the state of service- learning: what the research says shelley h. billig, ph.d. rmc research, denver
TRANSCRIPT
The State of Service-The State of Service-Learning: What the Learning: What the
Research SaysResearch Says
The State of Service-The State of Service-Learning: What the Learning: What the
Research SaysResearch SaysShelley H. Billig, Ph.D.Shelley H. Billig, Ph.D.
RMC Research, DenverRMC Research, Denver
Overview• Service-Learning Profile: Who,
What, When, Where, and Why• Theoretical Foundations• Impacts• Quality as a predictor of outcomes• Questions and answers
Prevalence: Who? (Kielsmeier, Scales, Roehlkepartain & Neal)
• 69% of schools and about 15 million students engage in community service;
• 30% of K-12 public schools engage students in service-learning, reaching about 4.5 million students;
• More is offered in schools with higher income students: 36% v. 29%
Character of Service-Learning: What?
• Most have one time events (80%) or events that last less than a month (76%);
• In 36%, students engage in service-learning planning;
• 73 hours per year per student in service; and
• 15% have a part-time service-learning coordinator while 9% have a full time
coordinator.
Not expensive! (Melchior, 2001)
•Cost is small – about $54 per student, ranges from $20 to $1150 per student.
Why Service-Learning? Teachers’ Reasons
Based on responses from 77 experienced service-learning teachers:
Rank K-5 6-8 9-12
1 Apply academic
content knowledge
Provide volunteer
services
Awareness of
social/comm. issues
2 Learn disciplinary
knowledge
Apply academic
content knowledge
Adress social/
community need
3 Provide volunteer
services
Awareness of
social/comm. issues
Apply academic
content knowledge
4 Awareness of
social/comm. issues
Develop technical/
practical skills
Provide volunteer
services
5 Adress social/
community need
Learn disciplinary
knowledge
Learn disciplinary
knowledge
From Ammon, M.S., Furco, A., Chi, B., and Middaugh, E. (2002). Service-Learning in California; A Profile of the CalServePartnerships (1997-2000). Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education.
Principals’ Views (Kielsmeier, Scales, Roehlkepartain & Neal,
2004)
• Civic engagement and personal/social development was most important for most.
• Academic engagement and performance was most important for those in higher poverty schools.
Service-Learning and Academic
Achievement:• Results from:
– Michigan Learn and Serve
– Need in Deed– CO-SEED– Others
Results for Michigan School Engagement
• Elementary school children:– Service-learning participants had
significantly higher scores on cognitive engagement after controlling for gender and grade level (group effect=.21, t=3.72,df=38, p<.01) e.g. “I talk with people outside of school about what I am learning in class” and “I am interested in the projects we do in school.”
Results for School Engagement
– Service-learning participants had higher scores than the comparison groups in English/language arts engagement after controlling for gender, prior experience with service, and grade level (Group effects=.23, t=2.26, df=26, p<.05) (“I really pay attention to classwork,” “I try as hard as I can” and “I find myself concentrating so hard that time passes quickly.”)
Results on the Michigan State Assessment (MEAP)• Fifth grade students who participated
in service-learning outperformed (p<.05 level) comparison students on:– Writing– Total social studies– Three social studies strands
• Using Earth Science• Historical Perspective• Inquiry and Decision Making
• Students in grades 7 and 8 showed no differences on the MEAP by participation in service-learning
Study of Philadelphia Need in Deed Service-Learning
Programs• Matched comparison groups on a
standardized test (TerraNova). – Sixth grade students in SL had
statistically significantly higher test scores in language arts and science.
– No difference for fourth and eighth grade.
• Qualitative data suggest content and quality mattered.
New England CO-SEED• Four sites in three states (NH, VT, MA).
Scores on state tests compared year to year for the same students.– NH 6th grade SL students had statistically
significant higher scores on state assessment in language arts, math, science, and social studies than district average gain.
– VT 6th grade students had slightly higher scores in reading and 2nd grade students had significantly higher scores on reading and word analysis.
– 3rd grade students showed no differences.
WHY DOES SERVICE-LEARNING WORK?
• National Research Council: How People Learn
• Brain-based Research• Effect Size Literature
Creating a Climate for Learning
Safe
Nurturing
High
Challenge
Low Threat
Encourages Risk-taking
Inclusive
Multi-sensoryStimulating
Collaborative
How People LearnNational Research Council. (1999).
Six findings in How People Learn from NRC.
Research Finding 1
Understanding is more than knowing facts.
Research Finding 2
Students build new knowledge and understanding on what they already know and believe.
Knowledge
Research Finding 3 Students formulate new knowledge
by modifying and refining their current concepts and by adding new concepts to what they already know.
New Knowledge
Knowledge
Research Finding 4 Learning is mediated by the
social environment in which learners interact with others.
Research Finding 5 Effective learning requires that students
take control of their own learning.
Research Finding 6
The ability to apply knowledge to novel situations, that is, transfer of learning, is affected by the degree to which students learn with understanding.
Memory is a ProcessPat Wolfe. (2001).
Sensory
Memory
Working
Memory
Long-Term
Memory
Sight
Sound
Smell
Taste
Touch
Initial Processing
Elaboration & Organization
Retrieval
Forgotten Forgotten
Rehearsal
Research-based Strategies
Effect Sizes and AchievementMarzano, et al. (2001).
