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-------- ACHIEVEMENT INDICATORS -------- International Achievement in Mathematics and Science Reading Achievement Mathematics Achievement -------- OTHER INDICATORS -------- Dropout Rates Public School Revenues and Expenditures School Crime and Safety High School Transcripts, 2005 Bachelor's Degree Recipients, 10 Years Later -------- PAST INDICATORS -------- Dropout Rates, 2005 International Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy Public School Revenues and Expenditures Mathematics Achievement Reading Achievement Dropout Rates Computer and Internet Use High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) Students Food and Exercise in Elementary Schools Trends in Adult Literacy First Generation Students in Postsecondary Education Mathematics Achievement Reading Achievement The High School Senior Class of 2004 Trends in Academic Progress Dropout Rates 2002 Dual Credit in U.S. Public High Schools Gender Differences in Postsecondary Education School Crime and Safety, 2002 International Comparisons in Science and Math Trends in Education Equity of Girls and Women Full-day and Half-day Kindergarten Reading Achievement Mathematics Achievement Dropout Rate 2001 Trends in Academic Progress International Comparisons in Reading Literacy Postsecondary Enrollment of Language Minorities Volunteer Service Civics Achievement Geography Achievement History Achievement Science Achievement Writing Achievement The High School Transcript Study Postsecondary Remedial Education Student Victimization Out-of-Field Teaching Postsecondary Attainment School Crime and Safety, 2001 Internet Access

Volunteer Service

Many schools and postsecondary institutions have established programs that promote, and in some cases require, student community service (Frase 1995; Nolin et al. 1997). Past research has found that students who participate in these programs tend to have stronger ties to school, peers, and the community, as well as a higher exhibition of other positive social behaviors (Nolin et al. 1997; Youniss, McLellan, and Yates 1997; Smith 1999; Metz and Youniss 2003). Given these potential benefits, it is important to understand the characteristics and patterns of volunteering among young adults.

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), this indicator describes the characteristics of young adults who volunteered. Based on data from the NELS:88 1992 sample of 12th-grade students who were asked about their high school volunteer service for the period 1990-92 and then re-interviewed in 1994 and again in 2000, this indicator also examines whether high school volunteer service was related to volunteering 2 years and 8 years after their scheduled high school graduation.

Young adults as a group were less active as community service volunteers after high school. Volunteering among this 12th-grade cohort declined 25 percent 8 years after high school, in 2000. Forty-four percent of young adults volunteered in high school compared to 33 percent 8 years later (table 1).

Individual volunteering patterns showed large variation. While about 68 percent of young adults volunteered at least once in the three survey periods, 12 percent volunteered consistently across all survey periods (figure 1 and table 1).

Figure 1. Percentage of young adults participating in an unpaid volunteer or community service activity in high school and in subsequent follow-up periods: 1990-92, 1994, and 2000

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Nonvolunteers included those who did not participate in volunteer activities and a small percentage of nonrespondents.

SOURCE: Figure 1 in U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Statistics in Brief: Volunteer Service by Young People From High School Through Early Adulthood, NCES 2004365, by Michael Planty, Michael Regnier and Jeffrey Owings. Washington, DC: 2004.

No difference in the likelihood of volunteering 8 years after graduation was detected between young adults who performed only mandatory volunteer service in high school and students who performed no high school volunteering (28 vs. 26 percent, respectively) (table 2). Both of these groups - mandatory and nonvolunteers - were less likely to volunteer 8 years after high school than persons who were strongly encouraged to volunteer or did it for strictly voluntary reasons (43 percent).

References

Frase, M. (1995). Community Service Performed by High School Seniors (Education Policy Issues: Statistical Perspectives) (NCES 95-743). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Metz, E., and Youniss, J. (2003). A Demonstration That School-Based Required Service Does Not Deter - but Heightens - Volunteerism. Political Science & Politics, April: 281-286.

Nolin, M.J., Chaney, B., Chapman, C., and Chandler, K. (1997). Student Participation in Community Service Activity (NCES 97-331). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Smith, E. (1999). The Effects of Investments in the Social Capital of Youth on Political and Civic Behavior in Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Analysis. Political Psychology, 20: 553-580.

Youniss, J., McLellan, J., and Yates, M. (1997). What We Know About Engendering Civic Identity. American Behavioral Scientist, 40: 620-631.

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