Reading-Writing-Serving
Connection
College Reading and Learning Association
(CRLA) Conference, November 6-9, 2013
Ann Palmer, M.A., M. Ed.
Professor, Developmental Reading
Richard Griffiths, PhD.
Coordinator, Institutional Studies
Austin Community College, Austin, TX
1
Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Reading-writing connection
Reading-writing-serving connection
Service-learning
Service-learning and retention
Works cited
Resources
Conclusions
2
I. Reading-writing connection
• Required by the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board (THECB)
– Integrated Reading and Writing (IRW)
– Comprehensive professional development
program—Jan.-Dec. 2013 -2014
– All upper/highest level offerings—spring
2015 (Dr. Morales-Vale, Director, Developmental
Ed/Adult Basic Ed, Texas)
3
I. Reading-writing connection
• Research suggesting that integrated
reading/writing courses are more
efficient, for example:
- Writing practices enhance students’
reading. (Graham S. & Herbert M. 2010)
- Rates of retention, persistence and
success are higher for students who took
the IRW courses than for those who took
the unpaired courses.
(Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, 2002)
4
I. Reading-writing connection
• Research suggesting the need for a
specific process for implementing IRW
- Geon-Salter suggests following a 6 - step
progress (activation schema, annotation,
rhetorical reading, self-reflection,
rhetorical writing, mining the text) to
make IRW successful.
(Geon-Salter S., 2012)
5
I. Reading-writing connection
• Research suggests the need for
specific guidelines to implement IRW.
- Shanahan gives four guidelines:
1. Clearly specified outcomes
2. Instruction in both reading and writing
3. Connections between different disciplines
4. Extensive practice in both reading and
writing
(Shanahan, 1997)
6
II. Reading-writing- serving
connection
• Service learning can keep students
engaged in school and on track to
graduation. (Zaff and Lerner, 2010)
• Benefits of service learning programs
appear to outweigh the liabilities.
(Perkins-Gough, 2009)
7
II. Reading-writing- serving
connection
• Community-based participatory
educational experiences can contribute
to students’ academic performance and
persistence.
• Positive correlations between servicelearning and students’ intention to
reenroll.
(Campus Compact, 2008)
8
II. Reading-writing- serving
connection
• Service-learning…promotes deep.
integrative learning and personal
development among both first-year
students and seniors.
(Gonyea et al., 2008)
• Student engagement during the first
year yields powerful benefits for
historically underserved students.
(Kuh et al, 2007 )
9
III. Service - learning
“Learning to serve, serving to learn.”
“Service-learning incorporates community work
into the curriculum, giving students real-world
learning experiences that enhance their
academic learning while providing a tangible
benefit for the community.”
(Campus Compact, 2013)
10
III. Service - learning (con’t)
Three basic components:
1. preparing
-setting objectives for skills to be
learned or issues to consider
-planning projects so they
contribute to learning as
volunteering takes place
11
III. Service - learning (con’t)
2. performing service and/or doing
research on organizations that need
volunteers
12
III. Service-learning (con’t)
3) analyzing the experience using a final
project such as an essay or
presentation
13
III. Service-Learning (con’t)
Sample S-L Project
• This service learning project is worth 15% of the
student’s grade and involves the 5 parts.
– Part 1 Learn about service learning at the ACC
service - learning website.
– Part 2 Learn about service learning opportunities
on campus on the Student Life website and offcampus on the KUT and Volunteer Match
websites.
14
III. Service Learning (con’t)
Sample S-L Project
Part 3 Decide on your project. There are four
different opportunities for service.
1. Volunteer for 10 hours on campus.
2. Volunteer for 10 hours off campus with a non profit organization.
3. Research 10 different non-profit community
organizations.
4. Prepare a presentation on serving the
community.
15
III. Service Learning(con’t)
Sample S-L Project
– Part 4
• Read two articles about service learning found
using the ACC Library online resources and
write 5 questions and answers about the
articles.
16
III. Service Learning(con’t)
– Part 5
• Students volunteering on or off campus write
a 1 -2 page essay describing their
experiences.
