SWEDEN 2007

1. SWEDEN 2007 From Learning to Read to Reading to Learn: School Libraries, Literacy and Inquiry Dr Ross J Todd Director Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey cissl.scils.rutgers.edu rtodd@scils.rutgers.edu

2. Sweden Past and Present Value the Past Inspire Create Imagination Building the Future

3. Let’s Try Again: Pick Another Card Pick another Card It is YOUR card Think about YOUR card for 20 seconds Stay focused

4. Again, your card has been removed

6. SCHOOL LIBRARIES AS THE BRIDGE Learning to Read Transformational Role of School Libraries Reading to Learn

7. School Libraries Work

8. “Student Learning Through Ohio & Delaware School Libraries” HOW DO SCHOOL LIBRARIES HELP STUDENTS? • 39 school libraries in Ohio; 13 school libraries in Delaware • Grades 3 – 12 • 13,123 valid student responses (Ohio) • 879 teacher / administrator responses (Ohio) • 5,733 students valid student responses (Delaware) • 468 teacher / administrator responses (Delaware) • Impacts on Learning Survey (Students) Perceptions of Learning Impacts (Faculty) • “helps” measure of 48 statements of learning outcomes • Critical Incident response to capture voice of students (14,000 responses)

9. 7 Sets of “help” • How helpful the school library is with getting information you need • How helpful the school library is with using the information to complete your school work Information Literacy skills) • How helpful the school library is with your school work in general (knowledge building, knowledge outcomes) • How helpful the school library is with using computers in the library, at school, and at home • How helpful the school library is to you with your general reading interests • How helpful the school library is to you when you are not at school (independent learning) • General school aspects –Academic Achievement

10. “help” statements

11. Ohio: Summary of Findings

12. KEY FINDINGS • Providing access to information resources: local print collection and technology access • Helping students become good researchers • Engaging students in an active process of building their own understanding and knowledge. • Instructional intervention of school librarian is a key mechanism • INFORMATION PLACE, but also as a KNOWLEDGE SPACE

13. Critical Incident: The Student’s Story • “Now, remember one time when the school library really helped you. Write about the help that you got, and what you were able to do because of it” • To validate – “witness” quantitative data; to elucidate “helps” not identified in 48 statements; to provide the “voice” of the students

14. The Students’ Voices • 777 When I was working on a project about science I had no idea what I was doing I asked my library teachers for help they helped and by the end of the day I felt so much better!!! And from that day on I knew what I was doing on that project and I got a A I was so proud of myself and my confidence went up a whole lot and now when ever I do a project I know I have a lot of power now to do well on projects!!! • 1532 The school librarians don’t help me at all like they make me do all the stuff myself and wont tell me where the things are even when I already looked – they show me and make me learn how to find the stuff myself and its hard work!!!! You gotta use your brain, they say

15. Students’ Voices • 10151 I would have never have found the sources I needed for the paper if not for the school library, the public library, and the helpful people who staff those places. They even showed me steps to work through to do the research and complete it. They ran some classes specifically for us and they were very very very helpful • 1075 Well one time was when we had to do a report on Animals and I had no clue how to find information about my animal. So Mrs. X helped me find the information on the computer. On the internet if its true or false – to learn that is very important at school.

16. Students’ Voices • 3532 I was working on History project and we had to have several sources (primary documents) and the librarians instructed the students on how to go about finding the information we needed and compiling it into something worthwhile. I was able to combine everything together and earn a good grade. • 100 I needed help doing a project for government that had to do with presidents and they had so many books and then the librarian helped me find web sites. But then they gave me ways of sorting through all the ideas to extract the key points so I could get my head around it all

17. Students’ Voices • 66 I needed to write a paper and I went to the Library where I was ultimately able to write a paper successfully. My ideas were a mess and talking to the librarian gave me a way to organize my ideas and present the argument. I did really well!! I’ve never forgotten that – used it to do many other assignments. • 433 It helped me find info on racism for a 10th grade project, and made me really think about that, especially I didn’t realize how racist some of my ideas were

18. Students’ Voices • 785 I love to read. The library introduced me to a new series of books. It was a series of unfortunate events. After I read those, in my writing I wasn't afraid to extend beyond the limits and write creative, farfetched stories • 945 Once recent time that I can think of that the school library has helped me was when I needed to find my science vocabulary terms and write them properly. It also helped me when I needed to find a world encyclopedia of trade embargo's of world war 2 for my Social Studies class. • 6215 I needed to do a lot of research and get a lot of help for my senior thesis project this year. I got a lot of help from the library and the writing intervention workshop. I was able to make my project a success because writing clearly and logically is very hard, and the good resources and writing techniques helped

19. Students’ Voices • 6256 Sometimes I argue with my parents about things and use the library to check if my opinions are true • 1408 One time, I wanted books on Teen Suicide and they were able to get some for me. It was helpful of them as my cousin died that way and I could figure it out a bit more for me. • 6110 I guess I’ve discovered one thing. When I do my research well, and do the proper thing with note cards and writing in my own words, I seem to just get to know the stuff and that makes a big help when I talk about the stuff in class.

