Informed Collaborations:

1. Informed Collaborations: Librarians and the HighSchool to College Transition K e n B u r h a n n a . 14 May 2009 . HACC Information Literacy Symposium

2. Watching the game before Ginger

3. Watching the game after Ginger

4. The Boss

5. Informed Collaborations • Collaboration is key. • 12-13 Transition in Ohio (Macro to Micro View). • Share experiences, results, insights, challenges and considerations.

6. Why This Work Is Important Information Literacy is critical to success in the 21st century. It’s a basic human right. The art of finding and using information effectively and ethically.

7. Can Information Literacy Save Lives? Girl uses information literacy to save 100 lives!

8. Plus, we know they haven’t mastered it. A 2006 study done by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) found that high school and college students were deficient in the skills needed to retrieve, analyze and communicate information online. Andrea L. Foster (2006). Students fall short on ‘information literacy,’ Educational Testing Service’s study finds. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(10), A36.

9. Graduation & Retention Rates “The need to increase retention and completion rates for students in higher education is a compelling reason for academic librarians to collaborate with their K-12 colleagues in developing information literacy activities across K-20 education.” Jo Ann Carr and Ilene F. Rockman (2003). Information-literacy collaboration: A shared responsibility. American Libraries, 34 (8), 52-54.

10. The Future—It’s Coming! What Should We Make It? How? • Connecting and working with school libraries is critical to the future of librarianship and education. Jim Rettig ALA president

11. High school seniors or college freshmen?

12. A Vision of Students Today • A Vision of Students Today, a YouTube video directed by digital ethnographer Michael Wesch of Kansas state.

13. Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education (ILILE)www.ilile.org Three KSU Library programs: • Informed Transitions (High School Outreach) • Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (TRAILS) • Transitioning to College (Web site)

14. Special Task Force on 12-13 Transition in Ohio

15. Special Task Force on 12-13 Transition in Ohio • K-12 and academic library consortia (INFOhio and OhioLINK). • White page: Preparing 21st Century Ohio Learners for Success: The Role of Information Literacy and Libraries. • Six Goals / Action Steps

16. Task Force Action Steps • Develop 21st Century Skills • Incorporate Research Experiences • Deliver Research Resources • Prepare Student Teachers • Partner with Groups Statewide • Enable Collaboration

17. Informed Transitions www.library.kent.edu/highschool

18. Informed Transitions High school instructional classroom

19. How We Thought It Would Work • Open invitation (local). • 2 weeks notice. • Prefer groups of 25 or less. • Tie-in current assignment. • Add-on transition experiences. • Borrowing privileges available. • Collaborate with librarians and teachers. • Help them to collaborate. • Will provide assignment, if school doesn’t have one.

20. Getting the Program Off the Ground • Promotional flyer. • Mailing to local high schools with follow up call. • Presentations to local groups and associations. • Open house. • Word of mouth.

21. A Typical High School Visit • Starts about 9:00 a.m. • Begins with a brief library tour. • Includes 20 to 30 minutes of library instruction. • Rest of visit for student work and point of need instruction. • Ends about Noon.

22. Information Literacy Instruction • Brief and focused to facilitate the practice of information literacy. • Broad points – Top 10 Things High School Students Should Know About Using College Libraries. • Tailored to high school assignment. • Work mainly on topic focus and accessing information.

23. Four Observations that Inform Instruction • High school students likely will not: • Have experiences in large libraries. • Recognize the library’s Web site as a starting place for research. • Be familiar with the concept of scholarly authority. • Be familiar with terms like reserves, scholarly journal or periodical.

24. Academic Year Participating Schools Group Visits Number of Students Library Tours Instruction Sessions 2004-2005 8 17 507 17 14 2005-2006 10 19 547 19 16 2006-2007 8 17 453 13 10 2007-2008 8 13 389 13 10 2008-2009 9 18 371 12 15 Totals *18 84 2,267 74 65 5 yr avg 16.8 453 14.8 13 * Schools are counted only once over the five years. Participation Numbers

25. School Types Number of Visits Local Schools (within 30 miles) 78 Non-Local Schools 6 Public Schools 68 Private Schools 16 Top 50 KSU Feeder Schools 42 Non-Top 50 KSU Feeder Schools 42 Visits by School Type

26. Students and Course Subjects • Seniors (60%) and juniors (40%). • Mostly advanced-placement, college-bound students. • About half are English classes working on literature research. • Another quarter are English, Government or Social Studies classes researching topics for argumentative papers.

27. Challenges: Assessment “One of our seniors from last year stopped in and thanked me for taking her class to the KSU library last year. As a college freshman now, she feels like she knows what to expect and how to get started when she uses the library.” Kara Haas, Teacher, Aurora High School

28. Challenges: Assessment • Formative, classroom assessment occurs. • Summative assessment is the challenge. • Many issues conspire: time, student access, under 18 research subjects, tracking students across multiple institutions.

29. Challenges: Budgetary Constraints • As budgets get tighter, fewer students can participate. • We need to be creative and flexible: - Distance learning - Grant funding - Collaborative planning consultations

30. Challenges: Group Size • Limited budgets and access to transportation has had two affects: • Larger group sizes: access to computers, multiple instructors, more students to track. • Very small group sizes: devoting time and resources to just a few?

31. Challenges: Borrowing • Borrowing is a great option, but can create overhead for planning the visit. • At KSU 1,150 high school students have borrowed over 4,300 items. • Overdue and replacement rate same as undergraduate population. • Teacher borrowing is the most popular option. • Many (about half) decide against borrowing.

32. Challenges: Communication • Due to our differing work cultures, communication is challenging. • More than two collaborators creates additional obstacles. • Patience is key.

33. How It Did Work • Open invitation (local). • 2 weeks notice. • Prefer groups of 25 or less. • Tie-in current assignment. • Add-on transition experiences. • Borrowing privileges available. • Collaborate with librarians and teachers. • Help them to collaborate. • Will provide assignment, if school doesn’t have one.

34. Transitioning to College -- T2C www.transitioning2college.org

35. Five 3-5 Minute Videos • Welcome to Academic Libraries • Talking to Databases • Tips for Research Success • Getting Help When you Need It • College: What to Expect

36. T2C – Supporting Materials

37. Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (TRAILS) www.trails-9.org

38. TRAILS Use • TRAILS-9 live in January 2006 • TRAILS-6 live in January 2008 • Geographic distribution: All 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands; over 30 countries • To date administered to over 200,000 students

39. Insights & Action Points • We all have a lot in common. • Connect thru professional associations. • Information Literacy standards provide a framework for collaboration. • Nurture a K-16 / P-20 educational worldview.

40. Insights & Action Points • Identify and connect with existing programs (duel-credit, bridge programs, Upward Bound). • Develop list of your information literacy expectations for students (new and graduating). • Collaborate for Assessment. • Take a leadership role.

41. Questions