Service-Learning Institute for Educators

Graduate Credit Requirements and Criteria for Portfolios

 

A. 3 Graduate Credits: Written Reflection on Readings PRIOR to the Institute.

(Total of 2 Readings: one choice, one required)

Choice List Readings: (pick one)

• How Young People View Their Lives, Futures and Politics: A Potrait of Generation Next, The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Washington, D.C., 2007. A survey conducted in association with The Generation Next Initiative and Documentary produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions.
• The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts, A Report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington, D.C., 2006.
• Tough Choices OR Tough Times, The Report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (Executive Summary), National Center on Education and the Economy, Washington, D.C., 2007.
• Why We Still Need Public Schools: Public Education for the Common Good, Center on Education Policy, Washington, D.C., 2007.

Required Reading:

All participants must read: The Civic Mission of Schools (a report from Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE: The Center for Information and Research on Civic Engagement. New York, New York, Carnegie Corp. of NY, 2003).

Written Reflection

Prepare a written reflection to be submitted the first day of the Institute:

• What educational issues/needs were raised in these reports? Do you see evidence of these issues/needs in your own school/community?
• How do these reports square with your own beliefs about education?
• Highlight new information and/or ideas that can be incorporated into your practice.
  

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B. 2 and 3 Graduate Credits: Portfolio Components Prepared DURING the Institute

 

1. Effective Citizen Reflection
Participants will write a reflection that discusses how service-learning helps students develop the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviors for effective citizenship.

2.Service-Learning Benefits
Based on the sources listed below, participants will identify at least 10 benefits that result from participation in service-learning experiences. Consider benefits for students, teachers, and communities.

Readings

• K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice: An Annotated Bibliography
• Engaged for Success: Service-Learning as a Tool for High School Dropout Prevention

Video (provided at Institute)

• Bring Learning to Life: An Introduction to Service-Learning

3. Problem Solving Approaches

Participants will identify three different approaches that can be taken by students to address a community problem/need. This can come from the "Approaches" activity (from Day 2), or from a problem/need of your choosing.

4. Complete a Project Overview Template
Participants will create an outline for a service-learning project using a template (provided at Institute) that identifies:

• a service-learning project entry point and possible problem(s) to be addressed
• ideas for guided discovery of the problem
• possible community partners for the project
• academic connections

5. Complete a "Web the Learning" Template
Participants must be able to connect their plan for a service-learning project to at least 8 content knowledge and/or skills. Of the 8, at least two will be considered for the development of assessments.

6. Final Reflection
Participants will respond in writing to the following questions: (Draw on class discussions, readings, and KIDS as Planners: A Guide to Strengthening Students, Schools and Communities Through Service-Learning, 2nd Edition)

• What do you now know about service-learning that you did not know before attending the Institute?
• How do you feel about the impact of service-learning on students?
• How was your definition of student civic engagement changed?
• What do you foresee as the greatest challenge to implementing a service-learning project?

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C. 3 Graduate Credits: Follow-up work after the Institute

 

By August 8, 2008, participants will complete and submit supplementary portfolio requirements by using, Planning A Service-Learning Project outline. The intent of this work is to plan out a project, including a number of "get started" activities, to be implemented with students during the 2008-09 school year.

D. 2 and 3 Graduate Credits: Self Assessment on Product Descriptor after the Institute

By August 8, 2008, participants will self assess on the Portfolio and Participant Criteria sheet. 2 Graduate Credits / 3 Graduate Credits