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Spring 2001, Vol. 8, No. 3
Local Government: The Learning Laboratory
This issue of Service-Learning Network looks at the ways that service learning can transform local government into a learning laboratory for civic education. In “Service Learning and Local Government,” writer and educator Ann Rappoport offers a rationale and methods for using service learning to explore local government. David Korth, a social services planning manager in Hayward, California, looks at service learning from a unique perspective—that of a local government official. Network’s Program Profiles features a description of two programs designed to link service projects and civic education to the exploration of community resources and local government agencies. Review Corner looks at a unique online course and two publications that introduce teachers and students to the diverse possibilities for linking service learning and local government. Also in this issue is FYI, a list of resources of interest to educators and others working with youth.
Creating the Missing Link: Local Government, Service Learning, and Civic Education
by Todd Clark
During 12 years of education, most American students receive little formal instruction about how our cities, counties, and states function. They have few opportunities to learn or practice the skills they will need to participate effectively in public life. For many of these students, a fourth-grade focus on state history provides them with their only opportunity to explore the structure and processes of local government. And for most social studies teachers, covering local government lies beyond the scope of overburdened teaching schedules.
In 1998, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measured civics achievement at grades four, eight, and 12. The NAEP civics outcomes reveal how little students understand about our system of government. Only 25 percent of tested students demonstrated a rudimentary understanding of how American democracy works. Only 9 percent of tested students were able to list two or more positive effects of active citizenship. In general, the NAEP results revealed that American students learn facts about the American system of government, but they have difficulty applying this knowledge to community problems or public policy.
There is one bright note in the NAEP Civics report: “Twelfth-grade students who did volunteer work . . . had significantly higher civics assessment scale scores than student who did not participate in volunteer activities.”1 This enticing clue suggests that service—when linked to civic education—has the potential to educate young people in the essentials of democratic citizenship.
A national study of entering college freshman, conducted annually by UCLA for over 30 years, indicates that our young people are now less interested in political life than ever before. However, they are more committed to improving the quality of life in their communities. Simultaneously, policy makers and educators have been preoccupied with education reform. Unfortunately, in the debate over what is needed in our schools, civic education—including an understanding of the problems and policies that effect our lives at the local level—does not appear on the reform agenda.
Helping young people understand the connection between government policy and community improvement is of great importance to our democracy. An educational initiative that emphasized the connections between civic education and local government might help reinvigorate our political process and expand democratic participation. Using service learning to explore community issues and local government has great potential to link civic knowledge and skills and democratic dispositions with the development of effective, engaged citizens. This issue of Service-Learning Network explores some ways to achieve that important objective.
Todd Clark is the Executive Director of Constitutional Rights Foundation.
1 NAEP Civics Report Card for the Nation. 1998. For more information about NAEP and civic assessment, visit the NAEP web site at nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/site/home.asp.
Service Learning and Local Government
by Ann L. Rappoport, Ph.D.
Director, Kids Around Town® 1
Service learning can be made more effective by focusing on public policy and the role of local government.
On January 12, 2000, the New York Times reported the results of a survey revealing that a majority of college students believed that “government had no influence on their lives.” Of course, these students were mistaken. Government, especially local government, is a pervasive force in all of our lives. The results of the Times-reported survey underscores a simple reality: Students don’t absorb civic skills and values by simply living in a democracy; they need to practice them.
One of the best ways to implement civic education is by interacting with the people and processes of government. Students who have had direct, meaningful contact with local officials, service providers, and other government professionals are more likely to know how to participate effectively when they step into the public-policy arena.
Kids Around Town (KAT) features a service-learning process that empowers young students to strengthen their academic abilities by dealing with local government. Developed in 1993, the KAT program requires that service be grounded in the exploration of public-policy issues. Both service and learning are rooted in the specific context of the local community’s institutions.
For example, interviewing seniors—a popular service-learning activity—is a powerful learning experience. But it can be even more profound when students also learn something about how local government interacts with senior citizens. Students interested in intergenerational issues can begin their research by contacing their Area Agency on Aging. They can employ communications skills to consult with representatives from a municipal health department. They can gather and study statistics about the elderly and explore the availability of county-supported services for seniors.
