The SEANet and Special Olympics Connection

A number of our members have asked me about the connection between service-learning and Special Olympics, so I decided this would be a good topic for a blog. From these conversations, I’ve come to understand much of the confusion stems from a perception that Special Olympics is only about the Special Olympics Games. The reality is that it is about so much more. Through Project UNIFY, Special Olympics has crafted a vision which continues to use the Games as a vehicle to engage people with intellectual disabilities in athletic events, but this is not the only vehicle in their repertoire. Project UNIFY seeks to activate young people to develop school communities where all young people are agents of change — fostering respect, dignity and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities by utilizing the programs and initiatives of Special Olympics. With this focus, the connection to service-learning becomes readily apparent. In fact, I believe Project UNIFY has a great deal to offer the service-learning field through engaging all students of all abilities in the important work of collaboratively creating a socially just world.

One topic that has particular relevance in both the service-learning field and the work of Project UNIFY is bullying prevention. A major endeavor was undertaken in 2009 called the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. Led by youth, this effort seeks to put an end to language which bullies, puts down, or offends others. Many schools have broadened this campaign to include all offensive language, helping students understand that what they say has an impact on others. This is a first step in what is quickly becoming a groundbreaking look at how we address bullying in our schools. By engaging youth in developing and implementing a solution (sound a lot like service-learning?) the potential for truly preventing bullying increases dramatically.

Traditionally we have focused bullying prevention on what adults need to do “to” youth to get them to stop bullying. We implement adult-defined consequences, buy adult-designed anti-bullying programs, and teach behaviors through adult-controlled lessons. One of the frustrations with bullying is that it happens beyond the eyes and ears of adults. As we all know, it’s difficult to control things you can’t see. More importantly, we need youth to be empowered to stop bullying in their social contexts, beyond the control of adult presence. If we engage students in the IPARDC process around the bullying issue, my hypothesis is that we will see very different, and more effective, sustainable solutions. More importantly, I believe that is the only way we’ll see a true end to bullying.

So there’s one of the important connections I see between SEANet’s work and Special Olympics. We both believe in the power of youth to change the world around them. We both believe in the importance of engaging youth in achieving social justice. And we both believe in the ability of all students to be important contributors to their communities. The synergy is there, all we have to do is put the principles into practice.

To get started, encourage your state network to use (and share widely) the K-12 Get Into It curriculum and resources, which can be found at http://getintoit.specialolympics.org. This curriculum is linked to the Language Arts standards and provides service-learning opportunities through activating students to be change agents in their communities. On the website, you’ll find links to online resources and interactive activities to your students, as well as age-appropriate versions of the curriculum and a guide for incorporating quality service-learning. For more information, contact Teri Dary at teri.dary@dpi.wi.gov.

Engaging Parents In Education

“Recent results for fifth-graders from the national longitudinal NICHD Study of Early Care and Youth Development (Belsky et al., 2007) showed that parenting practices are more significant predictors of cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes than a range of other factors, including participation in early care and education. Yet efforts to include family involvement in children’s learning and development at home and at school have always been, at best, on the distant margins of educational policy and reform efforts.” Handbook of School–Family Partnerships, S.L. Christenson and A.L. Reschly, Eds. (Routledge,September 2009), pp. 448-472.

Family and parent engagement is often on the list of challenges many programs in public schools face. Often schools create unintentional barriers, and sometimes parents lack an understanding of their role in their children’s development and education. The following blog post will define the different ways family, schools and communities can collaborate to help youth succeed in school and in life, and share some strategies and resources used in Colorado.

Joyce Epstein PhD of Johns Hopkins University developed a research based model for family, parent and community engagement in schools. Below is a brief description of each of type of parent engagement and some examples of what they would look like in your school:

PARENTING : Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.

• Many schools host parenting classes such as “Love and Logic,” “Nurturing Parent,” and “Los Padres/Los Madres.” A few schools offer a lending library that provides educational materials to parents and family members.

COMMUNICATING: Design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communications about school programs and children's progress

• The most common methods of communication include: school newsletters/papers, calendars, fliers, school handbooks, school/parent compacts, and websites. Often newsletters contain information for families and are translated into other languages. Over 120 Colorado school districts have websites and several include a family and community page. In addition, schools host Back-to-School events and school socials, have automated phone calling systems, and mass email announcements. School marquee signs are frequently used to announce events, activities and resources available at the school.

