Evidence = Assessment = Advocacy

Evidence = Assessment = Advocacy

(By: Kramer; Diekman. Published in Teacher Librarian, Feb 2010, Vol. 37, p27-9

• Advocacy is about educating stakeholders using the best available evidence and it is an ongoing process.


• The message is about how we prepare students to function in the 21st century.


• The issue of evidence: What difference is made by specific library encounters? TLs need to speak the same language as the teachers and focus on student achievement. TLs need to plan strategically and find out what matters most to teachers and administrators. TLs must learn to gather evidence. It does not need to be formal pre/post tests. It can include KWL charts, an exit slip: "What did you learn today?", a check mark on a clip board.


• The issue of education/assessing the evidence: It is not enought just to collect and document the learning. Reflect and retool lessons to improve student learning. Communicate results to stakeholders. Ask the audience to take some action.


• The issue of advocacy: Advocacy links the evidence gathered with the education of the stakeholders to answer the essential question - How does the school library program affect student achievement? Assessment is an ongoing examination of learning and a shared responsibility with other teachers. Data gathering should occur for nearly every instructional encounter.


• Evidence, assessment, advocacy = always. Speak the same language as other teachers and stakeholders. Collaborate with teachers and build relationships. With evidence TLs can advocate for the school library program. Assessment data needs to be reported regularly - a constant stream of why we are at the centre of teaching and learning.


• The real winners in all this are the students.

My Thoughts If TLs want to ensure survival of their profession and survival of the school library program then they must continually gather evidence (data), assess the evidence, and revise teaching and learning programs to meet the needs of students and improve student achievement. I also think learning how to do this should be an essential part of a TL training program.

Evidence Based Practice

The next part of our studies on the role of the TL looks at accountability, evidence and research. This is important for TL students to look at as it's the way all schools are going in the wake of the current economic climate. If the TL as a species wants to survive, then we have to prove how we make a difference in student learning.
In the next few posts I'm going to jot down some important ideas that I've gained from various articles on EBP.

The Evidence-Based Manifesto - Ross Todd (School Library Journal, April 08)

• Evidence-based school librarianship is an approach that involves examining research-based evidence, school-librarian observed evidence and user-reported evidence. The TL uses this evidence in order to make decisions about programs, resources and services that aid the achievement of a school's mission and goals.


• As the goals usually centre of student achievement and quality teaching and learning, EBP should focus on these as well


• School librarian ship derives its mandate from a diverse body of theoretical and empirical knowledge and active engagement with this knowledge is what enables the profession to continually transform and improve.


• All students can learn through engagement with school libraries.


• The value of a school library can be measured.


• Accountability is an essential component of sustainable development of the school library profession.


• Accountability is a commitment to growth through examining process and practice.


• It involves a move from a "tell me" framework to a "show me" framework.


• It's not about survival of TLs, it's about survival of our students.


• EBP recognises multiple sources, types of evidence and ways of gathering evidence - this develops stronger claims.


• EB school librarianship uses research derived evidence to shape and direct what we do.


• School libraries need to systematically collect evidence.


• There are 3 dimensions to EBP in school libraries: evidence for practice, evidence in practice, evidence of practice.


• TLs need EBP to show why school libraries matter today and how they help students learn.


• EBP validates that QL outcomes can be achieved though the school library and that the school librarian is an important instructional partner.


• EBP means a shift from information inputs to knowledge and skills outputs.


• "Standards For the 21st Century Learner" (AASL) provides a framework for the evidence that should be generated. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf


• There are challenges of EBP. We need to make it accessible and applicable so it can be integrated into practice.


• Locally generated evidence could be presented as a portfolio.


• EBP is no about scrambling to find additional time. It is about establishing priorities and making choices about the importance of school libraries and learning.
  

My personal thoughts on EBP:

EBP is essential for all TLs.It must be done looking at a variety of evidence types from a variety of sources. TLs must have a good understanding of the school's goals and mission and make sure their EBP follows along the same lines. Gathering evidence must be ongoing - not a one off. It must be about what is best for the students.

I love this book! I bought it for the school library when I was acting teacher librarian. All the students loved it and could see the humour in it. It also generated a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of print books versus e-books/computers etc.

A Critical Thinking Approach

One of the blogs I've been following http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/ drew my attention to this article.

Maan, N. A. (2011) "A Critical Thinking Approach for Information Education" IFLA SET Bulletin, 12(2), 6-11.
This is in the whole online issue: http://www.ifla.org/files/set/Bulletin/_SET_Bulletin2011-2.pdf

In the article, information literacy is described as a "survival skill" in the information age. The article explains exactly what an information literate individual should be able to do. Information literacy has a life cycle of eleven stages according to the author who lists the stages. This is terrific information for a TL to have. It would enable a TL to benchmark where an individual is on the information literacy spectrum and allow a more individual approach. Where does critical thinking fit in all this?

"Media literacy uses the concept both as a metacognitive ability, which determines the individual’s degree of control of the process of information seeking, and as a set of skills which allow the description, analysis and evaluation of the message (Potter, 2011)."

Basically "critical thinking skills can be learnt in and applied to any domain" (Paul 1993). Four interdependant components of critical thinking are also described. I found the article really interesting as it explains in greater detail what information literacy is, how critical thinking fits into this, and what you can do to ensure your students develop these skills.

I felt this article helped me understand exactly what "information literacy" is and also how it fits into education as a whole.

Go Gadget Go!

The Role of the TL Continued...

Our first assignment for this subject asks us to critically compare two aspects of the views of (a) Herring and (b) Purcell on the role of the teacher librarian. Purcell's article is devoted almost entirely to the various roles the TL takes on, whereas this is only a small part of the Herring article. Purcell gives us snippets of what the different roles entail but doesn't really say why these roles are more important than others. I kind of feel we don't really find out what she thinks - we just get a brief overview. It's like, here - these are the roles and this is a little bit what they're about. Whereas I want to know a bit more why. I also don't feel she has cited enough references. Herring's chapter is presented differently. He's shown us what a few different organisations/people have said and then it's a case of you make up your own mind. Which is good in a way. Everyone's ideas about what the role of a TL is, is of course, very different. Now it's up to us to work out what aspects of the role we feel are important enough to address in our assignment. Personally, I think most aspects could be melded (is this the right word?) together under just a few titles. For example, a TL in the role of teacher, could also be described as a leader. Or, if you are a TL acting in the role of information specialist, then don't you also need to act as a leader and a teacher to fulfil your role? I'm still considering how to work around this in my assignment. Maybe this is where Purcell and Herring fall down - they don't consider how intricately woven the ties are between the different aspects of the roles.

Full-metal dust jackets and wi-fi in uni's space age library.

This article was in todays SMH.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/fullmetal-dust-jackets-and-wifi-in-unis-spaceage-library-20110801-1i88g.html

The article is about the new library at Macquarie University and the automated storage and retrieval system that will save space while allowing them to keep all their books. The library will definitely be on my "places to visit" list next time I visit Sydney (which isn't very often, mind you, as I am 10hours away).