Made possible in part by a grant from the Corporation for National Service / Learn and Serve America, the SLATE project is designed to help develop institutional capacity and interinstitutional infrastructure to incorporate service-learning in teacher education programs. Six subgrantee institutions are addressing various aspects, culminating in a major publication that will be used as the basis for technical assistance to schools, colleges and departments of education seeking to develop such programs.
The SLATE Project s third year spanned the period from September 1, 1999 to August 31, 2000. As originally intended, the emphases in Year III were:
1) to provide technical assistance to schools, colleges and departments of education (SCDEs);
2) to enhance the knowledge base for service-learning through various research and development efforts; and
3) to disseminate information about the efficacy of service-learning in teacher education.
Action with respect to technical assistance included support of subgrantees in their respective technical assistance work, including their documentation of successes in this area, and the continuing interaction with the National Partnership for Service-Learning in Teacher Education (NSLTEP) group to seek and develop efficiencies and greater outreach.
Principal among the research and development activities were studies to determine impact of service-learning on student learning, the development of course syllabi, workshop manuals, and teaching materials for teacher education, and analyses of how service-learning may contribute to the satisfaction of national standards for beginning and experienced teachers.
The dissemination of information continued through AACTE s various means, including its newsletter, website, listservs, conferences, and collaborations with other organizations. In addition, several documents found their way into the ERIC database during Year III.
Finally, a major report on service-learning and teacher education was published jointly by AACTE and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education.
Goals and objectives, as detailed for Year II, remained the same for Year III. No changes in general intent, type and role of program participants, and subgranting process were anticipated. As in project Year II, the 6 subgrantee institutions were asked to submit their Year III plan for AACTE approval. Each of the subgrantees were continued subject to their performance in Year II, and the quality of their Year III plan. The approximate grant amount for each subgrantee was $20,700, yielding a project budget of $41,400.
The AACTE Service-Learning and Teacher Education (SLATE) project has been extended through September 2003 by the Corporation for National Service, Learn and Serve America-Higher Education.
The new, three-year effort merges the former National Service-Learning and Teacher Education Partnership (NSLTEP) with the existing SLATE project to continue providing ed schools with technical assistance in teacher education service-learning. In addition, the project will cooperate with experts in several issue areas, including accountability, diversity, technology, and character education, to develop ways in which service-learning can further educational reform efforts in these areas.
Major events during the first project year included the beginning of a nationwide assessment of the implementation of service-learning in preservice teacher education and a National Institute on Service-Learning in Teacher Education conducted as part of the AACTE 2001 Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX.
The AACTE/NSLTEP project will be implemented by AACTE project staff and teacher educators in six regional centers.
Website: http://www.aacte.org/Default.htm
