tion and probably have difficulty understanding their textbooks. As in
other cities, most of these students are black and Hispanic; much of the
effort of BPIE is directed to working with these youngsters.
The initial operation in 1966 consisted of 28 volunteers in six Boston
schools and has grown every year. By 1968 the number was 450; by 1975
it was over 2,000; by 1988 the Lumber was nearly 4,200 persons.
The Boston school volunteer effort was established in 1966 with a Ford
Foundation grant to the Public Education Association. Having pioneered
a small but promising school volunteer program in New York City schools
in 1956, the PEA proposed in 1964 to become a national organization,
developing similar progress in the 20 largest cities, including Boston. The
grant specified that funding was for the purpose of establishing a national
office, including field workers who would identify individuals or agen-
cies in cities willing to design and find funds for a program suited to the
particular city. The Council for Public Schools, which already sponsored
educational projects in Boston, expressed interest in initiating a school
volunteer program with the help of the newly''formed National School
Volunteer Program and worked out a plan with the Boston School De-
partment. This agreement stipulated that if volunteers were to be permit-
ted in the schools it would have to be under the auspices of a capable and
responsible agency that would provide adequate training. Moreover, be-
fore placement of any volunteer, a request would have to be made from a
particular school. This practice became and still is the program's policy.
From the beginning the decision was made to operate the school volun-
teers unit in Boston as a nonprofit organization working with the schools.
The organization had to raise funds for operating expenses from private
foundations and business sources, and it involved the business commu-
nity from the start. Early recruitment efforts enlisted organizations with a
history of volunteer activity, including Junior League, Radcliff Alumnae
Association, B'nai Brith, and others. The volunteers themselves were
mainly middle-aged, well-educated, and concerned women. Their efforts
were so well received by the formerly skeptical teachers that demands for
more help increased each year. As the program expanded, we were told
OCR for page 49
SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
~9
it continued to attract middle-income-level women, suburban housewives
with former roots in the city, and then men and women with social con-
cerns willing to donate their time. Appeals to the business community re-
sulted in cooperation from a number of corporations, which allowed
employees a few hours a week for volunteer work. Another major source
tapped was the large college population in the greater Boston area.
By 1972 the organization sought independence from the Council for
Public Schools and became the School Volunteers for Boston. In 1988
pursuing a broader mandate, the organization, still operating as a non-
profit organization with a board of directors, changed its name to Boston
Partners in Education. Although placement of volunteers in schools re-
mains the major emphasis, BPIE has expanded its goals and activities.
Now included are social intervention services, such as a family support
network that provides training and information services for families, as
well as linkage of families with schools and other community service
providers. BPIE also uses staff experts to provide management, consult-
ing, and training services to educators, businesses, and community or-
ganizations.
Nova one of the largest of the big-city volunteer organizations in the
nation, BPIE operates with a budget of over $800,000 and a staff of 25 full-
and part-time professionals and 10 consultants. About 25 percent of the
funds come from the Boston Public Schools under a contract that includes
state funds to aid in the desegregation process; about 60 percent of the
funds are from foundations and businesses; and 15 percent come from
individual contribution or fee-for-service activities.
One of the most active BPIE programs, in which large numbers of
volunteers are involved, comes under the heading of enrichment. More
than 1,100 people in the 1987-1988 school year enhanced the curriculum
with music, art, peace and justice issues, blaclc history, colonial history,
law-related education, alcohol and drug awareness, multicultural studies,
and science. Intergenerational programs were another large activity: more
than 1,100 volunteers participated in interview, oral history, advocacy,
and other programs both in schools and in senior citizen centers, nursing
homes, and other facilities for older adults.
Tutoring of reading, math, English as a second language, writing, and
computer use was another extensive area of activity. About 642 persons
gave weekly tutoring assistance under the direction of teachers in regular
and special education classes. Mentoring activities from 347 business vol-
unteers helped students achieve better grades, improve attendance, and
plan for higher education. Another 25 persons served as listener/mentors
supporting potentially at-risk students through one-on~ne sessions. Read-
ing aloud was a supporting activity for 256 volunteers working with ele-
mentary school children. Another 230 volunteers gave presentations on
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50
VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
their careers, trying to motivate students to stay in school and to set
career goals. Volunteers also helped as classroom assistants, supporting
individual teachers, and helped school libraries set up creative learning
centers. Still others participated as office interns, advisory group mem-
bers, clerical and field-trip assistants, and helpers in the arts, sciences,
social studies, and foreign languages. A small number of university stu-
dents "adopted" elementary school pupils and shared after-school activi
ties.
Working with each school to determine the needs of individual teach-
ers, BPIE serves as a centralized volunteer recruitment, screening, and
placement agency to help meet those needs. Recruitment efforts involve
media cooperation, extensive contacts with organizations and businesses,
as well as helping each school to involve parents and others in the school
community. BPIE also screens new volunteers for the schools, including
review of applications, reference checks with police for possible criminal
records for all volunteers who may be working in an unsupervised situ-
ation with children, assurance that required tuberculin tests are on file,
and matching the skills and desires of the volunteers with the stated needs
of teachers in each school. Orientation of volunteers, including adminis-
trative procedures and what is expected, is conducted each week and as
needed. Specialized training for activities such as tutoring for English as
a second language and mentoring is provided for the volunteers and the
teachers. BPE also works with the schools to provide recognition for
volunteers.