• Students doing research write a 5-6 page
essay on the non-profit organizations.
• Students who have developed a public service
announcement will give an oral presentation
to the class.
17
IV. Service - Learning and
Retention
• Research conducted on service learning in community colleges and
universities shows advantages of this
activity.
• Therefore, this retention study was
undertaken.
18
IV. Service - learning and
retention (con’t)
–study question
“Does participating in service - learning
encourage students to persist from the
intermediate level developmental
reading course to the college-credit
course English 1301 at Austin
Community College in one or two
academic years?”
19
IV. Service - learning and
retention (con’t)
Students included in study
• those who completed a developmental
reading course (DEVR 0310)
• from fall 2009 through spring 2012
• earned a C or above in DEVR 0310
• participated or didn’t participate in
service learning
20
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
• ACC has 9 campuses with students
that have different demographic
characteristics.
• Service learning in a DEVR 0310 course
was offered only at one campus.
21
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
Outcome Variables
• Course Success and Withdrawal Rates
– Disaggregated by Gender and Ethnicity
• Retention (excluded summer terms)
– Disaggregated by Gender and Ethnicity
• Next-term
• Second term
22
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
Outcome Variables
• Completion of a college – level course
(English 1301 or 1302) with a C or
above
– Time period for completion depended on
the cohort’s completion of developmental
reading course
– Included all English 1301 or English 1302
courses up to and including spring 2013
– Only the highest grade in either English
1301 or English 1302 included
23
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
Results
• Course Withdrawal Rates in Developmental
Reading Course
• Rate of withdrawals reduced to zero
across all six major ethnic/gender
combinations for SL participants.
24
IV. Service - learning and
retention (con’t)
Results
• Course Withdrawal Rates in Developmental
Reading Course
•
•
•
•
•
•
WM SL vs. Non-SL (0.0% vs 22.3%)
BM SL vs Non-SL (0.0% vs 35.3%)
HM SL vs Non-SL (0.0% vs 22.3%)
WF SL vs Non-SL (0.0% vs 15.5%)
BF SL vs Non-SL (0.0% vs 23.1%)
HF SL vs Non-SL (0.0% vs 16.0%)
25
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
Results
• Retention Next Term
• Overall SL vs Non SL (79.38 vs 60.79)
• Disaggregated Gender/Ethnicity
•
•
•
•
•
•
WM SL vs Non-SL (100% vs 57.6%)
BM SL vs Non-SL (81.8% vs 46.8%)
HM SL vs Non-SL (83.3% vs 59.7%)
WF SL vs Non-SL (83.3% vs 76.4%)
BF SL vs Non-SL (69.7% vs 59.5%)
HF SL vs Non-SL (89.3% vs 63.0%)
26
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
Results
• Retention Second Term
• Overall SL vs Non SL (46.4 vs 35.8)
• Disaggregated Gender/Ethnicity
• WM SL vs Non-SL (100.0% vs 30.9%)
• BM SL vs Non-SL (54.5% vs 29.5%)
• HM SL vs Non-SL (33.3% vs 32.4%)
• WF SL vs Non-SL (50.0% vs 44.6%)
• BF SL vs Non-SL (45.5% vs 34.0%)
• HF SL vs Non-SL (46.4% vs 41.3%)
27
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
• Retention Second Term
• Overall SL vs Non SL (46.4 vs 35.8)
• English Credit Course
• Overall SL vs Non SL (72.0% vs 62.0%)
28
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
Limitations & Discussion
• Small sample size
• Pre-selection bias
– Possibility that differences in motivation
and other factors between SL and Non-SL
– More sophisticated methods should be
used
• propensity scoring – to match students who
participated in SL with those who did not and
then compare the impact of SL
29
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
30
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
31
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
32
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
33
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
34
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
35
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
36
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
37
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
38
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
39
IV. Service - learning and
retention(con’t)
40
V. Works cited
• Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. (2002).
Sacramento. “A Survey Of Effective Practices In Basic Skills”
ERIC. Web. 12 June 2013.