Identifying similarities and differences 1.61
Summarizing and note taking 1.00
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition .80
Homework and practice .77
Nonlinguistic representations .75
Cooperative learning .73
Setting objectives and providing feedback .61
Generating and testing hypotheses .61
Questions, cues, and advance organizers .59
Service-Learning and Citizenship
• Serving others is not just a form of do-goodism, it is a road to social responsibility and citizenship. When linked closely to classroom learning…it is an ideal setting for bridging the gap between the classroom and the street…In serving the community, the young forge commonality; in acknowledging difference, they bridge division; and in assuming individual responsibility, they nurture social citizenship.”– Benjamin Barber (1998: 10-12)
Indicators of Disengagement
• Voting is down – only 38% of 18-25 year olds voted in 2000;
• Political party identification is down from 75% in 1960 to 65% in 1990;
• Keeping up with public affairs is down – freshmen entering UCLA down from 60% in 1966 to 28% in 2000;
• Only 25% of students scored at the proficient or advanced levels on the NAEP civics assessment;
• “These declines in participation appear all along the spectrum from hyperactivists to political slugs” (Putnam, 2000:46)
Theories…• Civic identity – family and other
socialization experiences• Social capital – networks and
affiliation• Generational – the Millennials
Generational TheoryMillennials- Who Are They?
• “The first, tough, cranky, pragmatic, independent Generation Xers are gonna start hitting 40 in the next couple of years, and rearing up behind them are the Millennials, the first batch of which are the high school class of 2000. These kids are, as a group, pleasant, cheerful, helpful, ambitious, and community-oriented.”
» – MaryAnn Johnson, film critic, flickfilosopher.com
What are they like?• According to Millennials Rising (Howe and
Strauss, 2000), they are:– Optimists– Cooperative team players– Accept authority– Follow rules– Are the most “watched” in many generations– Believe in the future – “kids who are going to
change things”
History shapes generations
• To identify a persona of a generation, look for three attributes:– Perceived membership in a common
generation;– Common beliefs and behaviors;– Common location in history.
One generational theory states that each
generation…• Solves a problem facing the prior youth
generation, whose style has become dysfunctional in the new era;
• Corrects for the behavioral excess it perceives in the current midlife generation; and
• Fills the social role being vacated by the departing elder generation.
»(Howe and Strauss, 2000)
Generational Challenges That Millennials Will Tackle?
(Howe and Strauss, 2000) • Cultural
exhaustion and civic decay;
• Focus on talk over action;
• Focus on individuals rather than the group or society.
Service-Learning and Civic Engagement
• Quick review of three studies conducted by RMC Research over the past two years:– Freedom Schools Junior Leader
Project (Philadelphia)– Hawaiian Studies Program (Hawaii)– Colorado Learn and Serve
Hawaii Service-Learning: Students’ Attitudes Toward
Community
Student Perceptions of Role in Local Community1=not at all, 2=a little, 3=some, 4= a lot
3.1
3.2
3.2
3.4
2.6
2.9
3.1
3.1
2.0
2.9
2.4
2.9
2.1
1.9
2.3
2.4
1 2 3 4
*You take action and make changes in your community.
You would like to take action and make changes in your community.
*You understand issues that aff ect the well-being of your community.
You have pride in your community.
You have a responsibility for the welfare of the community.
*You are viewed by community members as a valued part of the
community.
*You contribute to the community.
*You belong to the community.
HSP Non-Participants (n=12)
HSP Participants (n=26)
RMC Research, Denver Note: * p < .05
Hawaii Study: Students’ Civic Attitudes
3.1
3.2
3.5
3.6
2.6
2.8
3.3
3.2
1 2 3 4
I am involved inactivities that w ill makepeople's lives better.
I like to help otherseven if they are not
w illing to helpthemselves.
I like to help otherpeople.
I am w illing to takerisks for the sake ofdoing what I think is
right.
HSP Non-Participants (n=12)
HSP Participants (n=26)
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree
CREDE Evaluation ReportNote: * p < .05
Colorado Learn and Serve Results
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
Comparison Group Service-Learning Group
Po
stt
est
Co
nn
ecti
on
to
th
e
Sch
oo
l C
om
mu
nit
y
Colorado Learn and Serve Results
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
Comparison Group Service-Learning GroupPo
stt
es
t C
on
ne
cti
on
to
th
e C
om
mu
nit
y
Lots of Other Positive Outcomes
• Sense of efficacy• Trust for adults• Resilience and avoidance of risk
behaviors• Ethic of service and volunteerism• Respect for diversity
Program Quality Indicators as Moderators of Engagement
• Two quality variables served as the greatest predictors in Michigan:– Communication and interaction with the
community; and– Linkage with curriculum frameworks.– For younger students, all but one of the
program quality variables (duration) had statistically significant relationships to
outcomes.
Quality Mattered• Having Essential Elements and
other quality indicators in place made the difference in:– National study of service-learning for
CNCS;– Colorado service-learning;– Michigan service-learning (but not
all…).
Summary…• Service-learning is a promising
“value added” approach to teaching and learning that has potential for increasing academic achievement, civic engagement, and character/social emotional learning.
• Quality matters – will need professional development, link to standards, direct contact with community, others.