Student in the Seats, Teacher in the Streets:  Evaluating the Impacts of Law Students Becoming “Street Law” Teachers

Brandon Golob

doi:10.19164/ijple.v5i1.1116

Abstract

The need for public legal education is at an all-time high. From constitutional law issues raised by the recent presidential election to increased media coverage of police brutality, there are numerous examples of why it is crucial to teach practical law to non-lawyers. Street Law programs, administered by law students to teenagers, are a prominent type of public legal education. Despite the urgent importance of Street Law programs, there is limited research on their pedagogical effectiveness, or how they affect those who administer them. This project helps to close that gap through its multimethod research on the course instructors. In addition to completing this program evaluation, the project also (1) develops a theoretical framework that will enable law school administrators and scholars from a variety of disciplines to understand how law students are impacted by Street Law programs, and (2) lays the foundation for future assessments of Street Law and other public law education programs. The importance of understanding the impacts of these programs, which the results of this study show to be overwhelmingly positive, cannot be overstated because they have broad potential to affect law students’ transition to practice and society at large.

Highlights

In 1972, a small group of law students and professors from Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) piloted a clinical legal education program called “Street Law.” Based in two District of Columbia public high schools, the purpose of the program was to educate these teenagers about laws and legal systems that impact their daily lives
Program Evaluation of Street Law Street Law programs are a type of public legal education programs, institutionalised in law schools and administered to teenagers
The GULC program has evaluated its effectiveness by asking law students who completed the course to journal about their experiences, and some of the law students claimed that high school students were highly involved and receptive to the legal concepts taught (Pinder, 1988)

Summary

Introduction

In 1972, a small group of law students and professors from Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) piloted a clinical legal education program called “Street Law.” Based in two District of Columbia public high schools, the purpose of the program was to educate these teenagers about laws and legal systems that impact their daily lives. Research that focuses on the teenagers’ learning outcomes (Arthurs, 2015) does not account for a crucial aspect of the Street Law programs that distinguishes them from other public legal education programs – namely, that they are part of law students’ training and education. This project helps to close that gap through its multimethod research on the course instructors: law students. This project capitalises on that similarity by conducting a program evaluation that analyses how Street Law programs function in the higher education of law students

Methods

Results

Conclusion