1. Dr Ross J Todd Director, Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey cissl.scils.rutgers.edu rtodd@scils.rutgers.edu "From Evidence Found to Action Taken: Building the Future of School Libraries"

2. “With the school library literally the heart of the educational program, the students of the school have their best chance to become capable and enthusiastic readers, informed about the world around them, and alive to the limitless possibilities of tomorrow.” Mary Gaver, 1958 Gaver, M. Every child needs a school library. Chicago, ALA, 1958 Gaver, M. Effectiveness of Centralized Library Service in Elementary Schools. Rutgers University, 1963

4. 3 8 Think outside the box

6. The future of the school library? The school library of the future?  School libraries are essential for addressing syllabus outcomes, the complexities of learning, and quality teaching in information- and technology-intensive 21st century schools.    Re-imagine, re-create, re-invent school libraries TWO CENTRAL QUESTIONS

7. Do we really need a library? Availability of information technology Access to vast quantities of information on the Internet Costly infrastructure; increasing cost of print material Cost of personnel Students using libraries less since they first began using internet research tools Search engines are primary starting point for information searching

8. www.schoolsucks.com www.evilhouseofcheat.com www.cheathouse.com http://www.phuckschool.com The answer is already there

9. The Steamroller of Part of the Road? Continuously engage in thinking about and reflecting on effective school library practices Translate this thinking into action to lead meaningful inquiry through school libraries Move beyond just thinking about improvement, and taking action – implementing local strategies and processes that contribute to a cycle of ongoing improvement Thinking and believing without action is pointless

10. The Action Challenge Taking action means you are living the solution. Not taking action means that you will be living someone else’s dreams and someone else’s solutions. And someone else’s solutions may not be in the best interest of student learning outcomes through the school library. From Victim to Victor

11. 5 Key Actions: Best Practices From Information to Inquiry Evidence-based practice Building teams and partnerships Engaging Web 2.0 tools to develop deep inquiry Re-imagining school libraries Without inquiry, there is no reason for school libraries Without evidence, it is just another opinion Without teams, there is limited capacity for change Without Web 2.0, missed opportunity for situating learning in the real world of kids Without vision, you walk in darkness: Vision for the future: you create the vision.

12. CHALLENGE 1 SCHOOL LIBRARIES AS KNOWLEDGE CENTERS, NOT INFORMATION PLACES Fostering inquiry and building knowledge, not finding information Celebrate the understood, and not the found Research on IL indicates we teach mostly about finding stuff, not what kids do with the stuff

13. The Google Generation: Research tells us … Horizontal information seeking: skim view small number of pages then ‘bounce’ out, often never to return Spend very little time on e-book and e-journal sites, and databases in school libraries Engage in “power browsing”: scanning rapidly; rapid and limited assessment and retrieval; clicking extensively Use of simple search strategies Squirreling behavior: stockpiling content in the form of downloads Superficial effort in knowledge construction Transportation rather than transformation of information What does this say about the “school library of the future”?

14. Something to think about What do your school library documents (mission statements, policy documents, school library guidelines) say about your library’s role in education, student learning and student achievement? Check the evidence: www.wordle.net

16. GOALS OF EDUCATION

17. Schooling in the Twenty-first Century

18. Library Policy Tagcloud

19. The role of the school library: TRANSFORMATION

20. THE SCHOOL LIBRARY …. What is a School Library? the school’s physical and virtual information-to- knowledge commons where literacy, inquiry, thinking, imagination, discovery, and creativity are central to students’ learning in all curriculum areas FOSTERING INQUIRY AND BUILDING KNOWLEDGE

21. Inquiry Learning An inquiry approach to learning is one where students actively engage with diverse and often conflicting sources of information and ideas to discover new ones, to build new understandings, and to develop personal viewpoints and perspectives. KNOWLEDGE OUTCOME -------------------------------------------------------------- It is underpinned by stimulating encounters with information – encounters which capture their interest and attention, and which motivate and direct their ongoing inquiry. INFORMATION FOUNDATION

22. Instructional Focus of Inquiry Learners engaged and motivated to learn Learners actively searching for meaning and understanding for themselves Learners constructing knowledge rather than passively receiving it Learners directly involved and engaged in the discovery of new knowledge for themselves Learners encountering alternative perspectives and conflicting ideas Learners communicating and transferring new knowledge and skills to new circumstances Learners taking ownership and responsibility for mastery of curriculum content and skills

23. Hall of Fame Research “Greatness” Where/when born, died, lived Education/Jobs/Career Challenges overcome Qualities that led to greatness Awards/Commendations Political offices held Best remembered for what Connection to NJ  Grade 8 Research Project ©LaDawna Harrington