The KAT framework is a guide for educators seeking to maximize the potential of service learning by engaging with local government. The framework includes seven major components. Students:
1) Are introduced to local government. Through their local government, students can test (or experience) the basic premise that “we” are government. They learn to ask: What is a community? Who is in our community? Why is there government? What is public policy? What is public interest or “the public good”?
2) Select a local public-policy issue. It is essential to find an issue that will engage students. To explore local government, the issue should involve the jurisdiction of municipal, township or county authorities or the school district administration. It should have direct impact on students’ lives. Remember to help students define the issue within a manageable scope and scale.
3) Research the issue. The information-gathering stage is where children have a great opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary activities. Students can research an issue’s history, apply their growing understanding of scientific method and statistics, and write about their issue.
4) Analyze the research. After students have collected information about their issue, they need to be able to analyze it. The key is to teach students to look at information for what is there, how it is presented, and what is not there. This step provides an opportunity for students to develop critical-thinking and policy-evaluation skills.
5) Problem-solve and develop an action plan. Once students have analyzed the information they have gathered, they need to evaluate possible solutions to the problem they have chosen. They should restate their problem, develop possible strategies to address it, and choose the best solution for “the public good.”
6) Take civic action. Students can inform the public, persuade local authorities, or participate in any strategy designed to influence local public policy. They should prepare for responsible civic action by finding out in advance for example, about the format for public-service announcements, about getting on the agendas of public meetings, or about any regulations governing their proposed action campaigns.
7) Assess and reflect. The teacher should share observations about the process. Before, during, and after their service-learning experience, students should take time to evaluate their own involvement and change through the process and consider how they would apply their acquired knowledge to new and different situations. They should consider what they have learned about local institutions and about the process of civic participation.
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CityWorks: Teaching Local Government Through Service Learning
Today’s U.S. government teachers face a dilemma. On one hand, they are expected to give their students the knowledge and skills they need to be effective and responsible citizens. On the other hand, most government standards, texts, and curricula focus on national government. While it is important for students to understand the structure and process of our national government, they are more likely to participate at the local level as adult citizens. Most teachers rarely have the time to provide more than a cursory examination of local structures of government.
In 1996 the Surdna Foundation launched a national initiative to determine whether service learning could be an effective method for improving citizenship knowledge and skills. Constitutional Rights Foundation took the opportunity afforded by the Surdna Foundation to develop and test CityWorks, a model that uses service learning to teach local government and citizenship at the high school level.
CityWorks, now in its evaluation draft, is designed to follow major government texts, including Magruder’s, the standard U.S. government text. It supports national, state, and local standards, frameworks, and course outlines. It is also infusable into an existing course, requires a moderate demand on classroom time, and is applicable to a variety of school settings.
CityWorks consists of two major elements:
Six interactive lesson modules on local government designed to be integrated into the end of units in typical government texts. Lessons focus on local government content.
Project activities follow each of the lessons. These classroom activities and assignments help students explore problems, institutions, and public-policy issues in their own community.
CityWorks is currently being piloted several Los Angeles area schools.
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Interacting with Local Government: A Case Study
Students who understand local government can do more than treat public symptoms; they can generate public policy solutions.
Consider the following issues: skateboarding in public and commercial areas; poor street lighting; filthy school restrooms; gangs, curfews, and truancy; useless and dangerous vacant lots and buildings; school violence; lack of school and community recreation facilities; abandoned vehicles; literacy and library resources; litter and graffiti; homelessness, diversity, tolerance, and lack of community pride. These issues all affect the quality of life for students and their families and all of them fall under the jurisdiction of local government.
Using the Kids Around Town framework, eighth-grade students in one Philadelphia classroom recently chose to address the topic of gang violence and school safety. They applied traditional research methodologies, consulted newspapers, and browsed the Internet. They invited representatives from local government offices and community groups to speak to them about the issue. Students contacted officials representing the head of the city council, the offices of the district attorney and public defender, the department of human services, the police department and their school district. These interviews provided students with an in-depth introduction to their local government while they yielded important information on the issue of gang violence and school safety.
Next, these students developed surveys to measure student concern and impressions about related issues of bullying, teasing, and fighting. The survey results were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively and the new data was incorporated into earlier research results.
