Texas
From Service-Learning Wiki
Over the years, Texas has overcome major shifts in funding to provide high-quality service-learning in schools across the state. Priorities have transitioned from community partnerships, civics education, and safe schools to matters of environmental stewardship and teen driver safety in recent years. Despite these changes, service-learning in the state remains strong and has dedicated leadership that is working to expand capacity and institutionalize practice.
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History
Between 1996 and 2003, Texas Learn and Serve funded several hundred service-learning projects annually through a variety of smaller grants. Through this approach TxCSL and its partners built a large base of support for service-learning in Texas, with projects occurring at all grade levels and in most academic disciplines.
From 1997 through 2001, TxCSL placed up to eight VISTAs in ESCs, school districts, and community organizations as service-learning resource specialists. Beginning in 2001, TxCSL provided support to school districts to operate their own VISTA programs. Three districts currently have VISTAs, and more are planning to participate.
With support from the Constitutional Rights Foundation, TxCSL participated in Project Civic Connections, which promoted civic responsibility and civic participation through service-learning in Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas, from 2000 through 2003. The project provided high-quality teacher training and curriculum materials to two district sites in Texas, both of which trained 30 educators in a civics-based service-learning model integrated with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
In 2004, based on the experience of other states and owing to a new emphasis on performance measurement by funders, TxCSL altered its strategy to fund 28 Learn and Serve America: K-12 School- Community Partnership Grants, which are designed to build capacity for district-wide service- learning through the development of effective practice, policies, and support. This strategy is challenging sites to think of service-learning on a larger scale and to adopt longer-range approaches for expanding and deepening practice.
TxCSL has worked with regional service-learning specialists to integrate service-learning programs such as Career and Technology Education, Safe and Drug- Free Schools and Communities, science, and social studies. In partnership with the Texas Education Agency, TxCSL incorporated service-learning into the Title IV Community Service Grant Program that, in 2004, supported 43 sites across the state with $2.59 million in annual funding. The program was discontinued nationwide.
In the early 2000s, TxCSL staff initiated efforts to expand state-level linkages with social studies and migrant education through targeted presentations and meetings at state conferences and events.
TxCSL used a Community–Higher Education–School Partnership (CHESP) grant since 2000 to 2004 to develop partnerships in eight school districts with institutions of higher education, community agencies, and organizations.
Since Texas was first profiled for Growing to Greatness 2004, the state has altered its relationship with the network of 21 Regional Education Service Centers (ESCs). Previously, TxCSL provided training and technical assistance in service-learning to regional schools through the ESCs. Participating ESCs designated a service-learning specialist, who worked with TxCSL staff to support sub-grantee service-learning programs and to integrate service-learning with other federal and state education initiatives. During that time TxCSL provided three trainings per year in Austin for all Learn and Serve America sub-grantees in addition to using conference calls, e-mail, and teleconferences to reduce the need for long-distance travel.
Other state level partnerships have included the Adopt-a-Nursing Home program, which provides resources to schools for intergenerational partnerships; Texas Parks and Wildlife, which supported Project Wet and Project Wild; PAN-Texas, which helped districts empower youth through the state-approved Peer Assistance and Leadership classes and other strategies, and Texas Watch, which mobilized over 400 volunteers to collect water quality data on lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, bays, bayous, and estuaries in Texas. In the mid-200s, TxCSL partnered with the Cesar Chavez Foundation to conduct training in San Antonio on Chavez Service-Learning curricula.
Networks of Support
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) administers Learn and Serve America and other service-learning grants in Texas through the Texas Center for Service-Learning (TxCSL), a partnership with the Region 14 Education Service Center. The mission of TxCSL is to engage students and improve schools through the S.T.A.R.S. model of service-learning, which includes:
- Student leadership
- Thoughtful service
- Authentic learning
- Reflective practice
- Substantive partnerships
Information on the S.T.A.R.S. model of service-learning can be found on the TxCSL website.
TxCSL currently employs four full-time staff members. When the state received Title IV funding, the office was as large as seven people, but has reevaluated its capacity and is working to expand and improve the quality of service-learning instruction, while tapping new and diverse funding sources.
TxCSL has expanded its partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which overseas the Texas state parks, historic sites, and outdoor education programming. Because of this partnership, the Environment and environmental stewardship has become a key performance measure for Learn and Serve programs and developing partnerships with outdoor education programs - like TPWD's Project WILD - has become increasingly important.
The partnership with TPWD has helped integrate service-learning programs into a wider education audience through the roughly 9,000 employees of TPWD. TxCSL has found that the strength of this network, combined with its much greater access to resources and media, make it an excellent partner to bring greater attention to service-learning in the state.
Since 2005, State Farm has become a major service-learning partner in Texas. For the last two years, TxCSL has managed the $125,000 Ready, Set, Drive! program that funds student-directed driver safety programs in schools. The $5,000 subgrants fund programs similar to NYLC's own Project Ignition site, but the program is geared towards both high school and middle school students.
