1. 2011 Survey of 12th Grade GPHS Students Peter G. Mohn, LMS June 2011
The Helpfulness of the GPHS LMC Information Literacy Curriculum Over a Four Year Period
2011 Survey of 12th Grade GPHS Students
Peter G. Mohn, LMS
June 2011

2. Introduction
The 2010 student survey of 9th grade students showed a significant decrease in the effectiveness of the LMC on impacting student achievement
Tremendous curricula and physical changes have taken place in the high school curricula since 2005
SFC closed, GPHS opened in 2008
Students must pass the HSPE and EOC exams to graduate from high school
English department revamped its high school curricula to match HSPE exams
Social Studies department revamped its high school curricula to include CBAs
Science department revamped its curricula to match EOC exams

3. Introduction cont.
Four grades compete for recession impacted LMC resources
Expansion of Internet sources changed research processes
Increase of computer access - 56 thin client workstations & 8 desktop computers
Have these changes impacted the effectiveness of the LMC program during the four year span of the graduating class of 2011?

4. Literature Review
Research studies since the 1950s demonstrate school libraries have a significant impact on student achievement
20 state-wide library studies have been conducted since 1999
Todd, Kuhlthau and OELMA’s Student Learning Through Ohio School Libraries student survey looked at how school libraries actually help students
2004 & 2005 SFC student surveys used this study to determine if the SFC LMC was an effective library program (it was an effective library program)

5. Literature Review cont.
Effective school library programs have these characteristics:
Adequate and appropriately credentialed library and support staff
School librarians’ involvement in collaborative learning and instructional design centering on information literacy
Developing print and digital collections and identifying resources for classroom teachers
Motivating students to read
Administering a curriculum-centered library program
Facilitating access through responsive school library hours, flexible scheduling, and information technology (for catalogs, databases, and World Wide Web).

6. Hypotheses
H1 = There is no difference between the student survey percentages of the th grade study and the th grade study.
H2 = There is no difference between the student survey means of the th grade student study and the th grade study.
H3 = There is no difference between the “Most Helpful” percentages of the th grade study and the th grade study.
H4 = There is no significant differences between the block means of the th study and the th grade study.
H5 = There is no significant different between gender usage of the th grade study and the th grade study.

7. Results
H1 = There were significant differences between the student survey percentages of the th grade study and the th grade study
21 of the 2011 survey statements for percentages of students helped were 10% or higher than in 2010 study
18 of the 2011 survey statements for percentages of students helped were 5% or higher than in 2010 study
20 of the survey statements had helpful percentages above 90% (including 2 at 100%); another 17 had helpful percentages above 80%
The increase in the LMC helping 12th grade students over four years were in the core missions of school libraries
Information retrieval for students’ needs
Using information to complete school work
Helping students with their school work
Using computers
Student general reading interests
Providing information help when not at school

8. Results
H2 = There were significant differences between the student survey means of the th grade student study and the th grade study
Individual means for 53 of the 57 statements were higher for the 2011 study by as much as a whole point on a five point Likert scale
Causes for this increase include a large decrease in percentages of students marking No Help on survey
More students marking Most Helpful in 18 statements of 5 percentage points or more
Largest increases in responses were for statements in
Information retrieval for students’ needs
Using information to complete school work
Helping students with their school work
Using computers
Providing information help when not at school

9. Results
H3 = There were significant differences between the “Most Helpful” percentages of the th grade study and the th grade study
9 of the 2011 survey statements for “Most Helpful” were 10% or higher than in 2010
9 of the 2011 survey statements for “Most Helpful” were 5% or higher than in 2005
Most Helpful for getting students interested in computers & helping students with a personal concern or issue were more than 5% higher in 2010
The greatest increases in “Most Helpful” responses were in:
Information retrieval for students’ needs
Using information to complete school work
Using computers

10. Results
H4 = There were significant differences between the block means of the th study and the th grade study
There were significant increases in the block mean to the P< level in information retrieval in the 2011 study
There were significant increases to block mean to the P<0.05 level in helping students with their school work in the 2011 study
There were significant increases to block means to the P<0.1 level in the 2011 study for
Using information to complete school work
Using computers
General academic achievement
There were no differences in block means for :
General reading
Providing information help when not at school
In addition, there was no significant differences between the th grade student survey and the th grade student survey

11. Results
H5 = There is no significant different between gender usage of the th grade study and the th grade study
The helpfulness of the LMC shows no significant differences between genders in both studies
Females in the 2011 study had the same increases in using the LMC as males did compared to the 2010 student survey in survey percentages, individual survey means and in all block means.

12. Conclusions
Changes in the high school curricula for 10th through 12th grade has not significantly impacted how the LMC helps students over the th grade study
Research projects for 9th grade students are almost non-existent in 2011
Department wide research projects occur in 10th grade health classes & for senior projects
Seniors who had Mr. Morgan, Mr. King and Mr. Parker completed sustained research projects during their four years
Research is limited to reference level questions; little demand for students to critically think about issues
Student increase (not at significant levels) in using LMC for general reading
Student decrease in using LMC for reading non-fiction books
Increase in the number of computers aiding students in their school work
Using Google for research only
Increase of English dept for using LMC as a writing lab
No instruction on evaluating web resources
For 9th grade students the LMC is no longer an effective program to help them with their academic achievement

13. Recommendations
Vertical alignment of secondary information skills curriculum for short & sustained research assignments
Use Common Core State Standards for research to identify short and sustained high school research assignments
Implement department-wide research assignments using identified short & sustained high school research assignments
Change research questions so students have to critically think or problem solve a research issue
Expand information resources used by all grades to include non-fiction books, reference sources, premium databases, magazines, newspapers, conference papers, transcripts and Internet resources (Common Core goal)
Identify & purchase non-fiction resources for these research assignments over the next few years