Arizona
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Contents |
History
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Networks of Support
Learn and Serve Arizona works closely with the Arizona Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism. The Governor's Awards for Service include a service-learning award. To coordinate efforts to advance service at the state level, the Director of the Governor's commission on Service and Volunteerism, the Learn and Serve State Coordinator, and the Corporation for National and Community Service State Office Program Manager meet regularly and serve on a variety of committees, teams, an focus groups.
Convening and Celebrating
All Learn and Serve subgrantees attend the annual three-day Service-Learning Leadership Camp to acquire management tools and plan programs. Students teachers, administrators, community leaders, parents, and volunteers attend as a team. There are also three one-day regional trainings each year. The year closes with a one-day celebration and planning conference.
Policy Support
Service-learning is not a graduation requirement in Arizona, but the Department of Education has clearly identified how service-learning can be utilized as a method for meeting the state’s academic content standards. State Senator Mark Anderson sponsored a resolution requiring the Arizona Board of Education to develop and promote guidelines for advancing academic achievement through service-learning. This led the Arizona Department of Education along with Learn and Serve Arizona to publish the Arizona Service-Learning Curriculum Guidelines in 2004. This document was endorsed by Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The Guidelines include service-learning Competencies and Indicators for grades K-3, 4-8, and 9-12. Examples of competencies that students are expected to develop through service-learning include: identifying a community need, developing and implementing a plan, and evaluating project success. The Guidelines also clarify connections between academic content standards in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies and the service-learning Competencies and Indicators for each grade span. This allows teachers to easily and authoritatively identify academic standards they can reach through service-learning at each level.
Promising Program: Future Educators Association
One successful model for service-learning in Arizona grew out of the Future Educators Association program in Peoria, Arizona—a two year program for high school juniors and seniors aspiring to be educators. As the Future Educators Association sought to become a credit-granting class, they mobilized state support to include a strong service-learning component. State offices of career and technical education, service-learning, academic achievement and special education joined forces to develop a rigorous academic framework for the program. Forty-two high schools participated when the program was launched statewide in 2003-04. Since then, the program has grown to 79 programs across the state. The curriculum is aligned with community college courses so that participants who successfully complete the program can receive college credit.
Learn and Serve
Arizona formed its Commission on National and Community Service in 1994. In 1999, the Governor's Division for Volunteerism received a community-based Learn and Serve grant. From 1993-1995, the Arizona Department of Education managed Learn and Serve grants at a minimal level. From 1995-1998, no Learn and Serve subgrants were awarded. In 1999, the commission convinced the Arizona Department of Education to reinstate Learn and Serve. Arizona received a probationary grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service in 1999 and regained the state's full allotment of Learn and Serve funding in 2000. Arizona splits Learn and Serve funds between service-learning and adult volunteers in schools. Arizona schools train and deploy 700 high-quality adult volunteers each year. Student service-learning participation grew from 1,900 participants at 10 sites in 2000 to 6,500 participants at 30 sites in 2004.
Arizona funds service opportunities for young people and adults through its Learn and Serve America program. Each year, adult volunteers work in at least 35 school sites as academic tutors. The Department of Education reports that some schools that have hosted volunteers have experienced significant academic gains. As part of this program, schools are able to develop profiles of their specific volunteer needs through a website developed in partnership with the K-12 Adult Volunteer Initiative and the Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona.
Learn and Serve Arizona’s youth programs are focused on engaging young people in meeting the needs of their local communities. Recent Learn and Serve-sponsored projects in the state have addressed literacy, environmental threats, poverty, and youth civic engagement. Three one-day trainings offered in November, February, and April convene educators for technical assistance and celebration. These trainings give educators the tools they need to help students uncover the needs of their own communities and respond with solutions. The trainings in November and April are open to young people, and the spring gathering draws 300 young people and adults for an annual celebration of service-learning in the state.
Youth Contributions
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Examples of Quality Service-Learning
References
- Cairn, Rich, Henning, Anna, and Neal, Marybeth. 2005. "State Profiles" in Growing to Greatness 2005. St. Paul: National Youth Leadership Council.
- Schultz, Nate. 2008. "State Profiles" in Growing to Greatness 2008. St. Paul: National Youth Leadership Council.
External Links
- Learn and Serve America in Arizona
- National Service in Arizona (Corporation for National and Community Service)
- Learn and Serve Arizona
- Volunteer Arizona
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