Transcript How School Librarians Help Kids Achieve Standards

How School Librarians Help
Kids Achieve Standards
The Second Colorado Study
Keith Curry Lance, Ph.D.
Library Research Service
Colorado State Library
Colorado Department of Education
Tel.: 303 866 6737
Fax: 303 866 6940
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.lrs.org
Sample & Data
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Sample:
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Library survey
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staffing, activities, collections, usage,
technology
Available data:
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200 elementary & middle schools statewide
Community: poverty, race/ethnicity, education
School: teacher-pupil ratio, teacher
characteristics, per pupil spending
Test scores:
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CSAP, grades 4 & 7
Library Development
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Professional & total staffing ratios
Volumes per student, print &
electronic subscriptions per 100
students
Library expenditures per student
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Compared top & bottom 25 schools on
library development.
4th grade: average CSAP gains, 18%
7th grade: 10-15%
Leadership
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Weekly hours librarian spends
meeting with principal
 participating in faculty meetings, on
standards & curriculum committees
 meeting with library staff
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Collaboration
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Weekly hours librarian spends
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planning cooperatively with teachers
delivering information literacy instruction to
students
providing in-service training to teachers
supporting network linking library &
classrooms
• Compared top & bottom 25 schools on
collaboration
• 4th grade: average CSAP gains, 18-21%
• 7th grade: 8%
Technology
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Per 100 Students
Networked computers
 Licensed database computers
 Internet computers
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• Compared top & bottom 25 schools on
technology
• 4th grade: average CSAP gains, 6-13%
• 7th grade: 18-25%
Flexible Scheduling
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Library visits by individual
students (vs. group visits)
Compared top & bottom 25
schools on individual visits per
student
 7th grade only: average CSAP
gains, 13-22%
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CSAP scores rise with ...
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Library development
Technology
Collaboration (which rises with
Leadership)
Flexible scheduling
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In a comparison of highest and lowest
scoring schools, library predictors
increase 50% while CSAP proficiency
doubles
School libraries and librarians
affect test scores despite ...
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Community differences
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School differences
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adult educational attainment
poverty
race/ethnicity
teacher-pupil ratio
per pupil school expenditures
teachers’ experience & salaries
Combined, library factors alone explain
8% of total test score variation
Post-Script
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In 2000-01, high schools scoring above
average on CSAP had libraries …
• With more professional and support staff
• With more computers providing access to
library catalog, databases, and Internet
• That spent more on licensed databases
• That participated more in resource sharing
• Visited more by students, especially for
information literacy instruction
What You Can Do To Make
Your Students Successful
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Be S-M-A-R-T about your library.
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Staff, stock, and fund your library to support
your curriculum and CSAP preparation.
Meet regularly with your librarian.
Acknowledge your librarian as a school leader
and master teacher.
Reward your librarian and teachers for planning
and teaching cooperatively.
Take credit for making your library the keystone
of your school’s success and for empowering
your librarian to do the job she was trained to
do.
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For More Information
Visit http://www.lrs.org and click on
School Media Studies under Special
Projects
 Contact Keith Curry Lance, Director,
Library Research Service, 201 E. Colfax
Ave., Suite 309, Denver, CO 80203,
303 866 6737, fax 303 866 6940,
[email protected]
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