• Campus Compact (2008).”Building Engaged Campuses.”
Research Brief #1 in Building Engaged Series.
http://www.compact.org/wpcontent/uploads/resources/downloads/Retention_Research_Bri
ef.pdf
• Campus Compact.(2013)
http://www.compact.org/about/history-mission-vision/
• Goen-Salter, S. (Producer). (2012). TxCRLA brown bag
webinar: “Integrated reading and writing” (video). Retrieved
from http://thetexasnetwork.org/index.php/resourcespec/1395/
41
V. Works cited (con’t)
• Gonyea, R.M., et al (2008). High impact activities.
http://cpr.iub.edu/uploads/AACU_2008_high_impact_practices
%20Kuh,%20Gonyea,%20Nelson%20Laird,%20Kinzie%20final
.pdf.
• Graham, S., & Hebert, M. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for
how writing can improve reading. A Carnegie Corporation time
to act report. New York, NY: Alliance for Excellent Education,
Carnegie Foundation. Retrieved from
http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/WritingToRea
d_01.pdf
• Kuh, G.D., e tal. (2007). Connecting the dots.
http://nsse.iub.edu/pdf/Connecting_the_Dots_Report.pdf
42
V. Works cited (con’t)
• Morales-Vale, Suzanne. TSI and Developmental Education
Updates. CRLA/CASP Convention. THECB Town Hall. November
8, 2012 PowerPoint.,18
• Perkins-Gogh, Deborah. (2009). “Can Service Learning Keep
Students in School?” Educational Leadership, 66(8),91-93.
• Shanahan, T. (1997). “Reading-writing relationships, thematic
units, inquiry learning.... In pursuit of effective integrated
literacy instruction.” Reading Teacher, 51(1), 12-19.
• Zaff, Jonathan and Richard Lerner. (2010)“Promote Positive
Youth Development in High School.” Phi Delta Kappan, 91(5),
21-23.
43
VI. Resources
Campus Compact
• helps colleges and universities coordinate
community engagement efforts
• trains faculty members to integrate
community work into their teaching and
research,
• encourages scholarships and other student
incentives.
Campus Compact/ 2013
44
VI. Resources (con’t)
National Service Learning Clearinghouse
• supports the service-learning community in
higher education, kindergarten through
grade twelve, community-based
organizations, tribal programs, and others
interested in strengthening schools and
communities using service-learning.
http://servicelearning.org
45
VI. Resources (con’t)
College & Research Libraries News
• provides information on the definitions of
civic engagement, projects and resource
centers, campus and research centers, ejournals and blogs, statistics and assessment
http://crln.acrl.org/content/67/1/23.full.pdf+html?sid=d3926001-
cf73-42d0-b0fc-4082e672df21
46
VI. Resources (con’t)
• Community College National Center for
Community Engagement
provides resources to support and advance civic
engagement initiatives in community colleges,
sample syllabi; announcements of
upcoming events and conferences; and links
to related programs, projects, and organizations.
http://mc.maricopa.edu/other/engagement/
47
VI. Resources (con’t)
• Service Learning Research Primer
designed to address the need for information on
how to conduct high-quality and rigorous research
on service-learning. It reviews the literature base,
appropriate research methodologies and
measurement procedures, and available online
resources.
http://www.servicelearning.org/service-learningresearch-primer/service-learning-research-primer
48
VII. Conclusions
• Most students learn best by doing!
• Students with learning disabilities need
the multisensory reinforcement.
49
VII. Conclusions (con’t)
• According to this research,
students benefit academically from
integrated reading, writing and
service - learning.
50
VII. Conclusions (con’t)
• Specifically most students who did
service learning with both reading and
writing in the intermediate-level
developmental reading class persisted
and were successful in the first or
second required college - level English
course.
51
Copies and thank you!
• If you have questions or would like a
copy of this presentation, please email
Ann Palmer – apalmer@austincc.edu.
• I would like to thank Richard Griffiths rgriffit@austincc.edu for his generous
assistance in preparing the statistical
analysis of the data.
• It’s been a pleasure visiting with you!
52