Service-learning has the potential to create mutually beneficial relationships between schools and communities, but little research explores service-learning from the community’s perspective. The purpose of this study was to (a) understand how community-based organizations (CBOs) benefited from partnering with students and (b) examine whether organizational capacity (e.g., organization size) or employee vision (e.g., belief in the abilities of children) had a greater impact on the extent to which organizations benefited from their partnerships. The sample consisted of 129 CBOs that received a grant from K-12 students engaged in a service-learning program. Organizational capacity was more predictive of CBO behaviors, such as involving students in service projects and interacting with students, whereas employee vision was more predictive of positive CBO beliefs, such as the future potential of their partnership. This study helps service-learning practitioners and researchers understand how to better support CBOs that wish to form meaningful partnerships with schools.

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Research suggests that youth civic participation predicts desirable outcomes for engaged individuals, but less is known about the benefits of individual participation that accrue to schools as a whole. The present study investigates whether students' individual and collective participation predict students' perceptions of school climate. We examine survey and administrative data from 4,947 students from 11 middle schools. Using multilevel modeling we examine the association of aggregate civic participation at the grade cohort level with school climate. Cohort-level civic participation has a significant positive association with perceived school climate, specifically student-teacher relationships, the fairness of school rules, and democratic climate. These aggregate associations are estimated over and above individual-level civic participation, which is independently predictive of school climate. Results demonstrate that students' civic participation is associated with positive individual and setting-level outcomes, such as positive perceptions of school climate. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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