Service-learning
Community service-learning (also called service-learning) is an educational process that integrates students' academic learning with service that meets actual community needs. It combines two effective approaches to education and youth development: experiential learning and community service. Evaluations of California’s statewide service-learning efforts have demonstrated their positive impact on students, teachers, school climate, and on communities.1 Research by Melchior (1999) demonstrated that service-learning has positive effects in the areas of personal and social development. In addition, he reports that evidence suggests that students participating in service-learning are gaining academic proficiency at high levels.2 In addition, results from a recent statewide study involving 68 California classrooms indicated that 82.9 percent of the participating students met or exceeded the proficiency level on the California academic content standards being delivered through service-learning. Middle and high school student participants showed higher learning of math content than did the comparison group after participation in service-learning. Researchers found that middle school students who engaged in quality service-learning programs showed increases in personal and social responsibility, communication, and a sense of educational competence. Researchers also found improved problem-solving skills, as well as increased interest in academics. Middle and high school students who participated in service-learning tutoring programs were less likely to drop out of school and increased their grade point averages.3
In the Spotlight
McKinleyville Middle School, McKinleyville Union Elementary School District, a 2006 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
Students lead yearly relief projects. Past projects have included raising money to help victims of 9-11, the Southeast Asian tsunamis, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Students and teachers also participate in beach clean-ups, creek restoration, and community trail construction.
Service-learning transforms young people from adolescents into serious, caring, thoughtful young adults because they are needed, are involved in a meaningful activity, and are discovering talents that they never knew they possessed.4
In the Spotlight
Catherine Zane Middle School, Eureka City Unified School District
The school’s Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) lab uses technology to solve real-life issues around the school and community. Students choose personally meaningful projects. For example, the Eureka Skate Park group sold ice cream to raise money for the city to build a skate park to keep skaters safe. The community Kids Care group held fund-raisers for leukemia patients and the Red Cross. The hurricane relief group held a coat and canned food drive. The Talent Show group organized a talent show to raise money to buy backpacks and school supplies for students affected by Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, students collected over 1,000 pounds of canned food for the Salvation Army, over $1,000 for hurricane relief, and sent 35 backpacks full of school supplies to a school in Louisiana.
Luther Burbank Middle School, Burbank Unified School District
Eighth-grade history students at Luther Burbank Middle School learned about the Constitution and the functions of governments through service-learning. For example, they explored their communities, identified problems, and tried to make a positive change in public policy. One problem they identified in the community was that teens were not being judged by a jury of their peers in the courts. They researched the process teens undergo when breaking the law and the best way to prevent repeat offenses. Students then collaborated with personnel from the City of Burbank, the Burbank Unified School District, and the Burbank Police Department to gather information through interviews. Using the information they gathered, they created a display showing the problem and presented alternative solutions through the development of a new public policy. Their final action was to promote the implementation of a teen peer court program.
Through their research, students became aware of offenses committed most often by teens, along with the different jobs associated with law enforcement and the judicial system. Students learned that they can impact the legal system and participate in the political process. Student assessment results indicated that 88 percent of the students achieved proficiency in the history-social science standards addressed in this activity.
Redwood Middle School, Saratoga Union Elementary School District
Eighth- grade students at Redwood Middle School developed a peer-tutoring program for elementary students. In the program, middle-school students tutor elementary students one-on-one. The younger students enjoy working with a role model, and the older students practice their leadership skills. The enterprising students honed their speaking skills to sell their idea to both the district superintendent and to the board of trustees, who granted approval for their service-learning project. Under the approved plans, students conduct the tutoring sessions on early dismissal days when the teachers collaborate on lessons.
To promote critical thinking, students need the opportunity to construct their own knowledge and make use of that knowledge by applying it. A skillfully crafted service-learning activity allows the teacher to present ill-defined questions and help students learn problem-solving skills. Students learn to refine these questions and organize their thinking process to solve the problem. Service-learning allows students to learn how they learn best and how to use multiple learning styles to think critically while addressing a community need or issue.
Educators who have used service-learning to promote student engagement often find that the best career explorations occur when youths are allowed to work alongside of adults doing real work to meet real objectives. When students participate in a service-learning project, they usually do so with the involvement of adults in the workforce. Students learn about the jobs that adults do and the kind of preparation necessary to work in the field.
In the Spotlight
Monte Vista Middle School, Tracy Joint Unified School District
The seventh- and eighth-grade students at Monte Vista created a California native plant garden in a waste area behind some classrooms. The students wanted to share the garden with the younger students and create a guide that informed them not only of the plants in the garden but a variety of plants native to California. They also needed a fund-raiser to help buy supplies for the garden and help keep it self-sufficient. The students decided to make a coloring book that would describe all of the plants in the garden and help people become aware of other plants native to California. The students decided to make extra copies to sell to parents and community members to raise funds for the garden. They also wanted to give away copies to the lower grades to help spark interest in California native plants.
Students researched recycling issues and presented their findings to the entire school once a week for a semester during the Monday Morning Meeting News Updates, a regular element of the weekly schoolwide assembly. Students met the science standards by addressing the language arts standards through their oral and written presentations.
Planners evaluated the success of the project based on the response from other students and teachers throughout the school. Most feedback was positive and the end-of-the-year schoolwide waste audit showed a solid improvement over the beginning of the year.
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Footnotes
1 Resilience & Youth Development Module: Aggregated California Data: Fall 1999-Spring 2002. Prepared by the Safe and Healthy Kids Office and WestEd. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2003, 47.
2 A. Melchior, Summary Report: National Evaluation of Learn and Serve America. Waltham, Mass.: Center for Human Resources, Brandeis University, 1999.
3 California Service-Learning District Partnerships: Statewide Summary Report of Local Evaluations, 2005-06 (DOC; 616KB; 80pp.). Sacramento: California Department of Education, 7.
4 Sandra Krystal, “The Nurturing Potential of Service-Learning,” Educational Leadership, Vol. 56 (December 1998/January 1999).
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