Powering Achievement The Impact of School Libraries & Librarians on Academic Achievement

1. Powering AchievementThe Impact of School Libraries & Librarians on Academic Achievement

2. Outline • Background • States involved, Info Power context • Results • Library predictors of academic achievement • Controlling for school & community conditions • Implications • Recommended actions • Other research questions • What you can do

3. Previous research 1950s-1980’s: largely experimental research • Librarian as teacher, co-teacher, tutor • Collections, technology, interlibrary cooperation • Library staff, budgets, teacher & principal support 1992/3: 1st Colorado study: statistical analysis • School Match episode • “School Match Revisited” aftermath • The Big Question … and the answer

4. Information Powermodel Successor to earlier IP & Library Power Themes • Collaboration • Leadership • Technology Roles • Learning & Teaching • Information Access & Delivery • Program Administration

5. Standards-based education Standardized, norm-referenced tests • Reading tests • Library/study skills tests • Percentile rankings (grading “on the curve”) Standards-based tests • Content standards • Information literacy standards • Percent who meet or exceed standards

6. Technology • Rapid growth in availability of computers, Internet access, World Wide Web capabilities in schools • Changing nature of teacher-librarian & technology specialist jobs • Common ground: “information literacy”

7. Challenge to recent studies Take into account • Info Power/Library Power movements • Standards-based education • Technology developments Get message out beyond “the choir” • Principals, teachers • Technology specialists • Parents, students

8. Schools & libraries studied • Since 2000, 14 states • AK, CO, FL, IA, IL, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, NM, OR, PA, TX, WI … plus province of Ontario • Almost 10,000 schools • Elementary, middle and high school libraries serving an estimated 3 million students

9. What’s in it for me? • a leadership partner on a school-wide basis • instructional resources geared to the school’s curriculum and state standards • the teaching of information literacy • a bridge over the technology-curriculum divide • a collaborative environment that improves planning and delivery of instruction

10. A leadership partner … • A school librarian has the education, training and credentials required to be a school leader • Someone who regularly… • meets with the principal, • attends faculty meetings, • serves on key committees, and • meets with other library staff

11. Information resources … • A school librarian manages a school library program that is adequately staffed, stocked, and funded • Requires planning, budgeting, reporting, and evaluation • Someone who helps students and teachers access the information they need on a flexible schedule • Requires support staff

12. Teaching information literacy • Print, non-print, and electronic resources that support the school’s curriculum and the state’s standards • Information literacy—i.e., to recognize an information need and to locate, evaluate, and apply information in critical thinking to solve a problem

13. Bridging technology-curriculum divide • Selection of licensed databases and identification of authoritative free websites • Expertise in bridging gaps between students and teachers, online information, and curriculum and instruction

14. Collaborative environment • A colleague who attends conferences and meetings and brings back useful information • A facilitator of flexibly scheduled access to the school library • A collaborator with classroom teachers in design and delivery of instruction • A teacher of other teachers who creates more self-reliant users of information resources and technology

15. The latest results: sample Illinois findings • Test scores higher at schools with more: • Flexible scheduling (+10-11% elem.) • Library staffing (+17-18% elem., middle) • Librarian/teacher collaboration (+8% elem.) • Current collections (+13-14% middle) • Library & other connected computers/100 (+8-11% middle) • Library spending (+5% elem., +9% middle, +12% high) • Circ (+11%, elem.), group visits (+9-10%, middle)

16. Controlling for other school & communityconditions • School library development factor • Staffing, collections, expenditures • Other school conditions • Per pupil spending • Teacher-pupil ratio • Community conditions • Poverty (NSLP eligibility) • Minority enrollment • Adult educational attainment (age 25+ graduated from high school)

17. Ranked by percent of test score variation explained: Poverty (NSLP eligibility): 50-65% School library development: up to 20%, typically 5-8% Variables that don’t explain any test score variation consistently: Adult educational attainment Minority enrollment Per pupil spending Teacher-pupil ratio Achievement predictors ranked

18. Recommended actions • Staff school libraries with professional & support staff • Stock them with current books & licensed databases as well as networked computers • Fund them to support school’s curriculum and state’s standards • Adopt flexible scheduling • Utilize school computer network to extend library program’s reach into every classroom

19. How do you benefit from your school library? • Do you as a principal consult your librarian when making plans and decisions about your school’s teaching/learning environment? • Do you as a teacher receive the benefits of collaborating with your school librarian? • What more can you do to enable your librarian to contribute to your and your school’s success?

20. For more information… • Visit the School Library Impact Studies page on the Library Research Service website at: http://www.LRS.org/impact.php