Attempts to experiment with more comprehensive education planning
that includes the use of volunteers is under way. In 1988, 39 schools
interested in cooperating were selected to participate in this planning ef-
fort. Teams from BPIE met with school administrators and teachers to
develop plans and procedures for tapping community (including busi-
ness) resources. This process will be extended to other groups of inter-
ested schools in 1989. The planning process, especially the training pro-
vided, is considered essential to providing well-coordinated education
programs and to the effective use of volunteers in schools.
The independent nonprofit form of BPIE allows the organization con-
siderable freedom to develop linkages with parent, church, religious, and
social welfare organizations and other groups concerned with children
and youth. Collaboration efforts have resulted in after-school and sum-
mer programs and allowed experimentation with providing services such
as after-school study halls in church buildings, using business and com-
munity volunteers to tutor, help, or simply listen to young people. The
independent form of organization also allows considerable freedom in
fund raising from foundations and the business community to develop
models and experiment with innovative approaches to using volunteers
and other services to enhance the education of students in Boston's schools.
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
51
BPIE has strong support from the superintendent of schools: charged
with a mandate to promote collaboration among the schools, the commu-
nity, and business, BPIE is a welcome partner in carrying out this man-
date. The goals of BPIE are consistent with those of the school board, and
the close working relationships and additional resources that BPIE pro-
vides are appreciated. The superintendent told the committee that having
the BPIE as a collaborator but outside the school system has allowed
continuity despite frequent changes in school superintendents and has
allowed the program more flexibility and long-term consistency.
Evaluation of BPIE activities, like those of other volunteer efforts, is the
weakest part of the program. The organization does do a self-assessment
on a regular basis, reviewing its progress toward goals, but this is basi-
cally a process review. Teachers and volunteers are required to fill out
forms reporting their perceptions of accomplishments, and these are used
to pinpoint trouble spots and otherwise manage the program. However,
little evaluation of outcomes is attempted. The executive director of the
organization told us that some experimental attempts at measuring out-
comes will be tried this year, but she pointed to high cost as a major factor
inhibiting formal evaluation studies.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Chicago public schools have 400,000 students, a staff of 40,000, and an
annual operating budget approaching $2 billion. Total enrollment in the
city's 495 elementary schools and 65 high schools has declined by 15
percent since 1978. Approximately two-thirds of the city's students are
black; 14 percent are white; and the remainder are Hispanic, Asian, and
Native American. Hispanic enrollment has increased by 27 percent since
1978. Slightly more than half of the system's teachers are black.
Under a 1984 consent decree, Chicago has been allowed to use magnet
schools as a means of desegregation. Many schools, particularly in the
city's concentrated public housing areas, remain all black, and others are
largely Hispanic. Our visits included an elementary foreign languages
magnet school in which the student population is one-third black, one-
third white, and one-third Hispanic, and a neighborhood elementary school
in the city's largest housing project, where all of the students are black
and most are eligible for federally subsidized free school lunches and
breakfasts.
The organized school volunteer program in Chicago dates back to 1982,
when the Chicago Community Trust was asked by the superintendent to
support the schools at a time of resource cuts. A pilot program called the
Chicago Education Corps was developed and was instituted in three sub-
districts in 1983, with 300 volunteers in the first semester. In the 198~1985
school year, the volunteer program became citywide and was given the
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~2
VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
status of a bureau in the school system. In 1987-198S, the Bureau of
Volunteer Programs counted close to 12,000 volunteers in its programs,
more than 95 percent of them in the largest program, the Schoolhouse
Volunteers.
Principals are asked to send the Bureau of Volunteer Programs a com-
pleted and signed application for each volunteer. The bureau aggregates
these reports, and prior to an annual citywide recognition ceremony the
principal is asked to verify and update a computer printout of all volun-
teers in the school. Because volunteer programs are administered by one
division of the Chicago school system, while Adopt-a-School and the ca-
reer education program are administered by other divisions, it is hard to
compare the numbers reported by the bureau with figures from school
systems in which all programs involving volunteers are administered by
one office.
The committee spent one day in discussion with the director of the
Bureau of Volunteer Programs and her assistant at Chicago public schools
headquarters. They showed a video describing the Schoolhouse Volun-
teers program, explained their strategies for recruiting volunteers, and
provided samples of materials that are provided to schools, including a
manual for volunteers and a manual for building teams that coordinate
the work of volunteers. We also met two assistant superintendents and
the associate superintendent for human resources. All expressed support
for the district's volunteer program.
As the Chicago program is structured, the director and her two-person
staff are responsible for recruiting volunteers citywide, using public ser-
vice announcements on radio and television, usually contributed by local
broadcasters, and posters and flyers prepared by the district's graphics
department. At the end of the school year, the Bureau of Volunteer Pro
grams sponsors a districtwide gala to recognize and honor volunteers
who have worked during the year.
