Evidence Based Practice

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Evidence Based Practice

• Nicole Gries
• Fall 2005

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What is Evidence Based Practice?

• Gathering evidence in your school library that
  shows the differences that your library and
  learning initiatives make to improve STUDENT
  OUTCOMES
• Job security- We have to prove our worth

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Scenarios- What would you say?

• Newspaper
• How does your library
• help students?
• School board
• How does your library impact students?
• Principal
• What is the current research on school libraries
  and how they impact standards?

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Three Important Points

• Know the research
• How effective school libraries impact student
  learning
• Mesh this knowledge with our own wisdom
• Build student learning
• Collect evidence
• We do make a difference!

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Make It Work!

• Focus on learning outcomes
• Commit to action rather than advocacy
• Schedule time for reflection and planning
• Set concrete outcomes (student will)
• Dont fear change
• We do these things already
• Keep evidence (DOCUMENT!!)
• Make a binder for yourself

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What does the Research Say?

• Lance Studies
• Correlation between effective school libraries
  and higher test score
• Media specialists can and
  do make a difference
• SLMS need support staff
• SLMS have teaching role (co-teachers of
  information literacy and in-service trainers of
  teachers)

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Lance Studies

• Successful programs extend media center walls
• Test scores improve and student achievement is
  enhanced when school library media programs have
• Personnel
• Print and technology
  resources
• Collaboration
• Integration of information technology

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What does the Research Say?

• Ohio Study
• Central question-
• What is the evidence that shows school libraries
  in Ohio help student learning?
• Multidimensional view
  how school libraries
  specifically help
  young people
  with their
  learning

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Ohio Study - Seven concepts of help

• 1.      How helpful the school library is with
  getting information you need
• 2.      How helpful the school library is with
  using the information to complete your school
  work (information literacy skills)
• 3.      How helpful the school library is with
  your school work in general (knowledge building,
  knowledge outcomes)
• 4.      How helpful the school library is with
  using computers in the library, at school, and at
  home

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Seven Constructs of Help (cont.)

• 5.      How helpful the school library is to you
  with your general reading interests
• 6.      How helpful the school library is to you
  when you are not at school (independent learning)
• 7. General school aspects- Academic
  achievement

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Key Results of the Ohio Study

• 1.      99.4 percent of students in grades 3 to
  12 believe school libraries and their services
  help them become better learners
• 2.      88.5 percent of the 13,123 Ohio students
  surveyed say the school library helps them get
  better grades on projects and assignments, 74.7
  percent say it helps with homework, and 92.4
  percent say computers in the media center help
  improve their overall academic work
• 879 faculty membersincluding principals,
  assistant principals, teachers, and media
  specialistsshows that students and educators
  alike strongly believe that school libraries are
  key to learning
• OELMA Student Learning (http//oelma.org/StudentLe
  arning/default.asp)

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What is the Value of Evidence-Based Practice?

• a.     Meaningful time with teachers
• b.    Covers more curriculum content in less time
• c.     Pooling of expertise
• d.    Stronger emphasis on creative and authentic
  learning
• e.     Focus to instructional planning
• f.      Clearer sense of learning outcomes by
  taking an evidence-based approach feel you are
  succeeding by being able to state specific
  outcomes
• g.     More effective judgment about student
  progress
• h.     Clearer feedback to students and to school
  community on outcomes
• i.       Teachers as advocates
• j.       Visibility of school librarian in
  learning outcomes
• K. Job satisfaction

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Good Evidence- Based Practice Strategies

• DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT!
• - Keep good records
• Knowledge and skills mapping
• Conferencing strategies
• (group or individual review
  activities- students
  reflect on
  their work, constructive processes
  and skills, and on benefits)
• Analysis of student bibliographies
• Reflection sheets/ self assessments

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Evidence- Based Practice Strategies

• - Comment cards
• - Checklist for current skills
  and
  acquired skills
• - Students check their perceived level of
  
• skills, knowledge, and attitude
  before and
• after library visit)
• - Minute papers
• - What do you know about your library?
• - Do as a pre-test and post-test)

