Hawaii
From Service-Learning Wiki
Hawaii is one of the smallest states, both in population and areas. Yet the great distances between islands, and between Hawaii and the rest of the United States, forces Hawaii to be resourceful. Hawaii's relatively modest share of Learn and Serve America funds also limits state staff development activities and other support resources for service-learning.
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History
Since 1993, the Hawaii Department of Education has offered small one-year project grants of about $3,000, to approximately 20 teachers each year. Now, to deepen practice and sustainability, Hawaii seeks to support school-wide programs, and to extend grants to two- or three-year cycles. In 2003-2004, although the Learn and Serve Hawaii program provided only twelve sub-grants, there are other schools that are providing service-learning activities through the integration of character education, social studies, science, career and technical education, and health education.
In 2008, high school seniors must begin to demonstrate their ability to apply academic learning in real-world contexts through a culminating senior project. Many of these students will also complete service-learning activities as part of their senior projects.
Networks of Support
The Department has partnered with Shelley Billig of RMC Research to offer trainings and build a team of master service-learning practitioners. The trainings will take place over a three year period starting in 2007. Training in the first year focuses on differentiating high quality service-learning from other service experiences. Educators who have attended the first of these trainings found that what they thought was service-learning was actually volunteerism and community service. In the second year of the process, educators will deepen their understanding of service-learning and improve their own practices. In the third year, teachers participating in the program will be trained to facilitate service-learning trainings throughout the state. In conjunction with these professional development opportunities and their focus on meeting Annual Yearly Progress as set down by No Child Left Behind, the Department of Education is also engaged in aligning service-learning outcomes with state academic content standards and benchmarks.
Youth Service Hawaii
Beyond the activities of the Department of Education, Youth Service Hawaii (YSH) offers service opportunities for youth and supports service-learning practitioners in the state. YSH is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 whose efforts include curriculum development, student and teacher fellowships, a youth advisory council, student leadership seminars, workshops, newsletter,s a website, and since 2002, an annual state-wide conference. YSH is also the lead agency for National Youth Service Day.
Over the course of 2007 Youth Service Hawaii has offered several trainings focused on literacy and civic engagement. Youth Service Hawaii also convenes the Statewide Service-Learning Conference which brings together practitioners and students from across the state to explore service and learning.
Improving Sustainability
Due to insufficient Learn and Serve funding and staffing, many educators in the state continue to confuse service-learning with volunteerism or community service. Building on information from the monthly trend reports to the Superintendent, the Department of Education is currently working with teachers to help them connect service activities more closely with curricular goals.
In March 2007 the Department of Education surveyed 25 teachers who had participated in Learn and Serve-funded service-learning programs. They found that 20 of the 25 continued to use service-learning in their classrooms — the other five are now school administrators. The Department of Education plans to continue collecting data on whether subgrantees engage their students in service-learning beyond the life of their Learn and Serve funding. So far, the results look positive.
Policy Suport
One of Hawaii’s General Learner Outcomes is that each student will be an effective “community contributor.” Indicators of achieving this outcome include students showing “responsible and ethical behavior in decision making,” and implementing solutions in a responsible way. Service-learning has been recognized as an important strategy for teaching students to be community contributors because it provides them with opportunities to address community needs. [1]
The state Superintendent has made the development of civic responsibility one of her three central goals for students in the state. This focus has led to a statewide emphasis on involving students in service. Each month, schools must submit a trend report to the superintendent’s office indicating the school’s current service activities.
Youth Contributions
This section is in need of expansion. You can help by expanding it.
Examples of Quality Service-Learning
References
- ^ Hawaii State Department of Education. (2005). General Learning Outcomes. Retrieved from http://doe.k12.hi.us/standards/GLO_rubric.htm#GLO2.
- Cairn, Rich and Neal, Marybeth. 2004. "State Profiles" in Growing to Greatness 2004. 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 Hawaii
- National Service in Hawaii (Corporation for National and Community Service)
- Learn and Serve Hawaii
- Hawaii Commission for National and Community Service
- Hawaii Pacific Islands Campus Compact
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