Day-by-day management of volunteers in school buildings is the re-
sponsibility of building teams, usually consisting of the principal or an
assistant principal, a teacher (often a resource teacher), and a parent or
community volunteer. Any one of the three may serve as the building
coordinator. The school recruits its own volunteers, and the building
team is expected to train the volunteers, provide orientation to teachers
on effective use of volunteers, and keep records of the hours that volun-
teers work.
Given the size of the Chicago school district and the limited staff of the
Bureau of Volunteer Programs, the bureau relies on written materials,
including application forms and training manuals, to provide guidance to
school teams. On-site technical assistance is available on request. The
Bureau of Volunteer Programs oversees five programs in addition to School
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
53
house Volunteers: Homework Hotline, Saturday Scholars' Intergenera-
tional Tutoring, Treasure Hunters, and Lawmakers for Students.
Schoolhouse Volunteers is the basic and largest Chicago volunteer pro-
gram, in which individuals work in schools as audiovisual aides, library
assistants, bilingual aides, classroom assistants, tutors, administrative staff
helpers, and community fund raisers. Parents make up almost 80 percent
of the Schoolhouse Volunteers program. Others are senior citizens, college
students, or anyone with a desire to share expertise and time by helping
young people. The bureau reported 11,263 volunteers active in this pro-
gram in schools during the 1987-1988 school year. Schoolhouse Volun-
teers are generally recruited by the school in which they will work, through
messages sent home to parents, for example. The Bureau of Volunteer
Programs does not maintain a bank of potential volunteers, but refers
callers to schools in their neighborhoods.
Homework Hotline, a partnership between the Chicago Public Schools
and the Sun-Times newspaper, is staffed by volunteers from 5 p.m. to 8
p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Working from offices in the Sun-
Times building, volunteers answer students' telephone questions about
homework on all subjects; the majority of calls concern language arts and
mathematics. Volunteers include working and retired teachers, other
professionals with academic expertise, and volunteers from businesses in
the downtown area who come in after work before going home for the
evening. In-service training is provided for all volunteers, and they are
familiarized with the systemwide learning objectives of the Chicago pub-
lic schools. Approximately 80 volunteers staffed the Homework Hotline
in 1987-1988. Since the program began, volunteers have fielded more
than 25,000 questions.
Saturday Scholars is a program in which sailors from the Great Lakes
Naval Base volunteer as tutors for students in grades 4 - who are identi-
fied by their teachers as needing help. Sailors are transported by the
school system to selected schools for five consecutive 2-hour Saturday
morning sessions, followed by a sixth Saturday at the naval base that
features an awards ceremony, a tour of the base, and lunch. Teaching
materials and tutoring formats are supplied by the volunteer program,
and the sailors receive orientation and training. The Service School
Command at the Great Lakes Naval Base provides registration forms for
sailors interested in volunteering. Three Saturday Scholars sessions are
scheduled during each school year, and registration is limited to 100 stu-
dents per school. Approximately 1,500 tutors and 1,500 students have
been involved in the program.
Intergenerational Tutoring is a collaboration between the Chicago public
schools and the Sibyls Department of Aging. Tutoring sessions in which
retirees work with students in grades 4~ are held on Saturdays from
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54
VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
10 a.m. to noon throughout the school year at a facility for the elderly.
The Bureau of Volunteer Programs provides in-service training for the
volunteers, and students are pretested to determine placement for reading
and math tutoring and homework assistance. The program involves ap-
proximately 20 tutors and 60 students.
Treasure Hunters is a partnership between Chicago public schools and
the Chicago Public Library, intended to enhance reading comprehension
and vocabulary for students in grades 4-6 during the summer. Students
are recruited from elementary schools near two libraries and tested in
vocabulary and comprehension prior to the beginning of the program.
Tutoring sessions are then designed to meet their individual needs. Addi-
tionally, time is set aside for recreational reading. All students are re-
quired to have library cards and are encouraged to participate in other
library programs. Volunteers are asked to contribute 3 hours per week;
tutoring sessions are held in selected public libraries, and, whenever pos-
sible, students are tutored one to one. Approximately 115 volunteers and
students are involved at two library sites.
Lawmakers for Students is a series of lectures for 8th grade students. The
Bureau of Volunteer Programs has asked each of the 50 Chicago aldermen
to volunteer as a lecturer in an elementary school in his or her ward for 5
weeks, on the topics: "Why I Chose to Be an Alderman," "The Structure of
the City Council," "Committees I Serve on and What They Do," ''My
Hopes and Dreams for the City of Chicago," and a fifth topic requested by
the students. This series is an extra activity for students; students who
participate are expected to complete all regular class assignments. The
legislators are believed to serve as role models for the students.
As a form of program evaluation, the Bureau of Volunteer Programs
requests that each principal complete a form at the end of the school year
indicating the kind of services that volunteers performed in the school,
what was best about the program, and whether volunteers helped to make
the school better. Volunteers are asked to complete a similar form, with
the added question: '~What would you like to change about the pro-
gram?"
