I thought this chapter really summed things up for me...yes, yes, yes, there have MANY state studies that conclude that there is a positive impact of libraries on student achievement. In fact, I chuckled on page 110 where Buzzeo quotes Lance, et al,in response to these studies, "Enough Already!" I agree with Mike Eisner, later on that page, when he states, "...we need to do more than simply 'say' we make a difference. We need to focus on making changes that will demonstrate the effect." I couldn't have said it better myself, and I think that has been the biggest lesson learned from this collegial project!
This chapter was only a few short pages, but what an impact. I loved the bullets on page 115...steps we can take to address the deficits in our collaborative practice:
*First, learn to read the test
*Second, identify areas where your students need to strengthen their skills
*Third, think deeply about ways to embed student learning into collaborative units of study
*Fourth, approach your teachers with a plan that will benefit students and proe your value as a collaborative partner who can produce demonstrated improvement in student achievement.
Simple?! If only! But, having it articulated in step-by-step instructions works for me...even if it is a daunting task.
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Thanks, Kathy for starting the discussion on this.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter I find two specific challenges for my work as a school librarian: After analyzing the deficits in student knowledge I need to
1. "think deeply" (p. 115) about what will help students and then
2. approach teachers with a plan of collaboration to counteract these deficits.
I don’t think I have a problem with analyzing the data (just need to get to it), but it always seems a challenge to have time to "think deeply" … or even more challenging to come up with a plan about which I feel confident enough to go to a teacher and suggest we collaborate on a project which will help counteract this evident weakness.
Even as I say that, in nearly every one of the summarized studies included in this chapter, it is collaborative teaching between school librarian and the classroom teacher which is found to make the substantive difference in successful outcomes.
I think I’m thankful to have some time over the summer for reflection on this and planning for the fall. It will be a challenge to have diminished staff support while I’m trying to do this. I find I spend too much time as a library “clerk” and not enough time as a teacher librarian.
I guess my biggest comment was -OK we have data - so what? If we don't show how we impact then why bother? We are at the starting gate with DataMentor and Atlas. A plan will need to be developed for the 2010-2011 year so we can continue what we've started.
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way, I had also highlighted (in green) page 115 bullets!
I agree with Marcia in that my stumbling block comes at the "thinking deeply" step as I often make lesson decisions on the fly and "collaborate" in the hall. I am really looking forward to working with results of our PGP and with Atlas as it develops.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with suggestion to "analyze the deficits with other staff" and have met with Asst. Principal to target those skills I should focus upon in library but haven't worked with classroom teachers on this.
So many great ideas throughout the book. I keep going back to Zmuda's suggestion to keep mind of your "handful" and organize your day so that can accomplish those things so important to student acheivement. For me - quite a bit of reorganizing my priorities and how I spend my time.