24. Critical thinking and Deep Knowledge? Walt Whitman (Camden) Considered by many to be the most influential poet in U.S. history ©LaDawna Harrington

25. Class blog: personal viewpoint on greatness Creative writing: My dream of greatness Sharing writing on class wiki Class blog: synthesis of responses: what seems to be the idea of “greatness” in the class Matching personal dreams with NJ database: search skills Building background knowledge: life and times of people of interest; selecting focus Creative knowledge building interventions: putting ideas together; Using variety of analytical methods; Forming evidence-based opinions / viewpoints; Developing conclusions & positions; positing actions, implications and solutions; reflecting on these in terms of original knowing Wiki to share final products: group review and reflection Instructional Interventions

26. Lonely, Nervous, Brave, Determined, Sassy Daughter of parents who filled their house with music Music must have filled her loneliness when her father died Moved to New York for a better life. Who loved the night magic of Harlem, Who loved the celebrities and begging for autographs with her friends Who really loved singing and scatting Who loved her Aunt that took care of her as a child. Who felt loss, when her mother died Who felt anger when she was put in an orphanage Who felt trapped in those walls but they couldn’t keep her down because she felt the pull of her song and the night magic of Harlem. Who felt nervous and fear at auditions Who feared not being able to sing because she had no one to care for her Who feared dying from diabetes and possibly going blind, Who feared whom she would pass her singing crown down to Who wanted to see someone take over her singing crown Who would have liked to have spent more time with her late parents Who wanted to work with the best bands Who changed the world of jazz and swing Who was very proud of her awards and achievements She was “The First Lady Of Song”; she was “Sassy” and a Legend of Jazz Born in Virginia, grew up in New York, adopted by the world. Ella was great Fitzgerald ©LaDawna Harrington Ella

27. CHALLENGE 2 EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE How do our school libraries contribute to Learning, Literacy, and Living

28. Key Questions How does your school library impact on student learning? How does your school library help students learn? What / how does your school library add to personal, social, cultural and global development of our students? HOW DOES MY SCHOOL LIBRARY CONTRIBUTE TO: - Learning - Literacy - Living

29. School Libraries and Learning: 50 years of Evidence Will you pass the RAT test? (Research Awareness Test) The Evidence

30. Evidence-Based Practice Evidence FOR Practice: use research to inform our day-to-day practice - reading, information literacy, information technology, instruction: - sharing that research in the school Evidence IN Practice: gather data from our practice, and using data within our schools: formative and summative assessments Evidence OF Practice: impacts of our libraries on student achievement; gathering local evidence as well as country evidence. Evidence linked to learning outcomes, not library

31. Evidence Information oNumber of classes in the library oNumber of library items borrowed oNumber of students using the library at lunch times oNumber of items purchased annually oNumber of web searches oNumber of books lost  Knowledge Understanding how school libraries help kids learn: Learning outcomes in terms of oKnowledge outcomes – deep mastery of content oCritical thinking oKnowledge construction oInformation-to-knowledge processes oInformation technology oReading comprehension and enrichment oAttitudes and values of information, learning oSelf concept and personal agency

32. CHALLENGE 3 BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS AND TEAMS Advocated as a high priority for school librarians Important dynamic in student achievement Low levels of collaboration are documented

33. Instructional Collaboration Study Study of school librarian-teacher collaboration, 2004- 2006 85 school librarians (65%) and 45 teachers (35%) To develop a deeper understanding of classroom teacher-school librarian instructional collaborations: - their dynamics, processes, enablers, barriers, impact on learning outcomes - their role in continuous improvement and school change

34. What participants hoped the students would gain through the collaboration Teachers students to develop knowledge of curriculum content increased information literacy skills; critical thinking; problem solving Increased depth and better quality of learning School Librarians students to develop information literacy (mostly finding stuff) students to develop a better perception of the library and the librarian Common Goals? KNOWLEDGE OUTCOMES

36. Shared Learning Teams Take advantage of varied experiences and expertises that exist in a school community “Occupational Invisibility” (Hartzell) Do not see depth, breadth and importance of what TLs contribute  flexible team approach; alliances for shared learning - Alliances within / outside school - Instructional expertise - Subject expertise - Technical expertise - Reading / Literacy expertise - Student expertise

37. Teams Principal? Technology leader? Maths teacher? Other teachers Curriculum coordinator? School counselor? Literacy / reading specialist Special needs teacher? Parent organization? Community experts? Public library / museum experts? Teen social networkers? Education system leaders? - “ Alison Zmuda: Don’t Water Rocks”