The bureau's director also indicated that she has accumulated quantita-
tive data in the form of pre- and pastiest results, largely from the Satur-
day Scholars tutoring programs, that could be analyzed to determine aca-
demic gains made by students as the result of volunteer interventions.
She said the Bureau of Volunteer Programs lacks the resources to have the
data organized and interpreted.
The Chicago public schools are scheduled to be drastically restructured.
A recent state law abolished the old Board of Education and regional
offices, and each school will be governed by a board made up of parents
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
81
mittee. The agency also offers training both in one-on-one tutoring and in
understanding and working with students from diverse cultures and pro-
vides consultant services, including training and helping school volunteer
coordinators in developing strategies for involving parents and other
community volunteers in school programs and activities.
Special programs designed with the aid of educational experts and
usually funded by foundations or corporations are also in operation to
help implement school district goals. These include experimental pro-
grams in math, reading and language arts, special education, and critical
thinking and writing. All of these programs have stated goals and objec-
tives and provide for a strong evaluation component measuring student
achievement, self-esteem, and other outcomes, as well as assessing the
effectiveness of the process by which the achievements were accomplished.
Several programs are specifically aimed at involving the business com-
munity as well as parents. For example, the Think/Write Program, teams
professional writers from major San Francisco area corporations with teach-
ers in middle and high school classrooms. The objective is to give stu-
dents a realistic view of the importance of critical thinking and to develop
practical and creative writing skills ranging from letters, memos, press
releases, and job applications to short stories and movie reviews. The
activity is highly organized, with both teachers and volunteers participat-
ing in considerable training. The teams usually do the writing assign-
ments themselves before they are presented in class, and they use such
techniques as brainstorming, mind-mapping, revising, editing, and group
criticism to expose students to the importance of critical thinking as well
as creativity. Viewed skeptically at first by teachers, the program, now in
its third year, has more applicants than can be accommodated.
Other programs include creative ways of enriching the language arts
curriculum with quality literature, training senior citizen volunteers in
teaching English as a second language so that they can tutor the large
number of immigrant students, and helping elementary school children
understand and accept children with disabilities. Business partnerships,
including the Adopt-A-School program, not only bring volunteers to the
schools but provide resources such as management workshops for school
administrators, scholarships, summer job opportunities, and other sup-
port for students, teachers, and schools.
Making it possible for experimental programs that have been proven
successful to be introduced in schools that have not been part of the ex-
periment is a major challenge for the school district. Some of these proj-
ects, such as the Think/Write Program, are literally changing the way
critical thinking and writing are taught in the participating schools. Find-
ing ways after foundation funding runs out to continue this creative col-
laboration of teachers and business volunteers and to provide the training
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VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
required to assure the success of this type of program adds to the school
district's challenge.
Evaluation of virtually all aspects of volunteer activity is carried out or
supported by the San Francisco School Volunteers. For example, each
school year separate evaluation forms are completed by volunteer coordi-
nators in each school and by the volunteers. The questions cover percep-
tions of usefulness of volunteers and allow for comments on the role of
the volunteer organization in recruiting, placing, training, and monitor-
ing. Summary data show a generally high level of satisfaction. Individ-
ual comments, however, have indicated trouble spots in communication,
training, and inadequate orientation at the school or lack of understand-
ing on the part of the teacher as to how to use a volunteer's time effec-
tively, and they have been used to remedy problems. Overall, forms
returned by the volunteers also indicate a high level of satisfaction.
In addition to the evaluation forms from volunteer coordinators and
volunteers, each project funded by foundation or corporate sources has
stated goals and objectives and a built-in evaluation aspect. These evalu-
ations, usually conducted by outside experts, include, as appropriate, as-
sessment of academic achievement as well as indications of self-esteem,
reduction of absenteeism, and attitude changes of students and teachers.
Evaluation results show substantial improvements in elementary reading
scores, high school foreign-language scores, and noticeable gains in stu-
dent problem-solving ability in mathematics, writing, and English. Con-
tributions of volunteers toward reading improvement score measurements
made before and after volunteer programs are implied. The extent to
which improvements are due to better teaching or to help from the volun-
teers could not be measured, but the improvements were clearly there,
and teachers attested to the contributions of the volunteers.
TULSA, OKLAHOMA
The Tulsa, Oklahoma, school system has lost more than one-half of its
students in the past decade, as a result of sharp declines in the oil econ-
omy. Currently, 41,000 students attend the district's 78 elementary, middle,
and high schools. More than two-thirds of the students are white, one-
third are black, and a number are Native American. In Tulsa, most black
families live in one part of the city, whites in another.
The Tulsa community is traditionally conservative, with an orientation
to solving its own problems. While the city has pockets of poverty, disad-
vantage looks different in Tulsa than it does in densely populated cities
such as Chicago and Los Angeles. Neighborhoods described as among the
poorest were generally made up of single-family homes with lawns, or-
derly and well maintained.