As students progressed through the analysis and problem-solving phases of their project, they developed new questions to ask experts and members of the school community. They contacted a community-based conflict-resolution center and found that this organization could conduct training programs at their school.
In culmination, students requested that the school district obtain “drug-free zone” signs for the school neighborhood. They organized a “Peace Day” for their peers and presented a video they had created on the subject of violence. In a meaningful gesture for new students, these outgoing eighth-graders petitioned the principal to let the school operate a peer-mediation program.
In reflecting on this example, it is clear that local government can become a learning laboratory and a means to address school and community needs. Students learned how to take the initiative, to reach out to local government to address a problem they had identified as important to them. At the same time, they gained new understanding of the institutions, regulations, and processes of local government. They now understand more about the players in the public policy process and the hows and whys behind the issue they identified for community service.
More important, these students are now better prepared to take responsible roles in improving their communities. By studying local government, these KAT students developed civic skills that will empower them to play leadership roles in the future of their communities.
Ann Rappoport, Ph.D., is a freelance writer, educator, and program consultant. She has taught writing and government in Philadelphia area colleges and Kids Around Town is one of the programs she currently directs.
1 Kids Around Town (KAT)® was developed by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund in cooperation with West Chester University. For more information on the KAT program, see Review Corner of this issue of Service-Learning Network.
The Learning Laboratory: An Interview with David Korth
David Korth is the Social Services Planning Manager in Hayward, California. Korth’s job gives him a unique perspective on how schools, non-profits, and businesses can form effective partnerships with local government.
Network: David, you come to service learning from a different direction than that of most educators. Can you describe your position in Hayward’s city government?
Korth:. Basically, I work in three separate areas. First, I manage Hayward’s city-sponsored transportation service for older adults and people with disabilities. Second, I oversee the implementation of a city anti-discrimination action plan. Third, I am responsible for social-services planning.
Network: What is “social-services planning”?
Korth: Under this hat, I am responsible for administering the distribution of city and federal funds to non-profit organizations and other public agencies including schools. For example, we contract with the Hayward Unified School District to provide portable, on-campus structures that house and implement some of Hayward’s after-school latchkey programs. We also fund a youth enrichment program that calls for a partnership between the Hayward schools, the city, and our recreation district.
Network: Beyond administering funds, how does your work connect local government to schools and other community sectors?
Korth: Too often, we are forced to say “no” to funding requests. So, we find other ways to help. In lieu of hard money, we offer technical assistance, in-kind support, and share our experience in program planning. We leverage resources between schools and non-profit and private organizations. In short, we do anything we can to help meet the social- and human-service needs of the community.
Network: Can you give us an example of how you meet those needs?
Korth: The Hayward Coalition for Youth is an ad hoc group of youth-serving organizations that joined forces six years ago to apply for a partnership grant. We are still working together. We represent many of the youth resources in the community—the school district, the park and recreation district, a number of non-profits, the police department, and other city offices.
Network: How do the Coalition for Youth and your other community organizing efforts support service learning?
Korth: With proper classroom support, city agencies and community organizations can serve as learning laboratories for young people. At the same time, students are viewed as valuable resources who can help community groups and local government agencies meet their goals and objectives. I come to the coalition representing a public entity—the city. I work as a liaison between schools and various groups, other public agencies, non-profits, and the business sector. On one hand, we provide educational opportunities for students. At the same time, we want to help deserving groups with limited resources. In this equation, students can give and receive.
Network: What problems have you encountered in your efforts to connect with school-based service-learning efforts?
Korth: Schools work in different time frames than do businesses, non-profits, and government agencies. Business wants to work now and act fast. Teachers are busy in the classroom during business and government office hours. Pulling the rhythms and schedules of these groups together takes time, patience, and effort on everyone’s part.
Network: How can local government become a “learning laboratory”?
Korth: Think of any issue that a community might face. Someone in local government is probably working on that issue. Public agencies can be like mazes: You need to know how to navigate them. That can be a challenge. “Service Learning Opportunities In City Government” (See graphic page 7) is an attempt to guide teachers and students through the local government maze.
Network: What obstacles do educators have to overcome to form partnerships?
