Service-Learning Project (SLP)
Service-Learning Projects are a form of volunteerism that provide students with an opportunity to apply CTE Program Standards through community service by developing a product or service that meets an identified interest and community need. SLPs can be undertakings for the school, a public entity, a community organization, etc. Students will develop technical, social, professional, and personal skills while building a lifelong ethic of service. Students complete structured reflection activities before, during, and after the experience to self-assess their relationship with society and learning outcomes.
Students may take on other volunteer opportunities as a WBL experience; however, they must be structured learning experiences, with clearly defined goals, aligned with CTE Program Standards.
The National Youth Leadership Council established eight standards for SLPs:
- Meaningful Service: actively engages participants in meaningful and personally relevant service activities.
- Link to Curriculum: intentionally used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.
- Reflection: incorporates multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing and prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one’s relationship to society.
- Diversity: promotes understanding of diversity and mutual respect among all participants.
- Youth Voice: provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service-learning experiences with guidance from adults.
- Partnerships: collaborative, mutually beneficial, and address community needs.
- Progress Monitoring: engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals and uses results for improvement and sustainability.
- Duration and Intensity: sufficient duration and intensity to address community needs and meet specified outcomes.
- Identify interested and qualified students.
- Cultivate community partnerships to help students secure contacts.
- Orient students to expectations, including safety requirements.
- Confirm logistics, including parent or guardian agreement to accept responsibility for student safety and conduct while traveling between school, place of project, and home.
- Finalize each student’s SLP plan with the student, parent or guardian, and project partner.
- Planning and Implementation
- Identify an area of interest.
- Define a community need.
- Establish community contacts.
- Get preapproval of the project.
- Research
- Conduct academic research related to project topics.
- Identify experts in the field.
- Become familiar with relevant local, state, and federal ordinances, codes, and laws.
- Organize findings and data.
- Review research with SLP Coordinator (teacher), and project partner, if applicable.
- Proposal Development
- Define the project (who, what, when, where, why, and how).
- Follow written standards and expectations.
- Define project resource needs.
- Create project timeline.
- Receive approval from project partner, if applicable.
- Approval and Permission
- Present proposal for approval.
- Edit as needed.
- Obtain permissions and/or permits.
(WBL Guidebook page 9-10)