Creating a Sustainable After-School Elementary School Literacy Program in Partnership with a University Pre-Service Teacher Technology Course (K-12)

Abstract

Raising literacy achievement for students in poverty takes creative solutions. In this case, an elementary school exceeded the national average for children who lived in poverty, and two miles away sat a university with the social capital of college students. Using systems thinking, the professor and principal created a mutually beneficial and sustainable partnership. The stakeholders identified the Purpose, Stakeholders, and Implementation (PSI) (Sockman et al., 2019) to create an after-school literacy program. Both leaders communicated with stakeholders to embed the program into institutional structures. The college technology course was redesigned to integrate service-learning pedagogy. Based on picture books, the college students designed Webquests with lessons for children to create movies, podcasts, and other use technology-driven strategies. Elementary after-school program days were chosen to coincided with busing and supervisory staffing. The findings revealed that children showed engagement and the college students valued the authentic learning experiences. Systems thinking drove a sustainable innovation.