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
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An extremely strong and comprehensive school volunteer program in
Tulsa had its roots in a 1970s school desegregation effort, when Tulsa,
determined to avoid court-ordered desegregation, created a voluntary
system of magnet schools with heavy parent involvement. In addition,
under its current superintendent, the school system is committed to "ef-
fective schools" principles, including community involvement. In the
1987-1988 school year, between 3,900 and 4,000 volunteers worked in
Tulsa schools, contributing approximately 169,000 hours of service in a
variety of capacities ranging from direct involvement in the instructional
process to clerical support for teachers and administrative staff.
The climate appears to favor school volunteerism and community in-
volvement in Tulsa, but without exception the school officials we met
during a 2-day visit to Tulsa credited an individual, the director of busi-
ness/community resources, with the effectiveness of the district's volun-
teer and partnership programs. The director was active as a parent in the
magnet school desegregation plan, became the first director of school vol-
unteers in Tulsa in the early 1970s, and now administers an Adopt-a-
School business partnership program, as well as an array of specialized
volunteer programs developed to meet specific needs of the schools and
students.
During the committee's Tulsa visit, we met with the superintendent
and with the associate superintendent for instruction. Both expressed
unequivocal support for the Business/Community Resources program.
Two teacher union representatives with whom we met were equally sup-
portive. The president and vice-president of the Tulsa Classroom Teach-
ers Association said teachers in Tulsa are enthusiastic about having vol-
unteer assistance. Asked if volunteers are seen as performing jobs that
might otherwise go to paid aides, one said: "As I see it, volunteers are
doing things that would not be done at all if they were not in the schools."
The teacher representatives indicated some preference for corporate vol-
unteers, saying they tend to be less intrusive and less emotional about
school operations than parent volunteers.
On a schedule that began at 8 a.m. each day, we visited six schools,
each with a volunteer program that represents one approach to commu-
nity involvement. In each school, volunteer activities were organized and
structured and addressed specific instructional objectives.
McLain High School is in a predominantly black neighborhood in one
of the cites lowest-income areas. The school is bright, clean, and orderly,
and the students are well dressed and personable. The principal is using
many techniques to persuade neighborhood children to remain at McLain
and not transfer to one of the city's magnet high schools. Recently, he
and the district coordinator developed an Adopt-a-Class project in which
professionals, most of them black, come into classes on a regular basis to
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VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
talk about student problems or about their own careers and educational
experiences. On the day of our visit, a college admissions officer was
discussing student aid with a class of seniors; a husband-and-wife team
was leading a discussion of drug abuse and suicide; and a dentist was
describing tooth structure. Many of the volunteers were on released time
from area businesses and corporations. The volunteers meet once a month
to exchange information and make plans; according to the principal, they
provide invaluable role models for his students.
At Houston Elementary School, there is an active Take Reading to Heart
program in which community volunteers (at Houston the volunteers were
Junior Leaguers) work one on one with kindergarteners and 1st graders
who are having reading difficulties. The volunteers use a variety of ob-
jects, including letter shapes and picture cards, to determine if the chil-
dren have necessary reading readiness skills and to remedy deficiencies.
At some point in the session, each child gets to snuggle into a cushioned
area to read a book with a tutor. According to the school principal, the
program has significantly reduced the number of children who must spend
a developmental year between kindergarten and 1st grade.
At Sequoyah Elementary School we talked with a counselor who ap-
proached the district coordinator with a request for adult friends for the
increasing number of students in Sequoyah's middle-class community
whose parents work or are otherwise unable to give their children time
and companionship. In this program, students from a nearby college
walk to the elementary school, and a partnership has been developed in
which the college students come to school regularly to talk with their
young friends, walk with them on the school grounds, or help with a
school project. We were presented with letters written for us by some of
the students about "the best, best friend I ever had." Students are sug-
gested for the program by their teachers and must have parental permis-
sion to participate.
Cleveland Middle School, which enrolls students from a middle-class
working community and has a large number of Native American stu-
dents, has been adopted by Warren Petroleum Company. Evidence of the
partnership includes computers in the media center, volunteers from the
company who teach computer use, and the library's recently computer-
ized records, which were accomplished with volunteer help. The adop-
tion is clearly mutual: the assistant principal pointed to a trophy case of
students' artwork saluting their business partner.
At Lindbergh Elementary School, volunteers are an integral part of
kindergarten every day. The committee found it hard to tell which of the
adults in the three kindergarten sections were staff and which were vol-
unteers. The volunteers are essential to the teacher's program, in which
children are busy with many different activities at the same time. Volun-
teers were clearly comfortable with their roles, helping with paints, pin
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
85
ning up artwork, smiling with approval, or clearing up spills. As in the
other Tulsa schools visited, the volunteers appeared to be well oriented
and trained and went about their activities with confidence.
The Disney Elementary School uses volunteers in a science enrichment
program developed for the Tulsa schools by scientists at Amoco research
headquarters in Tulsa. The scientists developed a hands-on curriculum in
which students work in small groups to perform experiments and solve
problems. The curriculum, now distributed nationally, relies explicitly on
volunteers to work with the students. According to the science teacher,
the volunteers often contribute creative ideas of their own to enhance the
program. At the time of the committee's visit, students were clearly ab-
sorbed and engaged in learning under competent volunteer supervision.
