As more states continue to adopt the Common Core State Standards for education, I believe that service-learning could be the answer to helping improve test scores, critical thinking skills, and overall student achievement. Service-learning is the key to engaging students in rewarding and meaningful academic experiences.
Barriers Teachers May Face
Many barriers can occur during service-learning projects. First, students may not want to participate. In the case that a student chooses not to be involved, the teacher can give an alternate assignment in order to allow the student to see the connection between real world experiences and the content from class (San Diego Unified School District, 2010, p. 2). The next major barrier directly involves teachers. Teachers today face more challenges than ever. The Common Core State Standards have been a huge component of some of these challenges. Common Core has been taught in most schools in the 45 states that have adopted them. The standards have brought up a lot of discussion in the education world about how teachers and students are being affected by these rigorous standards. The main concern teachers have is how to meet these standards and help the struggling students in their classes keep up with the changes (Garland, 2014). Kaye and Connolly took into consideration the everyday challenges of a teacher. These include, but are not limited to, test scores, achievement gaps, and giving students a meaningful educational experience. In order for a teacher to make an impact in the life of a student, family, and community, he or she should integrate service-learning. This is the answer to improving academic student achievement because if the students discover real world applications for the academic learning they do in school, then they are going to learn the value of their education. Through the process of service-learning students are able to practice, review, reassess, and reflect on what they are studying. Service-learning can provide rigor to the academics that the students need to deepen their understanding (Kaye & Connolly, With common Core State Standards, Why Service Learning Matters Even More, 2013). With Common Core State Standards being integrated into more schools, Kaye and Connolly state, "The aim is for students, through academics, to develop and hone their ability to read closely so as to analyze, interpret, and synthesize information and ideas, collaborate with others, and utilize refined language skills to present information through writing and speaking with the support of technology." (Kaye & Connolly, With common Core State Standards, Why Service Learning Matters Even More, 2013) Through Common Core the goal is to have students demonstrate independence, build strong content knowledge, respond well to tasks and purposes, comprehend as well as critique, value evidence, use technology, and come to understand other perspectives and cultures. The goal is to teach students more than just enough to pass the state mandated test but rather prepare them with career and college readiness (Kaye & Connolly, With common Core State Standards, Why Service Learning Matters Even More, 2013). Common Core State Standards focus on career and college readiness, so for educators, the focus needs to be on how teachers can work with students in order to meet this readiness. In a survey of over 400 employers in the United States by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Homan Resource Management, it has been shown that students are not graduating high school prepared for the workforce. Some of the skills recent graduates struggled with were work ethic, teamwork, oral and written communication, and problem solving/critical thinking. Through service-learning students can better develop these skills and feel more prepared for the work force (Connolly, 2012). |