Preferred Futures for Learning and School Libraries

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Preferred Futures for Learning and School
Libraries

• Dr Ross J Todd
• Director of Research CISSL
• Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
• rtodd_at_scils.rutgers.edu
• cissl.scils.rutgers.edu
• www.scils.rutgers.edu/rtodd

Center for International Scholarship on School
Libraries
Grandslamming in Lithuania
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My School and my beaches The School of
Communication, Information and Library Studies,
Rutgers University
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New Jersey
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New Jersey
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The Information Society

• there has been an alarming increase in the
  number of things I know nothing about
• Attributed to Winnie the Pooh

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CONTEXTLearning in an Information Age School

• Transition from print to digital, web-based
  information environments
• Information environments in schools are
  increasingly complex and diverse
• Shift from regurgitation of information to
  building personal knowledge
• How best classroom teachers and librarians can
  provide a learning environment that fosters
  building of knowledge rather than the copying
  of information?

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School Libraries 3 Fundamental Beliefs

• Information makes a DIFFERENCE to people
• Making a difference does not happen by chance
  Teaching-learning role is the key role of school
  librarians INTERVENTION
• Learning outcomes matter belief that all
  students can learn, and develop new
  understandings TRANSFORMATION
• DIFFERENCE, INTERVENTION, TRANSFORMATION

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• DIFFERENCE
• INTERVENTION
• TRANSFORMATION
• The key to the Information Age School

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WHAT IS LEARNING

• Active search for meaning and understanding by
  the student
• Active personal process of construction
• A cumulative process of becoming informed through
  study, instruction and experience
• Its outcome is the transforming of prior
  knowledge and the gain of new knowledge, skills,
  attitudes and values.
• NOVICE KNOWLEDGE ? EXPERT KNOWLEGE

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THE SCHOOL LIBRARY IN THE INFORMATION AGE SCHOOL

• INFORMATION
• PLACE
• Collections
• Technology
• Access
• Staffing
• Locating and finding information
• THESE ARE IMPORTANT

• KNOWLEDGE
• SPACE
• Building knowledge through engagement with
  information
• Information and Technical Skills
• Development of Reading and Literacy
• THESE ARE LIBRARY GOALS

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WHY DO SCHOOL LIBRARIES EXIST?

• INFORMATION
• ?
• KNOWLEDGE

Developing knowledge and understanding
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The Information-to-Knowledge Challenge
Now I am really confused!
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The Information-to-Knowledge Challenge
No Wonder I am lost!
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The Information-to-Knowledge Challenge
A knowledge society? Such insight!!!
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The Information-to-Knowledge Challenge
Any one you might recommend for the job?
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Why do we need school libraries in an information
age school?
Food for the Mind?
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What Makes an Effective School Library?
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What Makes an Effective School Library?

• Research tells us
• A school librarian who is an Learning Activist
  not a Classroom Escapee committed to knowledge,
  not information
• It actively supports the curriculum through
  provision of up-to-date adequate resources (print
  electronic)
• It provides instruction in information and
  critical literacies (teachers and students)
  You are the Information-Learning Specialist
• It has a vibrant literature / reading program for
  learning and personal enjoyment
• It collaborates with other libraries public,
  government, community resources
• It provides leadership to students /staff in
  using information technology for learning

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How do effective school libraries help students?

• 13000 students tell us!

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Student learning through Ohio School Libraries

• identify how students benefit from school
  libraries by exploring help
• provide statewide data on best practices in
  school libraries
• improve teaching and learning in information age
  schools
• encourage continuous improvement in school
  library services
• promote dialog among parents, administrators,
  school librarians, and teachers on the value of
  effective school libraries

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Student Learning Through Ohio School Libraries

• Funded by State Library of Ohio (80,000)
• 39 school libraries participated
• Criteria for selection validated by the
  International Experts Panel
• Schools selected by Ohio Experts Panel
• Grades 3 12
• Web-based data collection (Rutgers sites)
• Data collected from 28th April to early June
  2003
• 13,123 valid student responses (13,328 logged)
• 879 teacher / administrator responses (935
  logged)

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Getting The Data

• 2 InstrumentsImpacts on Learning Survey
  (Students)
• Perceptions of Learning Impacts (Faculty)
• helps measure of 48 statements of learning
  outcomes (13,123 students)
• Critical Incident response to capture voice of
  students (10,316 responses)
• Evidence-based response to capture voice of
  faculty how they know the library helps
  students

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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 (l.L
  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

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Critical Incident

• 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
• 10,316 valid statements were recorded (900
  pages!!)