Disney Elementary School also has other volunteer programs, including a
volunteer workroom, where teachers can leave requests for copying, lami-
nating, or other small services; volunteers pick up the requests when they
arrive at school and fill them. As at the other Tulsa schools, the volun-
teers seemed exceptionally well organized and self-starting.
Tulsa's Adopt-a-School program, begun 5 years ago, is a joint effort
between the Tulsa Board of Education and the Metropolitan Tulsa Cham-
ber of Commerce. Companies and organizations are asked to be commit-
ted for a full year and to release their employees in teams for up to 3
hours a week. Principals and teachers are expected to design programs
linking students with volunteers, and the district school volunteer coordi-
nator keeps communication open among the participants and assures that
the objectives of each are being met. Schools are encouraged to assess
their needs and request adoption on the basis of those needs. After adop-
tion, the Business/C:ommunity Resource program staff conducts an orien-
tation for school personnel and the adopting partner. Once the program
is in place, a written evaluation is completed by participants at the end of
each year.
One staff member in the four-person Business/Community Resource
Office spends full time managing a Volunteer Speakers Bureau. A list of
speaker topics starts with "Acting," "Accounting," "Adoption," "Aero-
space," and "Agriculture" and ends with "Welding," "Wildlife," ' - ills
and Trusts," '~Word Processing," "Writers," and "Zoo." Teachers may
request the services of a speaker by mailing a speaker request form to the
office, detailing such items as the purpose of the presentation, the instruc-
tional unit or activity to which it relates, the grade level, and the number
of students. The speaker is identified and confirmed to the teacher and
principal. Both the teacher and the speaker receive guidelines for presen-
tations, and the speaker receives an introduction card and name tag.
Teachers are asked to complete an evaluation form after the event, and
speakers are officially thanked by the Business/Community Resource
Office.
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VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Washington, D.C., is the 15th largest city in the nation. The estimated
population in 1988 was 621,658. According to a survey conducted by the
Greater Washington Research Center in 1986, the population was 67 per-
cent black, 28 percent white, and 5 percent "other races." Washington is
also one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse cities in the United
States. It is also a city of extreme contrasts. According to the 1980 census,
more than 28 percent of the residents above 25 had attended 4 or more
years of college, yet almost 16 percent had not completed elementary
school. More than 14 percent of the households lived in poverty, yet the
District had the second highest per capita income in the nation.
The 1988 student enrollment stands at 87,700, including 51,174 elemen-
tary students (prekindergarten through grade 6~; 17,196 junior high stu-
dents (grades 7-9~; 17,396 senior high students (grades 10-12~; and 1,080
students in special education. The school system also serves approxi-
mately 18,000 residents citywide with adult education services. Of the
1988 prekindergarten through 12th grade enrollment, 96 percent of the
students are minorities, of which 91.7 percent are black. In 1989-1990, the
public school enrollment is expected to be 90,200. For the school year
1988-1989, there were 19,805 D.C. resident students attending private
schools, about the same number as in 1987.
According to the Division of Bilingual Education Fact Sheet dated
November 30, 1988, the language minority student enrollment in the school
system is 8,991, a growth of 6,500 students from the 1980 level of 2,400.
Recently, a substantial number of students from Central and South Amer-
ica, Asia, North Africa, and the Caribbean islands moved to Washington.
Such a diverse student population has complex cultural, linguistic, and
educational needs. The largest concentration, Hispanic, represents every
Spanish-speaking country in the world, with a great number of students
from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and
Mexico.
The school administrative structure is unique, as might be expected for
the city. One superintendent and one Board of Education execute what
are, elsewhere, both state and local district functions. The first elected
school board was established in 1968; the first nonvoting student member
of the board was elected in 1982.
Washington was one of the cities that received seed money from the
National School Volunteer Program of the Public Education Association
of New York City in the mid-1970s to establish a school volunteer pro-
gram. Under an energetic superintendent, the city continued to expand
its community involvement and now operates comprehensive school vol-
unteer, Adopt-a-School, and partnership programs, all administered by a
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
87
Volunteer Services and Training Branch established in 1977. In the
1987-1988 school year, the school system reported that 23,007 volunteers
gave 5 million hours of time, worth $25 million; and every one of the
city's 200 schools and programs received some kind of volunteer service.
Fifty-one percent of volunteers serve in elementary schools, 20 percent in
middle and junior high schools, 10 percent in high schools, 13 percent in
adult education, 12 percent in special education, and 4 percent in commu-
nity schools.
Volunteer efforts fall into four major categories: support to instruction,
which includes tutoring and classroom assistance (53 percent); extension
services, defined as additions to counseling or administrative functions
(17 percent); enrichment activities in the form of extracurricular learning
experiences (21 percent); and advisory and advocacy activities (9 percent).
The school board has established detailed regulations for the utiliza-
tion of volunteer services. The superintendent and staff are specifically
authorized to accept such services provided that no volunteer performs
"any function or service that is currently being performed by an em-
ployee" and voluntary services or their availability are not used as a basis
for "reduction in force" of school personnel. Volunteers are required to
sign a statement acknowledging that they have been informed of the na-
ture and scope of the voluntary services to be performed and of the board's
regulations, especially those concerning confidentiality, conflict of inter-
est, liability protection, and political activity.
