Constitutional Rights Foundation
From Service-Learning Wiki
Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) is a non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization dedicated to educating America’s young people about the importance of civic participation in a democratic society in the areas of citizenship, government, politics, and the law.
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Service-Learning in Constitutional Rights Foundation
CRF’s service-learning curricula and programs support the design and implementation of school and community-based programs, providing technical support to a wide range of practitioners. Active Citizenship Today (ACT) is a civic participation program, in collaboration with the Close Up Foundation, for middle and high school students. CityYouth uses service-learning to integrate civic education into the core academic subjects: social studies, language arts, science, and math.
CityYouth’s interactive lessons support team teaching, cooperative learning, portfolio assessment, and service-learning projects. CRF supports two versions of CityYouth: a 7th grade curriculum, “Today’s Communities,” in which students identify and analyze school and community issues and plan, complete, and evaluate service-learning projects around four themes: crime and safety, harmony, health and well-being, and environment; and an 8th grade curriculum,“U.S. History,” which links a theme to a historical era. A CityYouth (Grade 6): World History curriculum is pending for 2004. Civic Engagement Training and Technical Assistance (CETTA). In 2001, CRF contracted with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to provide three years of citizenship training and technical assistance including the development of a service-learning curriculum: The “Effective Citizenship Guide,”“Evaluation Guide,”“A Facilitator’s Guide for By the People,” and “A Guide to Effective Citizenship through AmeriCorps.”
Service-Learning NETWORK newsletter examines issues in civic education and service-learning, provides real-world project profiles and other service-learning resources. Underwritten by a grant from the Ford Foundation, Service-Learning NETWORK is distributed free of charge to 14,000 K–12 educators nationwide. Youth For Justice works to initiate and strengthen law-related education programs that address problems of violence committed by and against youths.
Through service-learning, youths participate in and take responsibility for their communities, and develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to become effective citizens. Youth Leadership For Action (YLFA) is a program for Los Angeles youths who want to make an impact in positively altering of their city. Members put together an annual workshop or youth conference.
Scope of Service-Learning
ACT is applied to social studies and language arts programs in more than 30 school districts across the United States. CETTA’s training and technical-assistance services and its “Building Effective Citizens” curriculum are available for use by over 50,000 AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America program participants. Over 1 million students and 16,000 teachers participate in the national Youth for Justice program. YLFA is active in 13 Los Angeles-area schools, serving an estimated 220 students.
Intended Outcomes
ACT teaches problem-solving skills and increased civic engagement, among other outcomes. A Brandeis study found that the majority of ACT teachers modified their teaching strategies as a positive response to the ACT program. Youth for Justice conducts research on its programs, including effectiveness studies and a sequential study with the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.
References
- Growing to Greatness (2004). St.Paul: National Youth Leadership Council.
