Exhibit 4.3

(N=957)

Learned About Health Issues

0 0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3 3.5

Mean Ranked Score for Benefits of Summer of Service Participation

Chapter Four: Participants' Assessment of the Summer of Service Experience

Participants were also asked whether or not their Summer of Service experience had enhanced their sense of civic responsibility. Significantly, nine out of ten respondents indicated that the summer experience had increased their sense of civic responsibility.

Skills Acquired by Participants Through the Summer of Service Experience

The exit forms also asked participants to identify specific skills or capabilities that they had developed as a result of their Summer of Service experience. Exhibit 4.5 presents the results from the participant responses to this question.

Interpersonal skills were the most frequently mentioned, with 83 percent of respondents reporting that their capabilities in this area had increased. More than half the respondents also indicated that the Summer of Service experience had enhanced their skills in planning group efforts, mentoring/teaching, and facilitating group discussions. Given the widespread emphasis on education activities among the 16 Summer of Service grantees, the extent of reported mentoring/teaching skill development by Summer of Service participants is not surprising.

The other frequently mentioned skill areas also suggest that the Summer of Service experience was successful in providing many participants with leadership skills that will enhance their capacity to initiate and direct similar community service activities in their own communities following the Summer of Service.

Participant Satisfaction with the Summer of Service Experience

At the end of their summer experience, the participants were asked to rate their overall level of satisfaction with the Summer of Service. Their responses, summarized in Exhibit 4.6, indicate:

More than 68 percent of participants reported that they were pleased with their Summer of Service experience. Nearly one-third of participants expressing satisfaction with the Summer of Service indicated that they were "extremely satisfied" with the experience.

• Among the remaining 32 percent of respondents, the largest group (more than 19 percent of respondents) reported that they felt "neutral" about the summer program.

• Only 12 percent of the respondents indicated that they were "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the Summer of Service experience. The rate of negative assessments varied considerably from program site to program site, however. For example, four program sites had less than 5 percent of their participants reporting

Chapter Four: Participants' Assessment of the Summer of Service Experience

dissatisfaction, and another four sites had more than 20 percent of participants expressing dissatisfaction. 13

The overall high rate of participant satisfaction with the Summer of Service is consistent with the participants' assessments of the benefits realized and skills acquired as a result of their involvement over the summer.

Impact of the Summer of Service in Shaping Participants' Future Plans

Exhibit 4.7 summarizes participant responses from the exit forms regarding whether the Summer of Service experience had any influence on their future plans. Nearly seventy percent indicated that their Summer of Service experience had influenced their future plans and interests.

13 As measured by combined percentage of "dissatisfied" and "very dissatisfied" responses, the four sites with the lowest rates of reported participant dissatisfaction were: It's About Health (0.0 percent), Red Lake Band Summer of Service (0.0 percent), Hands On Atlanta (2.13 percent), and Acorn (2.33 percent).

The four sites with the highest rates of reported participant dissatisfaction were: Teach For America (21.05 percent), Newark Summer of Service (22.87 percent), Tufts Summer of Service (27.27 percent), and Clark Atlanta/Greater Atlanta Conservation Corps (30.96 percent).

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