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Sample Characteristics

• Boys 48.0
• Girls 51.1
• Ages 7 20
• Grades 3 5 17
• Grades 6 9 45
• Grades 10 12 38
• White 78.5, African-American 5
• Urban/Suburban 81, Rural 10

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T O P L E V E L S O F H E L P
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M O S T H E L P F U L
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How helpful the school library is with using
computers in the library, at school, and at home?
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Comparison of Mean Scores
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Additional Help Constructs

• 1. The school library saves me time with doing
  my school work
• 2. The school library enables me to complete my
  work on time
• 3. The school library helps me by providing a
  study environment for me to work
• 4. The school library helps me take stress out
  of learning
• 5. The school library helps me know my strengths
  and weaknesses with information use
• 6. The school library helps me think about the
  world around me
• 7. The school library helps me do my work more
  efficiently
• 8. The school library provides me with a safe
  environment for ideas investigation
• 9. The library helps me set my goals and plan
  for things.

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School Library as Dynamic Agent of Learning

• Providing access to information resources
• Providing access to multiple viewpoints
• Engaging students in an active process of
  building their own understanding and knowledge.
• Instructional intervention
• INFORMATION PLACE, but also as a KNOWLEDGE SPACE

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Agent for Knowledge Construction

• Engaging students in an active and meaningful
  search process
• contextualized by specific learning tasks
• opportunity for students to explore, formulate
  and focus their searches
• providing a supportive environment (personal,
  physical and instructional) for students to
  succeed in their research.
• Instructional intervention
• developing an understanding of what good research
  is about
• how you undertake good research
• know what the outcomes of doing good research
  will be in terms of academic success

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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 dont 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

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Students Voices

• 1015 I 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.

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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
• 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!! Ive never forgotten that
  used it to do many other assignments.

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• 433 It helped me find info on racism for a 10th
  grade project, and made me really think about
  that, especially I didnt realize how racist some
  of my ideas were
• 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 Ive 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.

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Some Interesting Patterns

• Girls generally consider school libraries more
  helpful than boys
• Helps are strongest in the primary school, with a
  decrease shown in mean scores as students
  progress through schooling.
• African American students find the school library
  to be significantly more helpful
• Rural schools clearly value the help provided by
  school libraries in relation to access to
  information technology
• Reading scores decrease dramatically in high
  school

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ISSUESHow School Libraries Dont Help?

• The problematic nature of library instruction
• Playing psychologist? Moral high ground?
• Personality issues
• Infringement of perceived rights
• Library systems and rules who do they benefit?
  Who do they serve?
• What do we convey to students that is important?

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Improving Practice

• 9364 If anyone says, "Be careful what you read
  on the Internet" one more time, I'm going to die.
  We know how to judge the accuracy of information!
  Anyway, that's the end of my tirade - hopefully
  change will come out of this....we need drastic
  reform here.
• 3764 I have not really received ANY help at all
  from the library. We just hear the same speech
  about 100 times in a row.. I dont need to hear
  it again
• 8412 learning Dewey yet again year after year
  for Gods sake, get off it and teach us
  something valuable, we all know how to do Dewey
  since Grade 3
• 3046 When I was young, I like to read Goosebump
  books and the librarian told me not to read these
  books because they were a bad influence on me. I
  now hate to read because I stopped reading after
  that. I feel if I would have continued to read
  when I was young then I would enjoy reading now.

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Improving Practice

• 1771 In Social Studies they helped me find books
  on a lot of my projects (King Tut, Roman Catholic
  Church, etc.) It was pretty easy too, Very
  helpful to me! And then they just helped me find
  books....and loaned the book carts to my
  classrooms, to help us out. I just think they
  need to be nicer sometimes.
• 9793 Our librarian is the reincarnation of
  Satan. I stay away from evil.
• 2583 All the censorship issues the student
  encounter really hold back much of the possible
  research we can do. IT is really annoying that I
  can vote, be sent to war, and I cant even look at
  any pages on the internet. Bess the dog really
  holds the students back from their full
  potential.
• 2607 My librarian was deprived of a childhood,
  so she wants us all to be controlled by insane
  rules that just do not make sense. Like, the
  public library in our city has a café where we
  can buy food and relax and munch, but here, even
  if we dare bring in a candy, she can sniff it out
  like a police dog and she goes crazy. As you can
  imagine, I prefer the public library.