Korth: It takes time to persuade people in business, non-profits, or city government that student participation isn’t a burden but a genuine resource. Convincing people outside the school that service-learning partnerships can be helpful is similar to convincing teachers that service learning isn’t just another chore. Most service-learning practitioners have probably had that debate with some of their educator colleagues. A new concept comes along and it often sounds like extra work.
The challenge is to convince other educators and potential partnering organizations that student participation may actually help them get the job done. Beyond that, service-learning partnering can result in an enhanced experience for the student, the partnering organization, and the community at large. Those who have benefitted know that the sum of a service-learning partnership is often greater than its parts.
Network: How do you suggest that teachers and students reach out to local government?
Korth: Begin by formulating the right questions before you approach government agencies. In the classroom, it’s fine to ask “who is my community?” or “what are its needs?” But before you make contact with government agencies, non-profits, or businesses, you need to narrow the problem. You need to ask “what issue do I want to work on?” and “where do I find people who are working on this issue?” If you don’t have a contact, you walk into the city clerk’s office and ask the question: “Who in the city is working on that issue?” But students don’t need to stop with local government.
Network: Can you elaborate on that?
Korth: Government agencies aren’t the only people who are dealing with school and community problems. Businesses, non-profits, and concerned citizens may be working on the same issues. Many communities publish a guide to human and social resources. The reference librarian at your local library can help students locate community resources. Or look for a local volunteer agency that coordinates partnerships with a number of local non-profits. You can also start a networking seminar. Invite people who represent local government, non-profits, members of the business community, concerned private citizens. Use the seminar as a forum to teach and learn the art of networking to solve community problems.
In the long run, the focus still comes back to the teacher. Educators need to be clear about their educational goals, get specific in the classroom about the issues students want to address. Then hit the road, knock on doors, go to the municipality, businesses, or non-profit agencies in the community. Then ask, “who can I talk to in dealing with this issue?” At the county level, do the same thing. Go to the county clerk’s office. Let things unfold from there. “I’m an educator. This is my issue. How can we work together?” If you make the effort, you may get some very encouraging responses.
For more information, contact David Korth, Social Services Planning Manager, Community and Economic Development Department, Hayward City Hall, 777 B Street, Hayward, CA 94541-5007. (510) 583-4227; e-mail:
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Service-Learning Opportunities In City Government
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City Services
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Service-Learning Opportunities
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Police Department
A. Working with School Resource Officers
B. Working with Neighborhood Watch
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A. School Safety:
- Reduce violence on campus.
- Decrease discrimination.
- Reduce drug and alcohol abuse.
- Remove school graffiti.
B. Neighborhood/Community Improvement:
- Improve neighborhood safety.
- Wipe out community graffiti.
- Organize a new neighbor welcome program.
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Fire Department
A. Emergency Operations/Disaster Response
B. Fire Prevention
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A. Disaster Preparedness:
- Facilitate school and neighborhood disaster preparedness programs.
- Facilitate disaster preparedness for service agencies, religious institutions, nursing homes, etc.
B. Fire Prevention:
- Help with weed abatement projects.
- Learn and teach fire safety techniques.
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Public Works Department
A. Landscape/Pollution Control
B. Community Maintenance
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A. Environmental/Recycling/Pollution Control:
Learn and teach tree planting and care, neighborhood clean-up sidewalk stenciling, recycling.
B. Community Maintenance:
• Litter pick-up
• Graffiti removal
• Identify sidewalks, roads, or traffic problems that need attention.
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Community Planning Department
A. Planning
B. Social Services
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A. Utilization of Space in the Community:
Help determine community use of open space (parks, trails, etc.).
B. Helping Others Who Are in Need:
Help identify needs and provide social service (food, shelter, work training, counseling).
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Library
Library Services
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Literacy and Cultural Programs
- Help others to learn to read.
- Learn and teach cultural diversity and tolerance.
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Recreation and Parks
Recreation Services
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Youth, Adult and Senior Programs
Help identify need for, plan, and implement community recreation programs.
PROGRAM PROFILES
Introducing Teachers to Local Government and Community Issues
by Fran Rudoff
Executive Director, KIDS Consortium
How many teachers in your school system actually live in the neighborhoods or communities where they teach? For some teachers, limited knowledge about local issues, community leaders, and local government agencies can be a tremendous barrier to service learning.