21. How do we help students become good researchers?

22. Foundations of Guided Inquiry: Kuhlthau THE INFORMATION SEARCH PROCESS Tasks Initiation Selection Exploration Formulation Collection Presentation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------→ Feelings uncertainly optimism confusion clarity sense of satisfaction or (affective) frustration direction/ disappointment doubt confidence Thoughts vague-------------------------------------→focused (cognitive) -----------------------------------------------→ increased interest Actions seeking relevant information----------------------------→seeking pertinent information (physical) exploring documenting Zone of Intervention: the critical point / need for instruction

23. GUIDED INQUIRYTeaching Interventions • Build engagement; develop curiosity and motivation for their topics • Connect with students’ existing knowledge and interests to establish relevance • Students more motivated when able to exercise some choice over questions and how to present their new understandings • Give opportunities to build background knowledge: Lots of descriptive facts does not equal deep knowledge • Deal with the affective dimensions: doubt, uncertainty

24. GUIDED INQUIRYTeaching Interventions • Develop the focus question(s) and formulate personal knowledge outcomes • Engage students in dealing with conflicting information • Use of a variety of analytical methods to sort, organize and structure ideas cause/effect; pro/con; error analysis; compare/contrast; • Teach students to build arguments and evidences, counter arguments and counter evidences • Teach students to develop conclusions & positions; posit actions, implications and solutions; reflect on these in terms of original knowing

25. Ohio / Delaware Research Reading Patterns • In terms of perceptions of how school libraries help students, reading statements overall ranked low, compared to other helps • Reading helps strongest in elementary school, and decline throughout schooling • Reading helps significantly higher for African American students • Reading helps significantly higher for girls rather than boys • Children too busy to read

26. Mean Reading Scores by Grade

27. What Gets Kids Reading?Ohio / Delaware Research • Understand the lives of your students • Personalized, targeted, proactive service • Identifying interests, developing self-esteem • Availability of latest releases • Using curriculum as link to reading enjoyment and enrichment: leaping from curriculum to personal interest • Showing that academic success can be achieved through improving reading • Personal empowerment: learning about self • Open mind about what kids read • Knowing the dynamics of improving reading

28. Barriers to reading • Developing an inclusive community: boys and girls • Demands of curriculum: No time to read • Playing psychologist? Moral high ground? • Limited / narrow views of what should be read • Personality issues: Enforced choice • Perceive reading enrichment to be the role of the public library: Seamless environments? • Library systems and rules: what do they convey about what is important?

29. Reading-Literacy-Knowledge Life Cycle: Delaware • Typical activities to promote reading: literature displays, book talks, promoting information resources, reading incentive programs, and to a much lesser extent story telling, book clubs and author visits. • Primarily passive activities. • Reading activities that foster active student engagement, discussion and creative outputs far less frequently reported. • High school students “don’t have time to read”.

30. AN ACTIVE READING CULTURE • Focus on reading activities that foster active student engagement, discussion and creative outputs: • web blogs • book raps • interactive book reviews • online literature circles • reading pals online • create your own e-books • student-run school reading web pages

31. Key Reflections School libraries as powerful and engaging places in the lives of studentsdo not happen by chance or force. Learning outcomes are achieved through deliberate actions and instructional interventions of school librarians INFORMATIONAL – TRANSFORMATONAL – FORMATIONAL = School Librarian Action

32. A TIME OF BOLD ACTION Edna St Vincent Millay 1892-1950 “Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour Rains from the sky a meteoric shower Of facts, they lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun, but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric.”

33. READING TO LEARN "Education is not an affair of telling and being told but an active constructive process.” Do they learn anything? John Dewey

34. Teaching Interventions • Build engagement; develop curiosity and motivation for their topics • Connect with students’ existing knowledge and interests to establish relevance • Students more motivated when able to exercise some choice over questions and how to present their new understandings • Give opportunities to build background knowledge: Lots of descriptive facts does not equal deep knowledge • Deal with the affective dimensions: doubt, uncertainty

35. Teaching Interventions • Develop the focus question(s) and formulate personal knowledge outcomes • Engage students in dealing with conflicting information • Use of a variety of analytical methods to sort, organize and structure ideas cause/effect; pro/con; error analysis; compare/contrast; • Teach students to build arguments and evidences, counter arguments and counter evidences • Teach students to develop conclusions & positions; posit actions, implications and solutions; reflect on these in terms of original knowing

36. Key Reflections School libraries as powerful and engaging places in the lives of studentsdo not happen by chance or force. Learning outcomes are achieved through deliberate actions and instructional interventions of school librarians INFORMATIONAL – TRANSFORMATONAL – FORMATIONAL = School Librarian Action

37. A TIME OF BOLD ACTION Edna St Vincent Millay 1892-1950 “Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour Rains from the sky a meteoric shower Of facts, they lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun, but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric.”