Student outcomes associated with service-learning in a culturally relevant high school program

The Hawaiian Studies Program (HSP) integrates the learning of Hawaiian culture with more traditional secondary curriculum in science, social studies, and English. Students also participate in weekly community service-learning sessions. Fifty-five HSP students and 29 peers (who were not involved in the program), completed a survey measuring: students' connection to, pride in, and responsibility for their community; civic attitudes; and career knowledge and preparedness. HSP teachers, community members, and students were also interviewed about program outcomes. Compared to other peers, HSP students tended to report feeling more connected to their community and school and to agree that they had career-related skills. Participants believed that service- learning contributed to these outcomes by making connections between school and community life and by exposing students to a variety of careers.     

Faculty and Student Participation and Perceptions of Service-Learning Outcomes

SUMMARY

Faculty (n = 55) and student (n = 75) perceptions of service-learning outcomes were evaluated using a questionnaire format. Results indicated that while faculty strongly believe service-learning is important to student academic growth, few actually teach service-learning courses because of time constraints and unfamiliarity with service-learning course models. Comparisons of faculty and student perceptions showed that compared to students, faculty had a stronger perception of the value of service-learning for students. When students were divided into those who had (n = 33) or had not (n = 42) participated in service-learning, faculty and service-learning students' perceptions did not differ, and both rated these experiences more valuable than did non-service-learning students.     

Developing a University-Wide Institutional Response to Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence

SUMMARY

Students may be predisposed to benefit from mandatory service-learning programs based on their gender and upon whether their parents serve as models of helping. The role of each of these variables was examined in a survey of seventh grade students (n = 86) who were required to complete service during the school year. Results demonstrated that girls felt more positively about the specific program and were more likely to intend to help in the future than boys. Students with parental helping models were also more likely to intend to help in the future. Girls with parental models were more likely to have altruistic self-images than girls without parental models whereas the presence of parental helping models had no effect on boys' altruistic self-image. These results are discussed with regard to socialization of prosocial behavior in both boys and girls.     

Becoming better health care providers: outcomes of a primary care service-learning project in medical school

Medical educators have begun to embrace service-learning as a method for teaching medical students to be more socially responsible, patient-oriented practitioners. However, research documenting the learning outcomes of service-learning in medical education is limited. In this paper, written documents generated through evaluation of a mandatory, structured community service-learning experience were analyzed qualitatively to discover the diverse learning outcomes among 24 students who participated in the experience. Preliminary findings indicate that students developed skills and attitudes directly related to competencies of concern in most U.S. medical programs. These preliminary findings may help other programs articulate learning outcomes for their service-learning programs. Further, these preliminary findings may stimulate more systematic research (qualitative and quantitative) in this area.     

Clinical Application of the Service-Learning Model in Psychology

SUMMARY

Students in Abnormal Psychology who pursued a service-learning opportunity worked with troubled youth in the juvenile justice system. Consistent with an a priori hypothesis, results revealed the following pattern: (a) service-learning students and traditional students exhibited similar levels of academic performance early in the semester; and (b) as the semester progressed, and service-learning students became more involved in course-related service, they showed increasingly superior academic performance relative to traditional students. As hypothesized, service-learning students were more likely than traditional students to perceive themselves as: (a) achieving personal development in the area of social responsibility and (b) learning to apply course concepts to new situations. Preliminary evidence that the project made clinically significant contributions to the service agency is also presented. Innovations to be implemented in this ongoing project are discussed, and recommendations for research are noted.     

Attitudinal and Academic Effects of Service-Learning

SUMMARY

We examined perceived learning and attitude change in classes in Cognitive Psychology and Sensation and Perception in which some but not all of the students did service-learning with autistic children or in other settings. Attitudes toward people served became more positive based on questionnaire and journal entry data, and in one class, service-learning students felt they learned more about course material from their experiences.     

Bullying and Difference

Abstract

Why are students who have special educational needs at greater risk of bullying than their peers when educated in mainstream settings? This case study of one mainstream secondary school describes the various facets of the peer group dynamics that underpinned social aggression and exclusion towards students who were hearing impaired. These students were subject to the same social pressures as their mainstream peers but in addition were at risk of stigmatisation. As a result of their deafness they were treated as second class citizens (discredited). This in turn could lead to denigration and actual bullying, as well as social exclusion/marginalisation.     

