Poster #27 - Assessing Service Learning Program Outcomes to Prepare Future School-Based Socioemotional Wellness Professionals

• In Event: Poster Session 10

Abstract

School-based socioemotional wellness professionals, such as school counselors and school psychologists, provide important assessment and guidance to students. The shortage of such professionals has been well-documented and is now exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Weir, 2020). Many students in psychology and related fields are interested in mental health professions but often lack the awareness and/or opportunity to learn about these positions.
This study explores how service-learning could be utilized to provide exposure and training for undergraduate students who could be ideal candidates for school-based socioemotional wellness professions. Specifically, service-learning courses focusing on school children’s Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) can provide undergraduates career exposure and hands-on experience, allow advisors to identify and recruit qualified candidates, and increase the candidates’ understanding of the future students they will serve.
Eighteen college students participated in an International Service Learning program, which was preceded by a semester-long training that included local service learning (12 weekly SEL lessons at a local elementary school). All students were second to fourth year undergraduate students majoring in Psychology or related fields and had been selected by the program faculty advisors based on prior educational, teaching, or coaching experience and on their expressed interest in applied careers.
To track the development of the students, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS) was used as formative assessment. To adapt CLASS for the current study, 7 of the 10 dimensions were targeted: positive climate, teacher sensitivity, regard for student perspectives, instructional learning formats, concept development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. Within the 7 dimensions, 22 indicators were deemed applicable and included for evaluation. Students were observed by a certified CLASS observer for a segment of 15 to 20 minutes at the beginning and end of the local service learning. The observer noted behaviors of randomly selected coaches and aggregated notes using the CLASS rating forms. The observer reviewed the results with the program advisors, and individualized and group feedback was presented to the students .
At baseline, the students were strong in the dimension of positive climate (M = 6.43, SD = 0.79), but they needed strengthening in the quality of feedback dimension(M = 2.57, SD = 1.13). They were rated in the middle range of the remaining five dimensions (Ms = 3.71 to 4.29). The followup observations found improvements in the dimensions of regard for student perspectives (M =4.75 , SD = 2.22 ) and quality of feedback (M = 3.5 , SD = 0.58 ), but positive climate remained the only dimension rated in the high range. Together, the current results suggest that the hands-on experience and formative feedback over the 12 weeks of local service learning was beneficial for the students’ instructional skills, but the development of more complex teaching skills is needed to scaffold, guide, and expand children’s participation in the lessons.

Group Authors

Danica Mavroudis, Shinchieh Duh, Jae H. Paik, & Rita Rodriguez

Authors

• Danica Mavroudis, San José State University
  Presenting Author

• Shinchieh Duh, San José State University

• Jae Hee Paik, San Francisco State University

• Rita Rodriguez, San Francisco State University