38. CHALLENGE 4 Engaging Web 2.0 tools to develop deep inquiry

39. Web-based environments which seek to facilitate community, communication, collaboration and creativity between users. Architecture of participation: users generate content rather than consume content Web 2.0 = people Opportunities to engage with tools of knowledge building: blogs and online diaries, wikis, podcasts, videoblogs, content creation mechanisms, syndicated content feeds, folksonomies and user tagging Capitalize on the Web 2.0 Opportunities

41. Web 2.0 as Community

44. Turning on the Lights Educational Leadership (March 2008, Vol 65, No. 6) Marc Prensky “Turning on the Lights” P. 40 - 45 Powering down in school – not just devices, but brains “It’s their after-school education, not their school education, that’s preparing our kids for their 21 st century lives – and they know it” (p. 41) “When kids come to school, they leave behind the intellectual light of their everyday lives and walk into the darkness of the old fashioned classroom ” (p. 42)

45. Web 2.0 Tools Blogging: logs / journals/ diaries on the internet; chronological, single authorship; multiple forms, with plug-ins (widgets) for mixing of content, links Wikis: collaborative, editable writing spaces: collective knowledge Podcasting: distributing compressed audio across internet; screencasting, videocasting RSS: Real Simple Syndication / Rich Site Summary: feed of content collected and organized through aggregators Social Networking; Social Bookmarking Online photo galleries: publishing, creating, using images online

47. Blogs: Knowledge Spaces What constitutes a sustained response? Whose voice is being heard? -Expository response: provision of information Explanatory response: focus is on explanation -Critical response: addressing postings with argument / evidence analysis -Analytical response: comparison, analysis, identifying patterns, trends, themes, issues, associations across postings -Synthetical response: Developing conclusions, establishing personal viewpoints and perspectives, generating position statements from multiple postings -Reflective Response: my learnings; identifying implications

48. Wikis Collaborative, editable spaces: collective knowledge (eg Wikipedia: eg Tsunami 2004 – 9hrs for first 76 word story; 48 hours later, 6,500 words and edited 1,200 times; wikihow.com; wikitravel.com) Open, contributory, living documents; people work together to generate and maintain a document Social construction of knowledge; negotiation of meaning: group’s best effort, not an individual; community watchdog, soft security Working as a team / group / community in a shared information space: giving students control of knowledge construction and editorial control – responsibility and ownership

49. Scaffolds for Working in a Wiki: What does it take? Constructing the sustained response + creative + publishing competencies How teams work together in safety and security Dealing with team issues, conflict eg someone edits without justification / explanation; arguments Negotiation skills: negotiating to agree on correctness, meaning, relevance Team management / project management: planning, timelines, role assignment, delegation Communication eg explaining intentions behind edits Document management / versions

50. What to do with Wikipedia Students use W. to brainstorm ideas, build background knowledge – you will not stop it! Take group through a key Wikipedia article on a topic related to class work, pointing out its strengths and weaknesses, and inviting the class to edit it Students use other sources to determine accuracy of the facts in a Wikipedia article: The class takes on creating specific Wikipedia articles related to class work and post to Wikipedia Watch what happens: modification, spammed, and how to deal with this

51. CHALLENGE 5 RE-IMAGINE SCHOOL LIBRARIES

52. Re-Imagining School Libraries Library spaces designed for collaborative learning and knowledge creation, sharing and communication Flexible workspace clusters: collaborations, teams Flexible collections Wireless technology / surface computing / multiple HD wide plasma screens Self-help graphic services, colour imaging, audiovisual editing, collaborative production, knowledge representation and presentation software Physical designs: functionality, sophistication, creativity, inspiration 24/7 environment: support the knowledge building process out of school

53. Re-Imagine School Libraries: Example Data/Info Commons - the reference collection, building background knowledge, both physical and virtual reference Knowledge Commons – in-depth resources targeted to deep learning across the curriculum (flexible collection) Leisure Commons – diverse free-choice reading, listening stations, iPod zone, e-zines and e-books Networking Commons – collaborative spaces with walls of flat screen monitors for students to create, share, compare, display Tech Commons – for small and large group instruction, information searching Collective Commons – flexible discussion group spaces Café Commons eg Chelmsford Friday Java

54. School Libraries as Inquiry Centers

56. Chelmsford High School Learning Commons

62. Core Values Community  Communication  Collaboration  Creativity "The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world." Rita Dove US Poet Laureate 1993-1995

63. Bj ö rk “ New Worlds ” in “ Selmasongs ” album “If living is seeing I’m holding my breath In wonder – I wonder What happens next? A new world, a new day to see”

64. A TIME OF BOLD ACTION Edna St Vincent Millay 1892-1950 “Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour Rains from the sky a meteoric shower Of facts, they lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun, but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric.”