In 2007-2008, there were 16 grant sites and TxCSL is expecting to expand the program in 2008-2009. Up until now, the program has been exclusively for school groups working with a teacher or adviser. In the current year, funding opportunities will also be available to community-based organizations that will operate a program within a school.
Between 2006 and 2009, three sites that used to receive Title IV funds for service-learning in alternative education programs were expanding service-learning into more traditional classroom settings. These sites used service-learning as an incentive structure for students who were placed in suspension programs. Most of these students had had previous exposure to community service as punishment, but were now being offered service-learning as a reward for good behavior, attendance, and completion of work while in suspension. Perhaps the most promising result of the programs - which focused on social and emotional learning and development of resiliency - was an indication that participants showed above average desire to pursue higher education compared to peers who were not exposed to short-term service-learning.
Convening and Celebrating
State Farm has also provided funding for the state's service-learning summer institute. Institute attendees are typically school-based practitioners, but also include some administrators, private school educators, and community-based organization staff. In the past, this training program has brought in a small audience of 20 to 30 participants, primarily from Learn and Serve subgrantee programs. With State Farm support, the institute has grown substantially.
The 2008 institute featured nationally-renowned service-learning experts, including Cathy Berger Kaye, Jim Toole, Nelda Brown, and Shelley Billig. The institute brought in 340 participants from across Texas and some from out of state and featured a youth track with 81 middle and high school students who received training and performed a service project. The Texas PeaceJam affiliate also provided a training.
In addition to the institute, TxCSL provides January and September LSA subgrantee trainings and is able to provide site-based training as needed.
TxCSL provides certificates of recognition to training participants and has worked with the Governor's office to provide certificates to grant sites upon completion of their funding cycle. Within the annual Governor's award, one of the state's LSA programs received an award in a category called Community Connector (Public/Government). TxCSL is working to create a service-learning award and is also trying to use the internet to build recognition for sponsored projects.
Evaluating Progress
TxCSL performs annual evaluations of Learn and Serve programs. And, like research elsewhere, their results show that high-quality service-learning has positive impacts on youth participants, including improved civic knowledge, civic dispositions, and academic engagement. Likewise, low-quality service-learning experiences in the state have produced little in terms positive impact.
Additionally, the state collects subgrantee reports and has access to LASSIE data. However, no representative statewide survey of service-learning activity has been done. TxCSL is considering such a study, like the 2004 NYLC Principal's Survey, but is considered about methodology and how to capture measures of saturation and quality through an administrator's survey.
Policy Support
Like many states, Texas has no formal policies that support service-learning and does not specifically fund service-learning programs. Service-learning is also absent from state academic standards because they are exclusively content standards and the state does not prescribe specific teaching strategies. TxCSL is considering a addendum to the standards document that would demonstrate how service-learning can be used to fulfill academic requirements. TxCSL has also helped other state programs, like 21st Century Community Learning Centers and schools funded by State Farm grants, to implement service-learning using non-traditional funding streams and help elevate the standing of service-learning.
In 2008, a bill was introduced in the state legislature that would have funded a two-year pilot program involving service-learning in disciplinary programs. It failed to pass the Senate., but may be revived in the near future.
Despite lack of formal policy support, many students engage in service-learning and some are able to earn elective credit for service-learning classes through school- and district-level community service requirements. Many districts have strong commitments to service-learning and some even have service-learning requirements, but that number remains low.
Learn and Serve
John Spence currently serves as SEA at TxCSL. As a large state, Texas receives substantial LSA funding, over $1.5 million, and is able to subgrant to a large number of programs. In 2008, TEA received the bulk of these funds, $1,476,796, and awarded 64 subgrants. The remaining LSA funds are divided between San Antonio College, which administers a higher education grant to three subgrantees, and several local organizations supported by national community-based grants.
While the state used to partner with ESCs to provide service-learning programs and support, the current relationship between TxCSL and the ESCs follows a model where each region is eligible to compete for Learn and Serve funding. Three ESCs are receiving LSA funds during the current grant cycle.
TxCSL has begun to focus its LSA grants at the district level, with funding that spans three years. This approach seeks to improve sustainability and institutionalization of programming. Funds are granted to programs with the intent to improve academic engagement and to enhance environmental stewardship. While environmental issues are not the focus of every grant, TxCSL requires that some students at every site address them.
In 2004-2005, there were 30,920 participants in Learn and Serve programs; in 2008, there were 44,184 participants, an increase of nearly 43 percent.
Youth Contributions
This section is in need of expansion. You can help by expanding it.
Examples of Quality Service-Learning
References
- Cairn, Rich and Neal, Marybeth. 2004. "State Profiles" in Growing to Greatness 2004. St. Paul: National Youth Leadership Council.
External Links
Corporation for National and Community Service
- Learn and Serve America in Texas
- National Service in Texas (Corporation for National and Community Service)
State Government
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