Peer Predictability

Abstract

This action research and general system theory based qualitative inquiry examined adolescents' dependence on predicting the behavior of their peers as a strategy for enhancing their sense of safety at school and avoiding violence. A total of 95 adolescents in 9th through 12th grades from two small rural schools and one large suburban school in New York State participated in the study. Results indicated that students depend on Peer Predictability to feel safe during the school day when adults fail to predictably supervise or intervene in areas or interactions which adolescents perceive as potentially threatening. Familiarity leading to predictability allowed students to evaluate peers for the possibility of emotional or physical violence. This article presents quotes from the students that capture their unique experience.     

School Violence Interventions in the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

Abstract

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative was designed to encourage collaboration among school districts and local community service providers in the provision of behavioral health prevention and early intervention efforts. These efforts would address the physical safety of students as well as provide mental health, violence prevention, and social skills services. One local SS/HS Initiative brought together community and school collaborators in an ambitious agenda that included 14 distinct programs that addressed the needs of over 110,000 students in a large school district. The purpose of the current paper is to report the results of the evaluation of two of the programs designed to reduce violent and disruptive behavior in schools. The programs include a school-based anger management program and a community-based, alternative-to-suspension program. Working in cooperation with program staff and the school district, quasi-experimental designs were used to measure change over time for students. The two studies demonstrate the application of multiple methodologies in evaluating the effectiveness of prevention and early intervention efforts with the aim of providing data to support program improvement and sustainability.     

An Examination of School Violence and Safety in South Florida Elementary Schools

Abstract

This study examined conditions of safety and violence in South Florida elementary schools. Although conditions were generally considered safe in these schools, approximately one-half of the elementary school students in the study did express some concerns about their safety, especially in school bathrooms and the area outside of their school building. Students who do not have positive relationships with other students at school and do not feel safe in their community generally feel less safe at school. In addition, students who are experiencing academic difficulty in school and do not expect to attain an education beyond high school feel less safe at school. In this study, those students who felt less safe also tended to be male and from lower SES back grounds.     

Evaluation of a Theater-Based Youth Violence Prevention Program for Elementary School Children

Abstract

The present study evaluated the impact of Urban Improv (UI), a theater-based youth violence prevention (YVP) program developed for inner-city youth, on three behavioral and psychological outcome domains: aggressive behaviors, prosocial behaviors, and scholastic attention and engagement. This study compared outcomes for 77 elementary school students in classrooms designated to receive UI with those of 63 students from matched control classrooms. Findings revealed that students who received UI were superior to matched controls on all outcome domains. Findings support UI as a promising practice for YVP with urban elementary school students and suggest that greater attention should be focused on application of theater-based programs in YVP.     

Identification of Bullies and Victims

SUMMARY

Bullying studies frequently rely on student self-report to identify bullies and victims of bullying, but research in the broader field of peer aggression makes greater use of other informants, especially peers, to identify aggressors and victims. This study compared self, peer, and teacher identification of bullies and bully victims in a sample of 416 middle school students. Overall, there was poor correspondence between self-reports and reports made by peers or teachers, but consistently better agreement between peers and teachers, in identifying both bullies and victims of bullying. Peer and teacher identification of bullies were more consistently associated with subsequent school disciplinary infractions than were self-reports. These results raise concern about reliance on student self-reports of bullying and bully victimization.     

Restructuring the Ecology of the School as an Approach to Prevention During School Transitions

Summary

Normative school transitions are often accompanied by deterioration in students' socio-emotional, behavioral and academic adjustment, and poorer outcomes in later adolescence and young adulthood. The current paper describes a preventive intervention for students experiencing normative transitions into middle grade schools and junior and senior high schools-the School Transitional Environment Project (STEP). The program is based on a transactional-ecological model of preventive intervention that employs a school restructuring and transformation approach in order to prevent the deleterious effects of school transitions and create school environments that are developmentally enhancing. Core features of STEP seek to change the ecological characteristics of the school setting in ways that: (a) reduce the adaptational demands of coping with flux and complexity in new school settings; (b) increase access to and the provision of important emotional and academic/instrumental support and guidance from school staff and other students; and (c) increase the students' sense of connectedness and belonging within the school. The present paper reviews findings from prior trials of the School Environment Transition Project, and presents the results of two additional STEP studies. The first reports on a long-term follow-up of STEP students who received the project in a large, urban high school that served students whose families were largely on public assistance. Results of this study revealed approximately 50% reductions in drop-out rates and significant positive effects on school performance and attendance patterns. The second study reports on an extension of STEP to junior high schools and middle grade students. Consistent with earlier studies, during the transition year, students in STEP schools reported more positive experiences in school environment dimensions that STEP sought to impact, and better adjustment outcomes than non-STEP students across academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral domains.     