Beginning in the early 1990s, KIDS Consortium of Maine began the Town as Text Tour. This introductory program has proven to be an effective strategy for helping teachers discover major issues and challenges facing local government officials. Lewiston, Maine City Planner Jim Lysen says that “the idea is to show how teachers can use the town as text in developing hands-on projects tied to curriculum for their students.” On bus rides through Lewiston, Lysen has talked with teachers about the redevelopment of a local textile mill and plans for a system of bike and pedestrian trails. Teachers have also explored a riverfront archaeological dig and discussed the impact industrial mills have had on Lewiston’s past and could have in the future.
In the rural Oxford Hills region of Maine, teachers recently learned about the impact of soil erosion on local lakes, and discussed projects that could improve water quality with representatives of the County Soil and Water Conservation District and a local watershed association. They also met the director of a local agency that runs the Head Start program and is involved with a local Children’s Health Center to discuss issues related to poverty and local at-risk populations.
When teachers and school administrators develop contacts with local government officials and become acquainted with community issues they are building a community-wide learning laboratory for their students. To set up a community tour for teachers, consider the following steps:
- Create a small committee to lead the process. Involve your school volunteer coordinator, one or two teachers, a town or city planner (in rural areas, regional planning agencies can be very helpful), and a local elected official or school board member.
- Informally poll teachers about topics or issues of interest. Consider local curriculum themes or topics as a guide.
- Brainstorm a list of general topics you’d like to cover on the tour. For example, you could consider needs of senior citizens, water quality, downtown revitalization, or recycling. Identify people or organizations in the community who are knowledgeable about these topics. Use local newspapers or the phone book to help fill in the blanks.
- Consult with your school or district administrative team to select possible dates for the tour, create a draft schedule, and begin contacting local organizations to serve as “tour guides” for various issues. Talk with representatives of the organizations about information to present and the types of “handouts” or written background information teachers would find useful.
- Finalize the schedule and logistics. Provide a detailed agenda and registration form for teachers in advance.
- Create folders with information provided by “tour guides” for participating teachers. These resources will be extremely valuable as teachers return to the classroom and initiate service-learning projects with their students. Include an evaluation form so you can receive feedback on the tour and find out what kind of follow-up support teachers will need from the resource agencies and people they met.
- KIDS Consortium found that the Town as Text Tour created an effective strategy to introduce local government, community issues, and local leaders to their students.
For more information, contact KIDS Consortium at (207) 784-0956 or at www.kidsconsortium.org.
Forming Productive Partnerships with Local Government
WINCHESTER, Virginia—The Government 12 Service-Learning class at James Wood High School uses the local community as an extended learning laboratory. Students apply knowledge and skills they have acquired in their government class to develop possible solutions to community problems. Under this program, students and local government agencies join forces to plan and implement service-learning projects based on problems and issues identified by the agencies themselves.
During the first semester of the Government 12 Service-Learning class, students complete the curriculum as required by the Virginia Board of Education. During the second semester, students spend approximately half their class time in various local government agencies working on service-learning projects. Students work in groups of three in agencies such as the County Treasurer, Commissioner of Revenue, County Planning, Public Works, Health Department, Clerk of the Court and Fire and Rescue.
Service-learning coordinators work closely with the partnering agencies to design projects that 1) have substantive value for the agencies and 2) have a serious instructional component that links community work to students’ recently acquired knowledge of local government. Some local government service-learning projects have included:
- a feasibility study for a local income tax.
- a cost-benefit analysis of community service versus incarceration for alcohol and drug abusers.
- a feasibility study of curbside trash pick up.
- a future projection of low-income housing availability.
- an effectiveness study of a health department immunization program.
- the impact of the National Voter Registration Act on voter turnout.
When Government 12 students are not at their placements in local government, they return to the classroom to critique each other’s service-learning projects and link readings in democracy, civic participation, and citizenship to their service-learning experience in the community. Student work is evaluated through the use of daily logs, project updates, and deadlines. Students produce a final written report and present their project outcomes at an evening forum attended by members of local government, county agencies, school officials, parents, and the general public. The local television station now broadcasts the event live.
At the conclusion of the Government 12 Service-Learning class, James Wood High School students talk about the importance of citizens becoming more informed and involved in their community rather than placing unreasonable demands on local government agencies. They see their work as valuable to their respective local government agencies. They view the work of the agencies as valuable to the community and begin to develop measurably different attitudes about their roles as citizens in a community. They express a desire to implement positive solutions to other community problems.
