This article is titled “Integrating Community Service and Classroom Instruction Enhances Learning: Results From an Experiment” by Markus and Howard from the University of Michigan and King form Harvard University. This article contributes to the discussion of the  value  implementing service learning has in the classroom by reporting on an experiment that integrated service-learning into a political science undergraduate classroom. Their research question is: What are the educational “results of an experiment in complementing classroom learning in a large undergraduate political science course with learning gained through students’ experiences working with community service agencies”? (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). The type of data required for this research is reports of acts, behaviors, and events. The authors of this article gathered their data through surveys administered before and after the experiment took place, collecting identification information pre-experiment, and collecting post-experiment questions asking students to report on the extent to they thought the service-learning had influenced their personal adaptation toward the community. The researchers collected answers from students participating in the service-learning course and a traditional course to compare the academic results of the two classrooms. The researchers also obtained course grades and information on class attendance (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). The researchers analyzed the data by performing a t test, comparing the pre- and post- course scores from the survey (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). The researchers of the article report finding that there are academic payoffs for students that engage in classrooms that integrate service-learning (Markus, Howard, & King, 1993). My proposal will be researching if service-learning can improve the academic success of struggling undergraduate students. This article will help contribute to my own research, as it provides me with a basis to understand the academic benefits service-learning has on college students.

Markus, G.B., Howard, J.P.F., & King, D.C. (1993). Integrating community service and classroom instruction enhances learning: Reports from an experiment. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 15(4), 410-419.

The article “The Effects of Service-Learning on Middle School Students’ Social Responsibility and Academic Success” investigates the effects of service-learning on a group of diverse students, grades 6-8 (Scales et al., 2000). From their research of the existing literature, the researchers of this study find that service-learning is seen as a strategy to promote students’ social responsibility and academic success. This study the validity of these theories. The researchers try to answer 4 research questions, the overarching question being: Does service-learning have a positive impact on students’ social responsibility and academic success? The researchers gathered reports of acts, behaviors, and events from students both involved and not involved in service-learning. They collected this data by administering a survey to students, measuring “social responsibility”, “personal development opportunities”, “parent involvement”, “commitment to classwork”, “engagement with school”, “perceived scholastic competence”, “intellectual achievement responsibility”, “evaluation and mastery goals”, “academic success”, and “conduct” (Scales et al., 2000). The researchers use ANCOVAs for their data analysis method. This method compares service-learning students with non-service learning students, using a variety of dependent variables. The researchers found service-learning can have positive effects on student’s concern about the welfare of others. This concern was found to decline in students not involved in service-learning. In regards to academic success, service-learning students reported a higher commitment to their classwork then non-service learning students. Service-learning may help maintain students’ positive views toward school providing them opportunities (Scales et al., 2000). A limit in this study was: the students that participated were “far from typical” (Scales et al., 2000). The students were already participating in service learning projects at higher rates than average students (Scales et, al., 2000). This is why in my research I plan to investigate the effects service-learning has on struggling students that are newly involved in these projects and see if it has any effect on their academic success.

Scales, P.C., Blyth, D.A., Berkas, T.H., Kielsmeier, J.C. (2000). The effects of service-learning on middle school students’ social responsibility and academic success. Journal of Early Adolescence, 20(3), 332-358.

In researching for my proposal, I came across an article examining the reasons why students are involved in community service. This is relevant to my proposal, as I am researching if being involved in community service has a positive influence on struggling students’ academics. The article is “Understanding Patterns of Commitment” by Jones and Hill (2003). This study had many guiding research questions. The overarching research question of this article, and the question I feel is most relevant to my research, is: “What are students’ reasons for participation in community service in high school?” (Jones & Hill, 2003). The type of data needed to answer this question is reports of acts, behaviors, and events, as students are giving reasons for  involvement in community service. To collect this data, the researchers performed in-depth interviews with select students that were nominated by the Community Service Directors at the participants’ schools. The researchers analyzed the data through what they call “constructivist ground theory” (Jones & Hill, 2003). In this method, the authors look for patterns and themes within their data and continuously look back at their data with new questions until a narrative emerges. Jones and Hill found that high schoolers involved in community service often were influence by external factors, such as family, friends, or school community service requirements (2003). Despite these influences, the participants usually felt good after volunteering, but the participants did not think much about why they were engaging in community service, unless they were involved in service because of their church or religion (Jones & Hill, 2003). This will be important to think about in regards to my own research as to the reasoning of students who participate in community service. If I am interested in the effects community service has on students who are struggling academically, then it will aid my research to know why students get involved in the first place.

Jones, S.R., & Hill, K.E. (2003). Understanding patterns of commitment: student motivation for community service involvement. The Journal of Higher Education, 74 (5), 516-539.

