Wisconsin

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Contents

History

In 1993, 135 educators participated in Wisconsin's first statewide service-learning conference in the Wisconsin Dells. The same year, the state initiated a regional network to deliver Learn and Serve America subgrants resulting in a grassroots service-learning network. Mini-grants of $500-$1000 supported projects at the local school level.

Beginning in 1993, with support from the Fund to Advance Service-Learning grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Wisconsin’s 2x4x8: Fostering Resiliency through Service-Learning program made service-learning a favored strategy to build success for middle school students in a project involving eight middle schools and two universities. University partnerships strengthened the research base of the project and allowed an in-depth evaluation.

From 1994-2000, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota worked jointly on the Tri-State Initiative to deepen service-learning practice at the school level. The initiative supported local programs and fostered an exchange of ideas and experience between the three states. In 2000, the three states hosted a national symposium highlighting service-learning curriculum integration and service-learning policy.

In the early 2000s, Wisconsin Community Education Consultant Stan Potts disseminated a Four-Point Test to assess whether a project exhibits the four main elements of quality service-learning: youth leadership, community need, curricular connection, and reflection and evaluation. During the same period, Wisconsin implemented a CNCS-funded Bridging the Digital Divide project.

Beginning in 2006, rather than funding specific projects, funds are directed at helping schools develop high quality sustainable service-learning programs.

Networks of Support

A large number of partnerships have been central to the efforts to establish high quality service-learning as a core pedagogy in districts throughout the state. These partnerships help to support an annual statewide service-learning conference held in February, further the message of the impact service-learning can have on schools, and strengthen connections between K-12 and higher education, community organizations, and the business community.

Partners include the Wisconsin Education Agency Council, the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, University of Wisconsin-Extension, 4-H, Positive Youth Development, Wisconsin Campus Compact, Wisconsin National and Community Services Board, State Farm Insurance Companies, and the State Superintendent's Learning Lab on Service-Learning and Citizenship.

The Southeast Wisconsin Service-Learning Consortium continues to provide state level leadership and is a strong model for effective PK-16 partnerships to advance service-learning practice in regional areas. In 2008, the consortium provided ongoing professional development to a cohort of 60 practitioners in teams from local districts and higher education institutions. The second year of the cohort began in June 2008 and will continue to build upon this successful model.

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has integrated service-learning into state programs for Title IV Safe and Drug Free Schools and character education. These efforts have gained strength at the regional level because the twelve Cooperative Educational Service Agencies are responsible for supporting these programs. Service-learning is also part of the state strategies for Education for Employment, School-to-Work, technology education, Title II, Title V Innovative Programs, and 21st Century Schools.

Wisconsin has had consistent support from its elected state superintendents. Current Wisconsin State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster speaks out frequently on her interest in service-learning and citizenship, and is chair-elect of the National Council for Learning and Citizenship. Service-learning is a major strategy to teach citizenship in Wisconsin. Educators throughout Wisconsin schools and universities are linking service-learning and civic education.

Cooperative Educational Service Agencies are constantly building regional networks of support, helping local advocates secure additional funding beyond Learn and Serve, and promoting linkages between service-learning and many other initiatives.

Convening and Celebrating

The annual State Superintendent's PK-16 Institute on Service-Learning and Citizenship and remains a collaborative effort of DPI and Wisconsin Campus Compact. The content of the conference is focused on deepening practitioners' skills in implementing high quality service-learning in an academic setting. Also, State Superintendent's Service-Learning Awards are given to exemplary projects and leaders in the field.

In October 2007, a train-the-trainer workshop was offered to selected practitioners who have demonstrated a strong foundation in service-learning. This training was held in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education, forming a state trainers' network. These educators have offered inservices, conference presentations, and trainings both within their own district and on a request basis from other interested districts. In addition, the Wisconsin Service-Learning Trainers' Network has become a core advisory group for the development of new resources, providing feedback to other colleagues on program development, and incorporating the new National Standards for Quality Practice.