A Group Randomized Trial of School-Based Teen Courts to Address the School to Prison Pipeline,Reduce Aggression and Violence,and Enhance School Safety in Middle and High School Students

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the efficacy of School-Based Teen Courts (SBTCs) using a rigorous experimental trial with 24 middle- and high-schools randomly selected to receive SBTCs (n= 12) or to business-as-usual without any SBTC program (n = 12). Analyses examined school-level longitudinal growth models and individual-level pretest-posttest comparisons on school climate, student problems, and suspension rates. Longitudinal growth models revealed that SBTCs were significantly associated with positive changes in school satisfaction and reductions in delinquent friends for high school students, but showed no significant changes on other outcomes. Short-term suspensions decreased more than twice as much in SBTC schools versus comparison schools. There was a 47% reduction in bullying victimization in SBTC schools relative to a 22% reduction in comparison schools. These findings suggest that SBTCs have the potential to positively impact youth development.     

Teaching Experientially in the Undergraduate Community Psychology Classroom

Experiential learning is a useful teaching tool in the undergraduate community psychology classroom. In addition to improving student outcomes, experiential learning is particularly relevant for community psychology, as it aligns with several core values of the field and can prompt not only student learning, but also civic engagement, social justice, and community betterment. In this article, we provide an overview of the themed issue on “Experiential Teaching Practices in Undergraduate Community Psychology.” The issue contains a variety of experiential teaching examples that fall into three clusters: (a) individual and group service-learning exercises; (b) using community experiences to augment in-class learning outside of a service-learning context; and (c) ways of having students draw on prior out-of-class or in-class community experiences to increase student understanding.     

Identifying High-Risk Students During School Transition

Summary

A preventive, community-based program was designed to facilitate high school transition and reduce dropout. Participants in the study were ninth grade, predominantly Hispanic inner-city students. School absence was used as a variable to identify students who were at high risk for failure. Compared with low- and middle-absence groups, the high-absence groups' failures and class rankings deteriorated consistently across time points. In addition, over time, high-absence group students experienced more pronounced increases in school absence and decreases in academic achievement relative to low- and middle-absence counterparts. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for dropout prevention programming.     

Preventing Dating Violence in Public Schools

Abstract

Many communities offer programs aimed at improving teen dating skills and knowledge about violence and sexual behavior. This research study evaluates one such program, operated by an interagency collaborative. Each of four participating community agencies provided one hour of curriculum during one week of health class. Lecture, group activities, and films were used in the intervention. A 0 X 0 design was used to examine changes in knowledge and attitudes among 74 students. Results indicate that most students began with fairly high knowledge levels and appropriate attitudes. Nevertheless, the program did appear to have a positive impact on those who exhibited less knowledge about and more tolerant attitudes toward exploitive dating behaviors at pre-test. Implications of results for the school context are discussed.     

Implementing and Evaluating School-Based Primary Prevention Programs and the Importance of Differential Effects on Outcomes

Abstract

In 2004, Second Step (Committee for Children, 2002), a violence prevention program, was implemented in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district for 1,416 K through second grade students. Both process and outcome measures were used to evaluate program impact and examine issues related to the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practices. Process measures indicated a high level of implementation fidelity, while pre/post outcome testing on a 20% random sample of students demonstrated significant reductions in reactive aggression scores, t= 2.221, df= 238, p< 0.05, and evidence of declines in proactive aggression. Authors discuss challenges and opportunities related to implementing and evaluating evidence-based programming in Safe Schools/Health Students sites, particularly regarding strategies for the assessment of differential intervention effects to evaluate program outcomes.     

Community-Partnered Needs Assessment: A Strategy to Teach College Students About Health Disparities

Partnering with communities to provide service-learning opportunities for undergraduates can be an effective strategy to teach college students about health disparities. In the current study, undergraduates partnered with a public K–8 school to conduct a participatory needs assessment. College students worked directly with teachers, parents, public school students, and key stakeholders to identify and prioritize health needs, and they awarded the partnership school a grant to address physical activity and bullying. Undergraduates rated the class highly favorably and reported a deeper understanding of health disparities resulting from the service-learning activity. Health disparities research is increasingly becoming a national priority and service learning can attract future talent by providing undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in the material in a meaningful way with clear community benefit.