In researching for my research proposal, I came across an article that related directly to my research topic: “Reducing Academic Achievement Gaps: The role of Community Service and Service -Learning” (Scales et al., 2006). This article’s topic focuses on strategies to promote student achievement and equity for student achievement in different social groups, specifically in regards to community service and service learning. While this article asked many research questions, the one that encompassed the article was: Does service and service learning play a role in improving achievement among low-income students? The type of data gathered was organization/ demographic data from the 2001-2002 Common Core of Data public school universe file. This data reported the instructional level of classrooms, urbanity of the school, average class sizes, and minority status. This study also used aggregate data from a sample of US middle and high school students, looking at measures of: “40 developmental assets, 10 risk behavior patterns, 5 developmental deficits, and 8 thriving behaviors” (Scales et al., 2006). The sample was weighed by race and ethnicity and urbanity proportions. Another type of data gathered reports of acts, behaviors, and events, taken from a survey administered to a sample of middle and high school students in Colorado Springs. The data gathering methods consisted of public and private records and surveys administered to middle/ high school students. The data analysis method was ordinal and interval/ ratio data. The survey questions asked the participants to rank a statement, which was the ordinal data. For example, the survey asked principles if they though the impact of service-learning on factors identified by the researchers was “very positive,” “somewhat positive,” etc. The surveys also asked participants to report hours spent on community projects, which would be interval/ ratio data. The results found service-learning was valuable for student engagement and achievement, specifically in urban, nonwhite, high poverty schools (Scales et al., 2006).

Scales, P.C., Roehlkepartain, E.C., Neal, M., Kielsmeier, J.C., & Benson P.L. (2006). Reducing academic achievement gaps: The role of community service and service-learning. Journal of Experiential Education, 29(1), 38-60.

In searching for journals related to my topic, I found “Innovations and Impact in Teacher Education” in the peer reviewed journal Teachers College Record. This study recognizes the importance of improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged students, such has students of color, low-income students, and English language learners. The researchers specifically focus on teacher training programs, preparing teachers to work with diverse populations. The research question is: what is the implementation and impact of preservice teachers (a period of guided, supervised teaching) in community-based organizations (CBO) and what are the outcomes of preparing teachers to teach children whose backgrounds differ from that of the children served, specifically children at high-needs schools? The researchers followed two cohorts of preservice teachers, faculty teaching in the teacher education program, and staff who work in the CBO in which the preservice teachers are placed. These participants were  from the University of Washington’s Elementary Education Program. This was a 3-year longitudinal study, following the preservice teachers through their training and first year of teaching. I believe the type of data needed for this study was acts, behaviors, and events, and reports of acts, behaviors, and events. The authors clearly state the data-gathering method: “We employ qualitative methods of interviews, focus groups, observations, document review, and survey methods” (McDonald et al., 2011). The researchers state they used an iterative process as their data analysis method. An iterative process is arriving at a decision by repeating rounds of analysis, the goal is to get closer to discovering the result of the analysis through each repeated cycle. The researchers for this article coded individual and focus group interviews. The researchers looked for specific concepts out of these interviews that reflected the preservice teachers’ participation and outcomes of the program. The researchers found community experiences ended up being a resource for the teachers to pull from and provided the teachers with an understanding of the children served beyond the school setting. The researchers conclude CBO training for preservice teachers is a promising practice to prepare teachers to work with students from diverse backgrounds (McDonald et al., 2011).

McDonald, M.A., Tyson, K., Brayko, K., Bowman, M., Delport, J., & Shimomura, F. (2011). Innovation and impact in teacher education: Community-based organizations as field placements for preservice teachers. Teaching College Record, 113(8), 1668-1700.

Focusing on my topic of community and education, I am writing about the article “Youth Development Through Mentorship: A Los Angeles School-Based Mentorship Program Among Latino Children” by Coller and Kuo (2014). This article can be found in the Journal of Community Health, vol. 39. This research evaluates the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), a school-based mentoring program, among Latino students in Los Angeles. The main reason for this article was Coller and Kuo wanted to test the feasibility of applying a previously validated relationship quality assessment tool a YEP directed toward urban Latino youth. In order to test this, the researchers asked the question: what are the outcomes of a successful mentor-mentee pairing relationship and YEP look like for low-income Latino elementary school children in LA? Coller and Kuo tested the quality of the relationships formed between the mentors, undergraduate students at UCLA, and the mentees, 4th and 5th graders at a Title I elementary school. The type of data needed to answer the question was organizational data and reports of acts, behaviors and events. The organizational data was used to describe the statistics about the elementary school and students. The study used Stoner Avenue Elementary School to collect their data, stating it was a Title I funded school of 376 students, with a 91% Latino student body, 55% classified as English language learners, and the entire student body receives free and reduced lunch (Coller & Kuo, 2014). This was most likely collected through public records. The reports of acts, behaviors, and events analyzed: “relationship length, degree of youth centeredness, emotional engagement and youth satisfaction” (Coller & Kuo, 2014). This data was collected through teacher-administered surveys students, ages 9-10, took. The students rated the statements on a scale from 1-4, which is ordinal data. The survey was a testing rank-order, there is no fixed interval. The YEP directed toward urban Latino youth was highly successful.  The outcomes of this program showed, of YEP’s pairs, 95% lasted at least a year, each year it of it existing demonstrating a higher percentage of relationships lasting at least 2 years. Using the previously validated relationship quality assessment tool was successful in evaluating school-based mentoring directed toward urban Latino youth (Coller & Kuo, 2014).

