This booklet provides information for creating an oral history project as part of a service learning program in schools. It shares a user-friendly approach to oral histories using one practitioner's experience during several years of classroom practice and a year as a Christa McAuliffe Fellow. The following topics are discussed: (1) the richness…

This guide provides Maryland teachers with information regarding how to evaluate and improve service-learning. Seven suggested practices for school-based service learning were derived from interviews with 80 Maryland teachers actively engaging their students in service learning. These seven best practices, which might provide a framework for…

Offers a compendium of advice, case studies, teaching and organizing suggestions, and lists of resources. Addresses issues of concern to parents and educators alike such as liability, cooperation with social agencies and organizations, curriculum development and design, and locations to find instructional materials. (MJP)

Service learning can help students learn specific skills and concepts, particularly in social studies. The article examines characteristics of good middle school service learning projects, explains how to begin a project, discusses the benefits of service learning, presents an example of service learning in Wren Middle School, Piedmont (South…

Profiles Active Citizenship Today (ACT), a social studies service learning program for middle and high school students. In ACT, students explore their community, identify problems, examine public policy, explore their options, and take action. Includes unit excerpts from the ACT teacher's handbook. (MJP)

Briefly describes a service-learning grant program and provides examples of elementary, middle, and high school projects awarded grants in 1996. Projects included efforts to educate the community about river pollution, multicultural murals, and a school activities news show. Includes application form and general guidelines and suggestions. (MJP)

Explores how a student service program can be implemented without a large staff and without cost, in large introductory sociology classes as part of an extra-credit project, while augmenting course material as an active learning component. Discusses a class that fits this description at North Dakota State University. (MJP)

Recommends bringing community legal resource persons into the classroom for effective teaching of law-related courses. Discusses the value of using their expertise. Includes a list of those available to assist. Describes appropriate teaching methods, stressing student participation in role playing and simulations. (CH)

Contends that mental mapping of school and community violence provides a concrete picture of youth perspectives on violence. Presents a lesson plan to help students analyze violence issues and develop community service projects. Includes student objectives, step-by-step instructional procedures, and a student handout. (CFR)

This newsletter describes the 6-year Supporting Diversity in Schools (SDS) project that seeks to create school environments free of racial prejudice and privilege. It briefly describes the program's working themes: (1) giving a voice to people who have traditionally been silent in the shaping of classroom practices; (2) developing pride in…

This report explores policy initiatives, priorities, and plans of action recommended to policymakers with respect to a commitment to education for youth on prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Young people with AIDS/HIV infection, can be offered compassion, hope, and support.…

A Colorado school district has evolved a plan for continuous updating of curriculum that is broad in scope, involves the external environment, and integrates the efforts of citizens and educators. The first step of the external audit process involves the development of goals and an overview of a state-of-the-art program by the program manager and…

Eastern Michigan University is in the second year of a pilot program designed to promote law-related education and partnerships between the university and local communities. The collaborators in the project are the university, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, and the Taylor (Michigan) Public Schools. The goal of the project is to develop…

A consensus has emerged in recent years that the fragmented systems serving children and families need to be restructured and integrated in ways that make them accessible, family-focused, and able to accommodate cultural differences. Collaborative partnerships involving schools, families, and other community stakeholders are learning that they are…

This book incorporates teaching strategies to enhance middle school science and social studies using service learning. The book was developed by teachers who participated in a series of institutes conducted by the Social Science Education Consortium and the Science Discovery Program at the University of Colorado during the summers of 1993 and…