The Volunteer Services and Training Branch conducts districtwide re-
cruiting and volunteer recognition and is available to schools for technical
assistance in program development, volunteer training, and staff develop-
ment. The branch also provides guest speakers for schools or community
groups and materials to support tutorial instruction and related efforts.
Schools are also encouraged to recruit their own volunteers. A coordina-
tor is appointed for each building by the principal; this is usually a re-
source teacher or assistant principal. The coordinator collects and reports
volunteer names and hours and serves as liaison with the branch for
training and other assistance.
The Volunteer Services and Training Branch also administers a number
of districtwide programs that provide volunteers to schools. They include
Operation Rescue, an elementary tutorial program cosponsored by the
Washington Urban League; Project Mentor, a secondary mentoring pro-
gram using volunteer professionals to supplement counseling services;
Operation Outreach, an after-school tutorial program for secondary stu-
dents; and Project Access, a pre-employment training program for high
school seniors. The branch also assists schools to set up partnerships with
businesses, community organizations, or government agencies.
The committee's visit included a half-day briefing at the offices of the
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VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Volunteer Services and Training Branch by the director. Meetings were
also held with the executive assistant to the superintendent for corporate
liaison and with a member of the Board of Education, both of whom were
highly supportive of the volunteer and partnership programs. The assis-
tant to the superintendent said that schools are looking to the community
for technical support, since even highly trained teachers have limited com-
petence in areas out of their discipline. He noted that the district is asking
businesses, "How is it you instruct your employees, and is it applicable to
schools?" The board member stressed the importance of parent and com-
munity involvement in schools in her ward.
We visited three schools, one elementary, one junior high, and one
senior high, all with active volunteer programs. Stevens Elementary School
was built in 1868 as one of the first school for blacks in the District of Col-
umbia and was named for Pennsylvania Congressman Thadeus Stevens.
It is located in the heart of D.C.'s high-rise financial district. The school's
attendance area includes the White House, but children attend from all
over Washington in part because of an extended-day program that en-
ables parents who work to pick their children up as late as 6 p.m. The
principal has turned the school's midtown location to advantage: "I walk
into the offices and say, 'We need help'," she said.
On the day of our visit, a federal judge was challenging teams of 5th
graders to compete in answering general-knowledge questions; he comes
to the school weekly. A brokerage firm has developed a stock market
program using math and reading skills; children follow the progress of
stocks in daily newspapers, plan investment strategies, and make or lose
"money." At the end of the year, the firm provides each child one share
of stock. Teachers spoke with enthusiasm about volunteers in their build-
ing and noted that many children develop close friendships with volun-
teer mentors and tutors. The children at Stevens seemed completely at
ease with visitors; they were friendly and self-confident, as were the fac-
ulty.
Our visit to Shaw Junior High was in the afternoon after classes had
ended; we therefore saw no students or volunteers, but the coordinators
of the school's volunteer program and a community education program
that uses volunteers gave us a comprehensive briefing. Shaw, once noto-
rious for violence and disorder, is a tightly controlled campus; students
are not allowed to leave school during the day, and cleanliness and order
are rigorously maintained. Parents are required to come to the school
when students have problems and to take responsibility for their children's
behavior and achievement.
Shaw has numerous adopters, including a major chain of food markets,
and is partnered with McDonalds, l.W. Marriott, and IBM. In 1987 the
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
89
school celebrated "A Decade of Volunteer Service in an Inner-City School,"
including career orientation, cultural enhancement, communication and
technical skills, improved attendance, consumer awareness, and employ-
ment opportunity.
This year in the Shaw Community School, which holds classes several
nights a week, the volunteer coordinator and the community school assis-
tant principal are implementing the tutorial program, Operation Outreach,
with the goal of increasing achievement levels of each participant by 4
months. Evidence will be documented by the SORT (Slosson Oral Read-
ing Test) and a standardized math test. Volunteers also teach cooking,
sewing, and crafts in the community school.
Dunbar Senior High School is a Washington institution; now housed in
a new building, the "old Dunbar" graduated many black national leaders,
particularly in the arts. Because of its location, Dunbar does not have
access to many businesses but relies a great deal on the numerous black
churches in the area as a source of volunteers. Like most D.C. schools, all
of its students are black, and black pride messages are conspicuous in
display cases and posters. The atmosphere of the school is quiet and
controlled, but relationships between staff and students are apparently
warm. At the time of our visit, the principal was on her way to a hospital
to visit a student who had been injured in a car accident on the way to
school.
The principal introduced us to the new president of the school's PTA,
who was in the school as a volunteer. He is a black male librarian who
meets weekly with English classes. Committee members also talked with
a team of black professionals from one of the churches, which has started
a mentoring and counseling program. The principal made clear that vol-
unteers from churches understand that they may not use volunteering as
a way of delivering religious messages. A volunteer schedule for the day
showed the department and teacher with whom a volunteer was working
and the volunteer's name and affiliation.
