Maryland
From Service-Learning Wiki
Maryland remains the only state with a universal service-learning graduation requirement. This approach to integration has created sustainable programs in all parts of the state.
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History
In the mid-1980s, Maryland Superintendent of Schools David Hornbeck advocated for a community service graduation requirement, but did not gain support from the State Board of Education. In 1985, the State Board of Education required high schools to offer credit for service. Then in 1992, the State Board of Education adopted the current graduation rule that requires students to document 75 hours of service that includes preparation, action, and reflection components — or to complete a locally designed program approved by the state. Amid significant publicity about the requirement, the Maryland Student Service Alliance, founded as a public-private partnership in 1988, conducted a campaign including student-to-student outreach to further broaden public support for the requirement. Also in 1992, the state received its first round of funding, $523,546, from the Federal Commission on National and Community Service and was designated as one of eight Leader States. The graduation requirement went into effect in 1993 and Maryland’s Class of 1997, numbering 42,000, was the first to meet the requirement (only 47 students statewide failed to graduate because of the service-learning requirement).
From the beginning, education and volunteer leaders recognized that if the graduation requirement were to succeed, schools must provide students with quality service-learning opportunities. In 1988, private foundations supported the creation of the Maryland Student Service Alliance (MSSA) as a public-private partnership within the Maryland State Department of Education. Over the next four years, MSSA set out on an energetic program of teacher training, curricula development, and technical assistance.
In 1990, the State of Maryland added funding. By 1992, when Maryland first received half a million dollars in Learn and Serve America funding, service-learning had become strongly rooted in a growing number of schools. Beginning in 1993, MSSA annually trained and mobilized approximately fifteen Service-Learning Teacher Fellows, instructors with exemplary service-learning programs who also shared their expertise and enthusiasm with peers. By 2003, 144 fellows represented all 24 school systems. As of 2007, 193 Fellows share their service-learning expertise with colleagues throughout the state. In 1992-1993, with help from the fellows and working closely with the academic disciplines, MSSA published curricula for each school level and for special education. During the same time, it worked to change the minds of teachers, parents, and who school administrators who initially opposed the graduation requirement. An effort by the state legislature to overturn to the Board of Education decision was defeated in 1993.
In 1995, MSSA produced “Maryland’s Best Practices: An Improvement Guide for School-Based Service-Learning in Maryland.” The book provided concrete means to improve practice, based on interviews with 80 service-learning practitioners statewide. Responding to requests from teachers and administrators, MSSA began to document and publish replicable models of service-learning programs that met all seven best practices. To further ensure administrative support, MSSA produced “Shared Learnings: Administrative Strategies for Service-Learning” in 1996. These strategies came from the experiences of the Maryland educators who operationalized the state graduation requirement.
In 1998, MSSA added the self-assessment tool, “Next Steps: A School District's Guide to the Essential Elements of Service-Learning.” From 1997-2001 service-learning leadership retreats convened 200-250 participants to examine issues and ways to improve service-learning program quality. In 2000, MSSA began annual quality reviews of the service-learning programs in each of Maryland’s 24 school districts.To increase youth voice, MSSA offered a mini-grants program to fund student proposals.
In 2004, MSSA merged into the Maryland Department of Education.
Networks of Support
One project of the Maryland Service-Learning Fellows has been the revision of Spinning Interdisciplinary Service-Learning Webs, a handbook first published in 1995 to help teachers connect service with their specific curricular areas. The revised edition, released by the Maryland State Department of Education in 2007, includes curricular webs focused on aging; the environment; hunger, homelessness, and poverty; literacy; pregnant and parenting teens; prejudice; public safety; and substance abuse.
As part of their continuing efforts to improve service-learning quality, the Maryland State Department of Education also published the Maryland Student Service-Learning Guidelines in 2005. This document insists all service-learning experiences should meet Maryland’s Seven Best Practices of Service-Learning which include:
- meeting a recognized need in the community,
- achieving curricular objectives through service-learning,
- reflection throughout the service-learning experience,
- developing student responsibility,
- establishing community partnerships,
- planning ahead for service-learning, and
- equipping students with knowledge and skills needed for service.
The Maryland State Department of Education seeks to link service-learning with character education, student leadership, and "21st Century Schools" after-school programs.
Many of the strongest partnerships occur at the local level. A Learn and Serve Communities-Higher Education-Schools Partnerships (CHESP) grant (2000-2003) fostered these partnerships. The American Red Cross, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and YMCA have aided MSSA at the state level. The Maryland Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism has collaborated on and provided funding for training and events.
Convening and Celebrating
All 24 school jurisdictions hold annual recognition ceremonies for students who excel in service-learning. These ceremonies include community members, teachers, parents, and school administrators. A further strategy to improve service-learning quality in Maryland has been to recognize exemplary programs and individual contributions. Since 1997, at an annual awards gala, up to two high school “Service Stars” from each district are recognized for excellence in service to their communities. In 2001, a "Rising Service Stars" award program began for middle schools.
At the same event, new Service-Learning Fellows are recognized for their contributions. Each year up to twelve service-learning projects receive the Sherry Unger Award, honoring this longtime Maryland Service-Learning Fellow, who passed away in 2002. A description of a winning project is posted on the Maryland State Department of Education’s website each month as a way of promoting quality and innovation. A "Service-Learning Principal of the Year" award is also offered - the recipient keynotes the annual service-learning celebration. In addition, approximately 200 service-learning leaders are brought together each year to focus on improving service-learning practice across the state.
Policy Support
In 1992 the State Board of Education adopted a graduation rule requiring students to complete 75 hours of service including preparation, action, and reflection components — or to complete a locally designed program approved by the state superintendent of schools. Since Maryland’s class of 1997 first met the requirement, approximately 55,000 students have participated each year, contributing nearly four million hours of service annually to their communities.
Each local school system in Maryland must have an approved and up-to-date service-learning plan on file at the Maryland State Department of Education, which is assessed on the local and state levels. In the first year of the review cycle, the plan must be reviewed by a statewide panel of stakeholders consisting of parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community-based organization representatives. All 24 local school systems are then visited at least once during the next three years for a formal service-learning quality review by Maryland State Department of Education staff.
Learn and Serve
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Youth Contributions
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Examples of Quality Service-Learning
References
- Brown, Nelda, Kielsmeier, Jim, Neal, Marybeth, Potts, Stan, et al. 2003. "State of the States: An Outline." In The Generator 21(3):36-42.
- 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.
- "Service-Learning: History." Maryland State Department of Education. Retrieved July 9, 2008 from http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/servicelearning/docs/history.htm
External Links
- Learn and Serve America in Maryland
- National Service in Maryland (Corporation for National and Community Service)
- Maryland State Department of Education - Service-learning
- Governor's Office on Service & Volunteerism
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