VOLUNTEERING: Recruit and organize parent help and support

• Several school districts have formal volunteer programs. Many schools recruit volunteers for the following positions: parent/guardian representative on school decision-making teams, field trip helper, classroom assistant, tutor, coach, fundraiser, and playground monitor. Community groups also volunteer their time to present workshops and classes. Some schools provide gathering area/space for volunteers and parents.

LEARNING AT HOME: Provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other curriculum-related activities, decisions, and planning

• Several schools offer concrete suggestions on how to help children with their studies by including homework tips in newsletters, hosting family events, and offering accessible tutoring and homework help

DECISION MAKING: Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives

• In compliance with legislative mandates, parents serve on school advisory councils, school accountability teams, and governance committees. All Title I schools are required to adopt a policy on parent involvement and to agree with parents upon a school/parent compact. It is recommended that the roles and responsibilities of parent/community leaders on committees be well-defined and reflected in job descriptions. Schools have facilitated parent/family/community participation by providing childcare during meetings and holding meetings at convenient times for parents.

COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNTY: Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development

• Many schools collaborate with neighborhood, public and/or private groups to offer after school activities, educational classes and supportive services. In some districts school buildings are available for community meetings and activities. Also, businesses have sponsored special events and provided student scholarships.

(Joyce L. Epstein, Ph.D., et. al. Johns Hopkins University http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/sixtypes.htm Baltimore, MD)

To help Colorado parents make these connections to schools there is the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition (CSPC). With Parental Information and Research Center (PIRC) grant money from the US Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement, CSPC provides training and technical assistance to parents and schools in order to build School-Based Parent Engagement Leadership Teams made up of teachers, administrators and a diverse representation of parents. A list of grantees by state can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/pirc/grantees.html .

The Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition provides the following trainings: parent leadership training, school to home links, 40 developmental assets, home learning support strategies, CSAP: What’s it all about?, engaging Mexican immigrant parents in their children’s education and, school readiness: a three step process. In addition, CSPC hosts a statewide parent conference which includes a youth institute where 6^th-12^th grade students can come together to promote and encourage youth leadership with a focus on education and social and cultural competence. I encourage you to look over the PIRC grantees and find one in your state that can help you get service-learning representation on a School-Based Parent Engagement Leadership Team, or come to one of your service-learning information sessions to begin brainstorming ways to collaborate.

In addition to making connections with your local parent groups and the PIRC grantees, do not forget about the tremendous resource that AmeriCorps provides. Named one of the 52 most innovative AmeriCorps State Programs in the United States by Innovations in Civic Participation and America’s Service Commissions, the Urban Education Service Corps-City of Denver/Denver Public Schools Collaborative, is working to reduce the dropout rate and re-engage student dropouts in under performing schools by increasing parent and family engagement in the school community. AmeriCorps members work as resource advocates in schools that have traditionally been underserved to help manage and coordinate community partnerships in schools. As the Learn and Serve Colorado Program Coordinator, I have found the volunteer coordinator and/or the resource advocate position at schools and in districts key in linking service-learning to the volunteers and community partners needed. Calling on AmeriCorps members to be that volunteer coordinator or resource advocate in schools where the budgets do not allow for those positions, makes service-learning more appealing and easier to implement for teachers. Having that contact person for parents and other community members is also an important link.

Many families in underserved communities in Denver include large numbers of non-English speakers, recent immigrants and refugees who often face economic, linguistic and cultural barriers that make it difficult to enroll their children in school. When schools fail to meet their enrollment goals many are forced to cut teachers and programming and when teachers and programs are cut, there is less capacity to address the community needs of enrollment, steady attendance rates, re-engagement of dropouts and greater involvement of parents and families. To help end this cycle that contributes to underserved communities remaining underserved, AmeriCorps volunteers took enrollment to the parents by setting up portals in specific housing developments and neighborhoods and getting kids enrolled and parents interested in becoming more involved. On parent nights, AmeriCorps members canvassed neighborhoods promoting parents night and were able to get a bus to go to certain neighborhoods to pick up parents and drop them off after the event.

I hope these examples of how parent engagement works in Colorado inspires some of you to explore new partnerships and try new approaches. Parent, family and community engagement is one of the most important aspects in the development of a child but it is often still treated as an afterthought or something that should happen organically. Thought needs to be given to engaging some of the hardest to reach and efforts need to be intentional. Service-learning leaders, coordinators and teachers, given their support of community involvement in school and youth engagement in the community, are the perfect candidates for leadership in parent, family and community engagement. Help your school, district and state get more people involved in the development and education of children and youth.