DPI provides training in service-learning to all VISTA and AmeriCorps members. Many of these are assigned to support school-based service-learning and assist schools in writing Learn and Serve mini-grants for project funds.

Evaluating Progress

Wisconsin's service-learning participation and capacity have both expanded and deepened within funded districts.

The state measures service-learning participation, teacher training, and impacts. Currently, an evaluation process is measuring the effectiveness of the Learn and Serve grant. In 2008, comparison sites were included in the evaluation, providing comparison data between service-learning and non-service-learning classrooms in three districts.

A key component of the evaluation process involves gathering achievement test results to measure the impact of service-learning on achievement. Other evaluation tools provided to subgrantees include:

  • a portfolio assessment process to assess student gains in service-learning related skills and project work,
  • the Quality and Sustainability Index designed by Shelley Billig to measure growth toward institutionalization, and,
  • a quality assessment rubric to measure the quality of individual project design and implementation.

Sharing Tools

DPI has published a guide [1] providing educators with a structure for planning a service-learning project that is meaningfully immersed into the classroom curriculum. It also offers a number of other Teacher Service-Learning Tools.

Policy Support

Wisconsin has adopted a formal definition of service-learning and integrated the practice into state academic standards. Wisconsin State Statute 118.33 (1) (c) reads "a school board may require a pupil to participate in community service activities in order to receive a high school diploma." However, no state-level policy allows for or requires service-learning to count towards graduation requirements.

Nonetheless, the Wisconsin DPI has identified service-learning as a priority initiative and is making strong connections between effective schools working toward the goals of 21st Century Skills and the use of service-learning in the classroom as a core teaching methodology. Throughout the agency, service-learning is connected to a wide variety of educational programs, including 21st Century and content area skills, career and technical education, STEM initiatives, Family and Consumer Economics, and FFA.

A number of districts have demonstrated a strong commitment to service-learning. One district has made service-learning part of a civics course which is required for graduation.

Learn and Serve

In 2008, Wisconsin had two Learn and Serve grantees, in the state Department of Public Instruction and the Oneida Indian Nation of Wisconsin. State-managed Learn and Serve funds are currently coordinated by Teri Dary, Service-Learning Coordinator at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The state receives a Learn and Serve K-12 formula grant of $283,246 which funds 18 subgrantees and involves over 11,000 participants. Several institutions of higher education receive Learn and Serve grants and the Appleton YMCA receives a community-based grant.

Since 1992, Wisconsin has sought to build a strong regional infrastructure to support service-learning. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) works with Wisconsin’s 12 Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs) to offer Learn and Serve America sub-grants to school districts. Each year CESAs give as many as 100 mini-grants involving thousands of students. DPI reinforces the mini-grants with many conferences and training events. Wisconsin DPI makes frequent use of video-conferencing to extend resource dollars.

Though Learn and Serve America mini-grants are small, they typically influence policy and practice far beyond what their size would indicate. In several communities, enthusiastic teachers and administrators have integrated service-learning into school district strategic plans. Grants are focused on developing and implementing a high quality ongoing professional development process. For twelve years CESA staff have supported local projects with training, technical assistance, and networking.

DPI contracts with RMC Research to evaluate the effectiveness of Learn and Serve programs, using comparison groups, surveys, and focus groups in addition to analyzing achievement test data.

Higher Education

Since 2004, the University of Wisconsin - River Falls has partnered with the National Youth Leadership Council to offer an online service-learning graduate credit program that awards advanced practitioners with a Certificate of Excellent Practice in K-12 Service-Learing.

Youth Contributions

This section is in need of expansion. You can help by expanding it.

Examples of Quality Service-Learning

References

  • ^   "Wave Action Team Implementation Guide". Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved August 26, 2008 from http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/fscp/sl-teach-tools.html
  • 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.

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