Coller, J. J., & Kuo, A. A. (2013). Youth development through mentorship: A los angeles school-based mentorship program among latino children. Journal of Community Health, 39, 316-321.

Looking through the current periodical section in the library, I came across the journal Education vol. 131, no. 4. Within this journal I came across an article titled “Teacher Leaders Impacting School Culture” by Douglas E. Roby and found it relevant to my topic of community and education. The topic of this study focused on teachers implementing culture into classrooms to create a sustainable learning environment. Based off my reading of this study, I believe it asks the question: How can teachers pursuing a teacher leader masters degree assess their work-place culture and begin to affect school culture in a positive manner? In order to answer this question, the types of data used was reports of acts, behaviors, and events, and shallow opinions and attitudes. The author collected this data by administering the School Culture Review to 195 participants. This was a survey of 40 statements that had the participants consider characteristics of cultural norms, points being awarded for the answers (none=0, low=1, average=2, above average=3, high=4). Roby states the analysis used was, “mean scores, ranges, frequencies, and standard deviations” (2011). After separating the teachers into groups by levels of experience in the classroom, Roby compared the group’s mean scores based off the questions in the survey. Robey found the means fell within the 80-119 point range, and means below 80 revealed a “low functioning culture”, and a mean below 41 meant “the school culture is dysfunctional” (2011). Roby concluded the length of teaching experience was not a factor in rating school climate. Roby did, however, find teacher isolation is a major concern. Other concerns included: “opportunities for informal leadership, climate of physical plant [campus], trust, relationships, and support” (2011). Moving forward, it is suggested teachers and administrators create a clear form of communication to get to the root of key issues, build trust, and strengthen relationships in the workplace.

Roby, D.E. (2011). Teacher leaders impacting school culture. Education, 131(4), 782-790.

My research topic deals with the influence community has on educational outcomes for students. I came across Marshall and Toohey’s article: “Representing Family: Community Funds of Knowledge, Bilingualism and Multimodality” in the Harvard Educational Review, vol. 80, no. 2. Marshall and Toohey’s research topic concerns schools and teachers connecting school learning to children’s out-of-school learning and culture. Their question would be: “What happens when the funds of knowledge that students bring to school contradict normative, Western understandings of what is appropriate for children and how school might appropriately respond to varying community perceptions of good and evil”? The researchers “use critical discourse analysis to examine educators’ efforts to incorporate funds of knowledge from the communities and families of Punjabi Sikh students in a Canadian elementary school” (Marshall & Toohey, 2010). I believe the authors’ types of data are: reports of acts, behaviors, or events and acts, behaviors, or events. The first  data type is reports of acts, behaviors, or events. Marshall and Toohey first researched the community, conducting “community scans.” They used private and public records, looking at the Canadian census to research the community’s housing, language, and availability of services. They also used interviews and field observations . Collecting this data allowed them to obtain cultural knowledge about the Punjabi Sikh community in Canada, such as the importance of grandparents in the lives of many of these families. The researchers next data type used is acts, behaviors, or events. In the next part of the research, teachers implement “funds of knowledge” of the Punjabi Sikh community in the curriculum and observe how this affected their students. Funds of knowledge is defined as:  “essential cultural practices and knowledge and information households use to thrive.” This study was what the authors call a “teacher-researcher collaboration.” The study happened over the course of three years. In these three years, particular classroom activities were planned, observed, evaluated, and revised by the teachers and researchers. It is hard for me to categorize this data collection method as I can see it as an ethnography because the teachers and researchers were involved in implementing curriculum and working with the students to help them execute the curriculum. This could also be detached observation because the teachers and researchers are observing both the students and the students’ work  and how these were both affected by the curriculum the teachers implemented. Yet, it is not detached because the teachers were working directly with the student, however the researcher were not. The researchers found the importance of connecting students’ funds of knowledge to the classroom, as well as implementing experiences of their peer groups and popular cultural into the curriculum. The researchers find ways in which technology can be implemented in the classroom to open up a space for bilingualism, as the curriculum involved Punjabi Sikh students interviewing their grandparents and recording it with and MP3 player. Finally, the researchers conclude there is a lack of engaging materials written in students’ first languages and recognize the need for culturally engaging material.

Marshall, E., & Toohey, K. (2010). Representing family: community funds of knowledge, bilingualism and multimodality. Harvard Educational Review, 80(2), 221-241.