Maximizing Outcomes with Service-Learning: What Research Says Works Best Shelley H. Billig, Ph.D. RMC Research Corporation 2010

Agenda  Background: The need for youth engagement Activities and research  Relationship of engagement to service-learning Common findings and implications Examples of high quality practice  Standards and indicators for high quality practice  Brief look at higher ed findings  Conclusions

The Back Story: Youth engagement  “the degree to which students are psychologically ‘connected’ to what is going on in their classes….They are there emotionally as well as physically. They concentrate on the task at hand, they strive to do their best when tested or called upon…They participate actively in class discussion, think about the material covered in their courses, and genuinely care about the quality of their work.” (Steinberg, Beyond the Classroom, 1996:15)

Activity 1: Describing the Situation  Turn to your neighbor and paint a written, verbal picture of a disengaged student.  Describe: how you can tell that the young person is disengaged? What does the person look like? What does the person sound like? How does the person feel?

Activity 2: 4 Whys Team with another person. Describe your disengaged student. Then ask the question: Why is the student disengaged? No matter what the answer is, ask why again. Repeat two more times – see if you can determine the root cause of the disengagement.

Common Answers From the Research  Lack of challenge (too easy)  Lack of success (too hard)  Lack of relevance (can’t see the point)  Lack of relationships (don’t care about the people)  Lack of value in what is being learned (don’t care about the information)  Other factors are interfering (e.g., safety, hunger, lack of sleep)

Some Facts About Engagement in the United States  Over a third of students do not take school seriously and get through the day by fooling around with classmates;  Half said their classes were boring;  Two-thirds say they cheated on a school test;  90% copied homework from someone else;  80% say it is not important to get good grades in school;  20% say they do not try hard in school because they are worried what their friends may think;  20% say disengagement is a result of confusion or difficulty of subject matter, particularly in math and science.

Engagement Research  Ames, (1992), Strong, et. al., (1995) and Anderman and Midgley, (1998) show that teachers who are most successful in engaging students develop activities that address intellectual and psychological needs, including work that: develops their sense of competency; encourages self-expression and originality; allows them to develop connections with others; and gives them some degree of autonomy.

Engagement Research (continued)  Other researchers (Brewster & Fager, 2000:7) recommend: Ensure course materials relate to students’ lives and highlight ways learning can be applied in real-life situations (Lumsden, 1994; Skinner and Belmont, 1991); Help students feel that schoolwork is significant, valuable, and worthy of their efforts (Policy Studies Associates, 1995); Allow students to have some degree of control over learning (Brooks, et. al., 1998);

Engagement Research (continued) Assign challenging but achievable tasks for all students. Tasks that seem impossible and those that are rote and repetitive discourage learners (Dev, 1997; Policy Studies Associates, 1995); Stimulate students’ curiosity about the topic being studied (Strong, Silver, and Robinson, 1995); Design projects that allow students to share new knowledge with others. Projects are more engaging when students share what they are learning in reciprocal relationships, as in collaborative projects where each student’s knowledge is needed by others in the group to complete an assignment (Strong, Silver, and Robinson, 1995); and Develop caring and trust between teachers and students (Nodding, 2000: 36).

Service-Learning as a Promising Practice  Service-learning is an instructional approach whereby students learn important learning objectives as they address a genuine community need..

TOP Five Reasons  Turn to your neighbor again and brainstorm. What are the top 5 reasons to engage in service-learning? Please write your list.

Common Impacts of High Quality Service-Learning on Students/Youth  Increase in academic engagement including affective, behavioral, and cognitive;  Increase in valuing school;  Increase in academic achievement;  Increase in social-emotional outcomes such as resilience, managing conflict, respect for diversity and character development (caring, bonding, social responsibility);  Increase in civic outcomes including knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

But outcomes are provisional…  Research showed repeatedly that without high quality, there was limited student benefit.

Service-Learning Components  Investigating a Community Issue Through Research and Community Needs Assessments  Planning the Ways Students Will Address the Issue  Action – Performing the Service Activity  Reflection – Thinking About Impact on Others and Self, What Worked and What Did Not, Relationship of Oneself to the World  Demonstration – Showing Impact on Others and Self  Celebration of Impact

Research Conclusions…  We must use a good evaluation design… must at least have comparison groups.  We must improve the quality of our practices. Keys to success: Duration and intensity – IPARDC arc Student voice Meaningful service High quality reflection activities Strong community partnerships Respect for diversity Link to curriculum Progress monitoring

And finally….  We need more and better… Research Communication between researchers and practitioners Rigor in research and practice

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