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FROM INFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE Case Study from
New Jersey 2004

• 43 Grade 9 students at Gill St Bernards School,
  Gladstone NJ (21 girls, 22 boys)
• Semester long course Research Project
• School librarian / teacher collaboration
• Instructional Intervention Understanding the
  Information Search Process, information
  searching, information analysis and note taking
• 2 phases of course Instructional intervention
  culminating in major oral presentation (7 weeks)
  guided free-choice research paper (7 weeks)
  within the theme Celebration in Culture

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Data Collection

• Written protocol at three key stages in the
  Information Search Process (Initiation,
  Formulation/Focus, Presentation)
• Structured search logs kept by each student
  during the progress of assignment
• Product analysis at completion of the assignment

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Evidence of Building Knowledge

• Higher order thinking movement from description
  to explanation and reflection
• Deep knowledge Moving from generalist
  background information to engaging with
  specialist, detailed information
• Deep understanding evident in extent of recall
  and in the types of causal and predictive
  relationships portrayed
• Substantive conversation Able to speak
  fluently and competently about their ideas
• Knowledge as problematic capacity to deal with
  factual conflict or conflicting viewpoints and
  formulating their own positions
• Meta-language Use of complex language specific
  to the topic domain
• Structure presenting new knowledge in coherent
  and logical units

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Meaningful Learning

• I learned to follow a set plan and be organized
• help me through papers in high school, college
  and life in general
• getting genuine information is hard and tedious
  work
• learned the basics of writing a more
  professional research paper
• research approach is more complicated but
  creates a much better paper
• my project is amazing. I have put a lot of hard
  work into it

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Learning to be a Good Researcher

• you need sufficient sources if you dont,
  youre in trouble
• important to stay on top of your work
• budget your time better
• keep better track of resources
• Important to work ahead
• always have a plan if something goes wrong, and
  keep track of sources
• cite every source so there is no plagiarism

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INSTRUCTION AND THE SCHOOL LIBRARY
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And the future?

• Focus on learning outcomes, not library, library,
  library
• Evidence-based practice know and show the
  impact of libraries on learning in your school
• Balance between digital and print resources
• Foundation reading, writing, listening,
  speaking, viewing, visualizing
• Focus on Scaffolds
• Reception Scaffolds assist learners in
  garnering information from the diverse sources
  and help them organize and record what they
  perceive. (Perceive structure in information)
• Transformation Scaffolds assist learners in
  transforming the information they've received
  into some other form. This involves imposing
  structure on information
• Production Scaffolds assist learners in
  actually producing something observable that
  conveys the complexity and richness of what they
  have learned.

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POSITION VACANTVision Valley School
Information-Learning Specialist

• Primary Responsibilities Through VVS library
  as a dynamic agent of learning, to develop all
  students as clear and effective communicators,
  self-directed and independent learners, creative,
  reflective and practical problem solvers,
  informed and engaged citizens, effective workers
  and collaborative team players, and integrative
  and informed thinkers.
• Required Qualifications
• expertise in design of instructional
  interventions for learning through information at
  class, group and individual level
• expertise in mutually negotiating, planning and
  implementing instructional interventions as
  partner-leader with school administrators,
  teachers, students and local community
• expertise in mutually negotiating, planning and
  implementing a whole-school library program which
  articulates the integrated nature of information,
  learning processes and knowledge outcomes
• expertise in the provision of learning-oriented
  professional development targeted to whole school
  success with learning outcomes
• experience as literacy specialist particularly in
  area of reading comprehension and reading
  enrichment
• experience in integrating information technology
  in curricular areas
• expertise in evidence-based practice and
  outcomes-based evaluation

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It is hard to set in motion what is still, or to
stop what is in motion
Cobham Brewer 18101897 Dictionary of Phrase and
Fable