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Evidence- Based Practice Strategies

• - Rubrics
• - help create them- clearly defines
  requirements for performance and/or products
• - Rubistar (www.rubistar.4teachers.org )

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Evidence- Based Practice Strategies

• - Process and search journals
• -write entries in a journal
  to focus on
  research processes
  and outcomes of research)
• - Pre and post knowledge tests
• - Teacher feedback
• - Video recording of learning process
• -to show at staff meetings
• - Summaries of evaluation of presentations and
  products

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Evidence- Based Practice Strategies

• - Photo voice
• - picture of a student doing something that you
  want others to see
• - Exhibitions/ displays of products
• - Student self-assessments of learning
• - Motivation board (staff lounge and library)
• - Individual instruction review
• - Analysis of standardized test scores
• - to see if there are matches between scores
• and high-use library groups)

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Evidence- Based Practice Strategies

• - Surveys and questionnaires
• - not showing library use, but showing
• how the library helped them learn)
• - Informal comments/ anecdotes
• - write them down
• - Before and after brainstorming records
•   - Portfolios of work
• - students construct a cumulative process of
  samples of their work collected over a period of
  time, matched to curriculum goals and
  information literacy requirements

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How Can I Implement Evidence-Based Practices in
my Building?

• - Keep coming back to the standards and
  benchmarks (in the brown standards book) to show
  that we are important
• - Tie your mission statement to the building CIP
  (continuous improvement plan)
• - Involve district administration in the
  identification of school library program services
• - Form a school library advisory committee at
  the building level
• principal, teachers, students,
  parents, community
  members

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How Can I Implement Evidence-Based Practices in
my Building?

• - Analyze the program needs identified by the
  committee
• - Develop and document policies that guide the
  delivery of library services and collect feedback
  data
• - Collect and analyze data from
  school library
  services and use the
  data to improve the library program
• - Create or contribute to the development of job
  descriptions for credentialed and classified
  school library staff

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How Can I Implement Evidence-Based Practices in
my Building?

• - Participate in school mentoring activities and
  mentor new library staff members
• - Provide library skills instruction which is
  integrated across the curriculum (information
  literacy, technology literacy, and media
  literacy)
• - Collaborate with teachers to integrate library
  services and resources throughout the curriculum
• - Collaborate with teachers to
  assess student learning

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How Can I Implement Evidence-Based Practices in
my Building?

• - Assess the progress and collect data on all
  library instructional activities
• - Publicize school library activities
• - newsletters, websites, memos, e-mail, anything
  you can do
• - Announce new materials
  
  and services
• - Present reports to building and
  
• district administration
• - not just the numbers, but how you affect
• student learning- tell them that you do)

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How Can I Implement Evidence-Based Practices in
my Building?

• - Be active at Open House
• - have refreshments in the
  library and pass out
  information about
  your services
• - Stuff progress report
  
• envelopes with library information
• - newsletter, bookmarks
• - Dont be a lone ranger- so as little as
  possible in isolation
• - show EVERYONE what it is that you do

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How Can I Make the Data Work for Me?

• - Analyze data trends
• - grade, gender, ethnic background
• - To whom are you presenting the data?
• - Parents dont want to know about standards
  and benchmarks or that you have 4000 books and
  95 people came in last week. They want to know
  what little Johnny did in the library
•     - Teachers want to know about how they can
  use resources that help them with benchmarks and
  standards
•        - Administrators want to see how you are
  helping meet the building CIP goal
• - Avoid library jargon- use vocabulary
  appropriate to your audience

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Use the data by giving specific examples

• Instead of saying These computers stink, show
  why.
• For example The students were researching ______
  by using ______ database, but could not
  successfully complete this activity because
  ____________ (ran out of time because the
  computers are too slow, computer doesnt have
  certain capabilities)

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Main Resource

• - Information compiled and adapted from the OELMA
  pre-conference Can You Find the Evidence-Based
  Practice in Your School Library by Ann E. Tepe
  and Gayle A. Geitgey, primarily based on studies
  by Dr. Ross Todd.
• - A full list of resources is also included in
  the handout.