Assessing Service-Learning in Teacher Education

Recognizing the potential of portfolio assessment, this article describes an approach and an innovative technology used at California Lutheran University (CLU) that responds to the problematic relationship between pre-service teacher service-learning projects and assessment, evaluation and reporting. This innovative technology enables teacher educators to positively address the changes mentioned
above; namely, clear criteria to distinguish between community service and service-learning, an assessment process for continuous improvement, assessment techniques that measure the impact on all stakeholders, and the importance of standards in the design and assessment of pre-service teacher service-learning activities.
The approach to infusing service-learning in the CLU teacher preparation program is to create a component of service-learning in each class. The goal is to teach pre-service teachers about service-learning by involving them in the process of planning and implementing service-learning activities themselves. The purpose
is to enrich the teaching and learning process. Service-learning is not an extracurricular activity but a pedagogical method in which service-learning projects form the bases of learning opportunities. [author]