Submitted by Paula Gumina

Program Coordinator, Learn and Serve Colorado

SERVICE-LEARNING AND SCHOOL CLIMATE

“School Climate” is a general term used to describe the physical, social/emotional and intellectual atmosphere in a school and its impact on students, staff and parents. In a school with a healthy school climate there is a central focus on learning and personal growth and an affective environment in which every member of the school community is able to feel welcome, valued and secure.

The Michigan State University Best Practices Brief, SCHOOL climate AND LEARNING (No.31, December 2004) defines school climate in terms of four aspects of the school environment:

1. A Physical Environment that is welcoming and conducive to learning
2. A Social Environment that promotes communication and interaction
3. An Affective Environment that promotes a sense of belonging and self-esteem
4. An Academic Environment that promotes learning and self-fulfillment

Addressing issues related to school climate can be an important component in any efforts to strengthen student academic engagement and achievement, improve school discipline, prevent bullying or build better school-community relations. And school-wide adoption of high-quality service-learning can be one of the most effective ways to positively impact each of the four aspects of the school environment identified above.

A Physical Environment that is welcoming and conducive to learning

In high-quality service-learning:

• Service-Learning projects often effectively address issues of student safety, the prevention of violence and the prevention of bullying.
• Service-learning projects sometimes focus on enhancing a school’s physical condition or aesthetic quality.

A Social Environment that promotes communication and interaction

In high-quality service-learning:

• Students learn to work in diverse, cooperative teams.
• Students learn methods for group decision-making, problem-solving and conflict resolution.
• Students are given a voice in selecting and planning their service-learning projects.
• Students experience new ways of interacting with teachers, community partners and other adults.

An Affective Environment that promotes a sense of belonging and self-esteem

In high-quality service-learning:

• Membership in a smaller, more cohesive project team can relieve the anonymity and isolation sometimes experienced within a large school.
• At the same time, students often experience a stronger sense of membership in the larger community, both inside and outside the school.
• Focus on important community needs may increase students’ concern for others and commitment to social justice.
• Students often develop an enhanced sense of personal efficacy.

An Academic Environment that promotes learning and self-fulfillment

In high-quality service-learning:

• Service-learning activities are linked to the school curriculum and state academic standards.
• Academic engagement may be increased as students experience the real-world value of what they are learning in the classroom.
• Opportunities are provided for students to develop civic competencies.
• Opportunities are provided for career exploration outside the school

Measuring and publicizing the positive effects of high-quality service-learning on these aspects of school climate can be powerful methods for promoting and sustaining service-learning at the national, state and local levels. SEANet is committed to providing leadership and support in that effort.

Mike Mangan

Illinois

Making a Meaningful Connection Between Career Development and Service-Learning

By Mary Ellen Earnhardt
Montana Office of Public Instruction

The following comments are based on the article found at: http://www.acteonline.org/tech_april10.transition.html

Through my work at the Montana Office of Public Instruction, I have grown to respect and admire the work of Dr. Dedmond with Freshman Transition and have observed the similarities of service-learning and career development. As the article written by Dr. Dedmond and Erin T. Kestler explains, there are many connections with the Freshman Transition course, the 10 year plan concept, and service-learning. I agree with the authors that the natural blend between service-learning and a 10 year plan is that they "help students find intrinsic motivation-the will and skills to cultivate positive attitudes toward learning that created hop and plans for their future: to stay in school."

I find it interesting that in this article little is mentioned about the role of the school counselor in the guidance of career development and student motivation, yet many people feel that the primary school counselor's role is career development. In reflecting on this thought, I began thinking of my college daughter and the impact that her educators and school counselors had on her career development. In my reflection I realized that the people who had helped her with her career path were her Cemistry and Spanish teachers. No, she is not majoring in either Chemistry or Spanish, but instead chose Industrial Design. This is significant in understanding that teachers have strong influences over students' career choices, even well beyond the particular subject matter they are teaching.

My work in making connections between service-learning and career development has also been shaped by having the opportunity to work with Mark Branger, the Executive Director of the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) in Montana. As we talked about providing Montana's 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs with career development activities for students, Mark shared with me that one of his goals is to help all educators become career counselors, especially in their field of study. He felt that many students are missing out due to a lack of motivation and guidance, and that service-learning can be an effective career tool.

I would suggest that it be our role as service-learning leaders to encourage educators to become aware of the impact they have on students in career development, and to use service-learning as a tool to assist students. I agree with Dedmond and Kestler that service-learning and courses like the Freshman Transition course can make a meaningful connection for students. I look forward to the collaboration of professionals in the service-learning and career field working together in helping our students find success in life and career choices.