The Role of National Service in Improving Elementary and Secondary Education Outcomes in Low-Income Schools, was released on October 2, 2017 at a Capitol Hill Briefing hosted by Service Year Alliance, Voices for National Service, and America’s Promise Alliance.  The report, written by Service Year Alliance, takes a unique look at how national service members provide an under-recognized and cost-effective source of human capital to improve student outcomes in low-income schools.  The report explores seven roles that national service programs, particularly AmeriCorps, play in supporting student success to help education stakeholders and policymakers better understand how national service is critical to important education reform efforts and reducing educational disparities.

The second installment of the Service Year + Higher Ed newsletter includes a budget update from Capitol Hill, info on upcoming webinars, a blog post from the Lumina Foundation, and an op-ed from three higher education leaders. 

[embedlycard url="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/09/01/importance-national-service-during-or-after-college-essay"]

Nearly 600 higher education professionals gathered in Baltimore, MD, earlier this month for the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Conference. Service Year Alliance helped to sponsor this conference, hosted by The American Democracy Project (ADP), The Democracy Commitment (TDC), and NASPA for those committed to advancing the civic engagement movement in higher education.

Last week gap year providers, advisors, and higher education leaders gathered in Denver for the annual International Gap Year conference. The conference was hosted by the American Gap Association (AGA), Service Year Alliance’s gap year partner.

The conference explored barriers to students completing a gap year including funding, parental support, lack of awareness, and concern that these experiences might lengthen time to graduation or dissuade students from attending college at all.

Welcome to the first installment of the Service Year + Higher Ed Newsletter. We hope to use this space to build community, share resources, and celebrate the great work you are doing in the field.

Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics Winter 2017 Poll shows that the solid majority of America’s 18-29 year olds support a national service program.

[embedlycard url="http://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/harvard-iop-winter-2017-poll"]

Earlier this month I had the privilege of representing Service Year Alliance at two of Campus Compact’s Civic Action Planning Institutes. Here's a recap from those institutes and how Service Year Alliance hopes to play a role in advancing the public purposes of higher education. 

On October 6-7 higher education leaders across Virginia convened at Averett University for the Governor’s Summit on Advancing Engagement in the Commonwealth. The summit was hosted by Averett University and the Virginia Department of Social Services in collaboration with the Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism, VA Engage network, and Service Year Alliance.