The D.C. public schools hosted a volunteer experiment in 1986-1988, in
which a local civic group recruited mathematicians, scientists, and engi-
neers from the entire metropolitan area to supplement and enhance the
teaching of math and science in junior high schools. The project found
that it was possible to attract professional people to schools in all neigh-
borhoods of the city; a major stumbling block turned out to be uncertainty
on the part of many teachers about how to use or react with another
adult, who often has a Ph.D. degree' in their classrooms. Intensive train-
ing for teachers in which they were encouraged to write job descriptions
for prospective volunteers led to better matches between volunteers and
teachers; the program is continuing under an advisory committee of com-
munity representatives.
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VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
SUMMARY
In reviewing the committee's 13 site visits, the major impression shared
by the members is that the impact of these volunteer programs on stu-
dents was positive. This finding is not surprising in light of the fact that
the sites were chosen because knowledgeable groups thought them to
have exemplary volunteer programs.
It was evident from interviews that the programs were based on needs
expressed by teachers at the participating schools. The programs came
across as well organized and supported at the policy level. The commit-
tee was also impressed with the efforts in large cities and suburban areas
where small staffs were able to deliver the services of thousands of volun-
teers to large numbers of schools and students. Despite these efforts,
however, many of the volunteer coordinators interviewed expressed the
view that there were many more students who could benefit from volun-
teer help than were receiving it and that greater efforts are needed.
Impressions of committee members were that those responsible for
organizing and administrating these programs were able, caring, and
committed people trying to help overburdened education systems meet
the needs of students and that the programs were achieving positive re-
sults. But the committee found little in the way of formal evaluation
studies to substantiate this positive view. Evaluations available even in
these "exemplary" programs were largely informal attempts to determine
teacher, administrator, or volunteer perceptions as to the value of the
effort. For the most part, these "evaluations" are used by the administra-
tors to monitor the program; they were particularly useful, the committee
was told, in identifying problems that needed attention or in calling atten-
tion to particularly successful activities.
Those few studies that were directed to evaluating outcomes resulting
from the use of volunteers were usually tied to projects carried out with
outside funding from foundations or corporations, and they had an evalu-
ation built into the project. These included, for example, a few studies
measuring the effects of volunteer tutoring, which showed positive re-
sults. But even most of these evaluations were formalized attempts to get
at perceptions of outcomes. Cost factors and conceptual problems, such
as isolating variables OF determining suitable measures of success, were
among those cited by volunteer coordinators as obstacles to formal evalu-
ation. For the most part, therefore, the committee had to rely on the
available perception studies, informal evaluations, anecdotal information
obtained in interviews, and their own observations and experience in as-
sessing the value of the volunteer programs that were visited.
In general, the committee notes that although all of the volunteer coor-
dinators were proud of their accomplishments, none pretended that these
were any panacea for education or indeed anything more than some help
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SOME EXEMPLARY VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS
91
for the process. It was pointed out that most of the tasks undertaken by
volunteers could be handled by paid staff, but funds for such staff are not
available, and without volunteer help the tasks would not be done. There
simply is not enough money in any of the school systems to pay for the
services that volunteers provide. Moreover, there are some services, usu-
ally involving enrichment, that could not be performed by school staff,
such as lectures, presentations, or demonstrations by scientists, jurists,
artists, and others with special expertise.
As part of their site visits, committee members asked volunteer admin-
istrators and others to give us their perceptions of impediments to their
programs and to tell us how they dealt with them. Discussed were a
range of problems, including: overcoming difficulties in recruiting suffi-
cient numbers of volunteers; dealing with lack of commitment on the part
of some volunteers or lack of knowledge as to how to use volunteer time
effectively on the part of some teachers; and adapting to commitment
changes at the policy level when school superintendents or school boards
change. Some of these are factors that can inhibit the overall success of
volunteer programs, which are discussed in more detail in the next chap-
ter. However, the committee was told that when problems arise that
affect students, such as volunteers who do not show up as agreed or are
unable to work with a student, they are addressed immediately.
In its deliberations, the committee tried to view the volunteer contribu-
tion in perspective in order to assess its limitations as well as its potential.
Volunteers usually spend 3 to 4 hours per week in a school. In the organ-
ized programs that were visited, volunteers are screened, oriented, pro-
vided training as appropriate, and assigned to work under the supervi-
sion of professional staff. All of the program coordinators noted that
volunteer help is provided only to teachers who ask for it. Teachers who
are skeptical of the value of volunteers or prefer not to have an additional
person working with them in the classroom simply do not participate.
It was evident that no matter how effective a volunteer activity, it is
only supplementary to a well-run education program. Although there is
agreement that volunteer help can make a difference, neither school ad-
ministrators nor the volunteer coordinators believe that any massive infu-
sion of volunteers could make up the shortcomings of an underfunded,
poorly run education system.
The committee also observes that volunteering is clearly a growing
social movement. The volunteers we talked with said they feel good
about their volunteer service. The programs seen all had policy-level
support and considerable citizen participation, and there was excitement
about what the volunteer programs have accomplished and their poten-
tial. In summary, the committee viewed the weight of evidence as to
accomplishments of the volunteer programs it visited to be positive.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
volunteer program