Student commitment continues after graduation, with some Government 12 students finding work with their partnering agencies in presenting their findings and project outcomes to other local governments in the Frederick County region. Student confidence and oral communication and presentation skills have increased with every opportunity to share their service-learning projects with other audiences. Many students plan to register to vote. As one Government 12 student observed, “People need to wake up and get involved. They won’t be so bored with the government because there is so much to learn and so much to do.”
For more information, contact Mickey Monahan, James Wood High School, 161 Apple Pie Ridge Road, Winchester, VA 22603. (540) 667-5226.
REVIEW CORNER
Kids Around Town ®
A Local Government Education Model
Sharon B. Kletzien, Ph.D. with Ann L. Rappoport, Ph.D.
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Citizen Education Fund, Harrisburg, PA. 1994.
Looseleaf manual, 11½" x 10½", 200 pp.
Kids Around Town (KAT) introduces elementary- and middle-school children to local government and empowers them to influence public policy. The materials in KAT have been developed by education, communication, and political science specialists, working closely with elementary- and middle-school teachers. They provide strategies and teaching techniques to promote an understanding of the active role that citizens can play in deciding local public-policy issues.
Kids Around Town is not designed to be used as a curriculum. Instead, the KAT program is a valuable resource to enable teachers and students to identify local issues, conduct research, evaluate positions, and present persuasive information to others in the community, including public-policy makers.
Each section contains methodologies, procedures, and worksheets for students. Teachers, community volunteers, and students can then choose which activities and resources are appropriate for the school or community issues they choose to address.
KAT materials are arranged in sections reflecting the Kids Around Town civic education framework. The first section introduces interdisciplinary and cooperative-learning teaching methods and useful suggestions on how to use the KAT materials as a vehicle to cover standards, benchmarks, and other curricular goals.
Part Two, “Introducing Public Policy and Local Government,” contains activities to help students apply these concepts to their own communities. Part Three, “Choosing an Issue,” offers methods for students to identify local issues. Part Four, a research component, gives students methods for digging into the causes and effects, obstacles, and resources that are critical to understanding a community problem and coming up with ways to address it.
An entire section, “Analyzing the Information,” gives young students valuable critical-thinking tools for evaluating community problems and the policies designed to address them. Students who have studied an issue can use Part Six, “Problem Solving,” to help them understand how to develop action project strategies that take “the public good” into account. Part Seven gives them a means of mobilizing public attention and support for their position and methods to present their ideas to local policy makers.
Assessment is a critical component of any service-learning program. Part Eight provides authentic assessment for what elementary- and middle-school students have learned from studying and taking action on a local issue. Included are checklists, before-and-after tests, and rubrics for scoring student awareness. Student reflection methods are also listed. The KAT materials are rounded out by an annotated bibliography of children’s books. Some are reference books, others are accounts of young people who have successfully brought about change in their communities. The KAT materials end with a glossary of common terms associated with local government.
The Kids Around Town model is designed to be flexible and appropriate for elementary- or middle-school children of differing ability levels and interests. It can be used to address almost any local issue. After completing a service-learning project using the KAT materials, students should be able to understand:
- local government.
- how citizens can participate in the development of local public policy.
- the details and complexities involved in resolving public-policy issues.
- the need for studying an issue before coming to a conclusion.
- the importance of recognizing different perspectives on an issue.
As such, the KAT model provides an approach to help children develop—at an early age—the skills they need to be active, thoughtful citizens in the future.
Kids Around Town is supported by a 20-minute orientation video, a newsletter with resources, lessons, activities, and a well-organized web site at http://pa.lwv.org/kat. For more information, contact Kids Around Town, 226 Forster Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102. (717) 234-1576; e-mail:
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An Introduction to Service Learning
A Virtual College Course for Schools and Community Agencies
Instructors: Claire Schooley and Evan Goldberg
Alameda County Office of Education, Hayward, California. 1999.
Eight half-hour VHS videos and an Internet web site
An Introduction to Service Learning is a university-level course that is taught using a combination of videotaped programs and the Internet. The student watches the video programs and then completes readings and assignments on the Internet. This unique video/Internet series is offered for three units of transferable college credit from California State University, Hayward.
