“World
of Good” Social-Impact Report 2006, http://www.worldofgood.com/impact/index.shtml
A
“social-impact report”? We
have heard of “environmental-impact report”;
for example, one has to be filed with regard to the disposition of
our Montebello Hills before a decision be made about the hills.
A social-impact report would talk about the probable and possible
social consequences of a planned or existing activity.
In the first part, we
attempted a definition of a social-impact report, “SIR”.
In the preceding part, we looked at the usefulness of a SIR with
regard to pension-fund investments. Here
we look at the usefulness of a SIR with regard to the Federal “No Child
Left Behind” policy.
Some
people might say that “’No Child Left Behind’ has left our world in a
bind” is a slogan whose time has come.
Our policy to help children in school has cut them off from the
communities in which they live and, consequently, has hurt those
communities. There is a
significant social impact from the chasm which “No Child Left Behind”
has created between school students and the neighborhoods which surround the
schools.
Indirect
proof of this chasm comes from an Americorps announcement of May 13, 2008.
Americorps is a Federal program of service, www.americorps.org.
Americorps is a voluntary program, not part of “No Child Left
Behind”. By looking at what
Americorps has accomplished, we see what “No Child Left Behind” has not
accomplished.
Rigorous
Longitudinal Study of AmeriCorps Finds Significant Impacts Eight Years Later
[Americorps]
Alums Outpace Controlled Comparison Group in Public Service Careers, Civic
Engagement, Community Activism, and Life Fulfillment
Washington
D.C. – AmeriCorps is building a powerful pipeline for public servants,
civic leaders, and social entrepreneurs, finds a new longitudinal study
released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Released in coordination with a
Brookings
Institution briefing this morning, the study, “Still Serving: Measuring
the Eight-Year Impact of AmeriCorps on Alumni”, is the most rigorous
evaluation ever conducted on AmeriCorps’ long-term impacts on its members.
Based on data collected eight
years after members completed their year of service, the study conclusively
demonstrates that AmeriCorps causes long-term positive impacts on the civic
attitudes and behaviors of the program's alumni.
AmeriCorps alums are significantly more civically engaged and more
likely to pursue public service careers in the government and nonprofit
sector than their counterparts in the scientifically crafted comparison
group, which has also been tracked for eight years. They are also
significantly more likely to be happy and satisfied with their lives. The
report, executive summary, and other information is at www.NationalService.gov/research.
“Even those of us who started
off believing that intense service can make better citizens have been
astonished at the strength of these findings," said David Eisner, CEO
of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees
AmeriCorps. “With more than 60 percent of our alums working in nonprofits
or government, these results are way more than statistically
significant.
AmeriCorps is becoming
America
's most important pipeline to careers in nonprofits and government -- this
at the same time that crisis level shortfalls in leadership and workforce
are looming in these areas." ...
The
study compares these AmeriCorps members with a group of like individuals who
were interested in serving in AmeriCorps but did not, looking at changes in
civic outcomes and career choices over time. ...
July 10, 2008