An Introduction to Service-Learning is designed for two basic purposes: 1) to give the student a detailed understanding of service-learning teaching strategies including definitions, fundamental concepts, and best practices; and 2) to enable the student to begin using service learning in his or her classroom or community organization.
Each session features an overview, assignments, and activities designed to enhance an understanding of service-learning teaching strategies. A tools feature provides methods to implement service-learning programs and projects. An e-mail-based discussion forum keeps students in touch with their instructors on a session-by-session basis.
Related Internet pages are organized on the web site in two categories: 1) sites related to service learning and 2) sites that help teach about specific social issues. Readings are arranged in a bibliography and are selected to pursue topics at a deeper level and explore some of the philosophical underpinnings of service learning.
An Introduction to Service Learning is composed of eight half-hour video sessions. Lesson assignments and additional resources are located at the Internet web site.
For more information, call (510) 670-4233 or visit the web site at www.cntv.csuhayward.edu/html/cntvtel/sl/main. html and click on “Sessions.”
Participating in Local Government
A Guide for Teaching Local Government
Institute for Local Self-Government, Sacramento, California. 1994.
Looseleaf manual, 11½" x 10½", approx. 200 pps.
Teacher reference guide 8½" x 11", 32pps.
Student guides 8½" x 11", approximately 100 pp.
Although Participating in Local Government is geared to California local government, it contains a wealth of lesson plans, activities, and resources that can be applied to any community. Based on the premise that local government provides teachers and students with a productive civic education laboratory, this supplementary social studies program has been prepared with the assistance of classroom teachers who have been using local government as a focal point for their classes. They have found that this approach is an effective way to motivate their students, teach them about democracy and civic values, promote cultural understanding, and develop social participation skills.
Materials include a resource binder for elementary, middle, and high school teachers including a primer on California local government, a three-week curriculum with lesson plans and activities for each grade level, and a glossary and resource section.
Two student guides (5th–7th grade and 7th–12th grade) cover the history, organization, and people involved in local government. Each chapter includes student and class activities, comprehension questions, and vocabulary guides. Support material includes teacher reference guides, and supplemental lesson plans designed to increase student awareness and develop critical-thinking skills. A video showcases students applying their lessons to community action.
For more information, contact JoAnne Speers, Executive Director, Institute for Local Self-Government, 1400 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 658-8233.
FYI
President’s Student Service Scholarships
The Corporation for National Service announces the availability of $1,000 scholarships to high school students for outstanding service to their community. Each high school in the country may select two students (junior or senior) who have completed 100 or more hours of service to the community. Five hundred dollars is provided by the Corporation of National Service, to be matched with a $500 scholarship from the community.
More than 13,000 scholarships have been distributed. “The President’s Challenge lets young people know that their community service is important to the entire nation,” said Harris Wofford, former CEO of the Corporation for National Service, which oversees the President’s Student Service Challenge. Applications and additional information can be found at (866) 291-7700 or visit their web site.
TechSoup.org
TechSoup.org invites you to check out its new non-profit technology discussion area online. Hosted by experts from the high-tech and non-profit sectors, TechSoup’s community message boards cover such topics as e-fundraising, technology planning, and web building for non-profit organizations.
101 Ideas for Combining Service & Learning
This online resource has 101 ideas for combining service and learning that range in disciplines from anthropology to sociology. Ideas for combining service and learning include accounting, art, biology, business, liberal studies, computers, education, English, environment, history, political science, philosophy, and psychology.
UCLA Service-Learning Clearinghouse Project
The UCLA Service-Learning Clearinghouse Project has many valuable resources for service-learning practitioners especially in the higher education arena. This resource disseminates information on service-learning assessment and evaluation and has links to other sources of information on assessment and evaluation. In addition, there is information on effective models of partnerships, as well as links to resources for building and sustaining partnerships. The web site contains links for training and technical assistance as well as a list of upcoming service-learning conferences and events.
This issue of Service-Learning Network is made possible by a
generous grant from the Ford Foundation
©2001, Constitutional Rights Foundation, 601 South Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90005 (213) 487-5590 Fax (213) 386-0459 www.crf-usa.org
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