Assessment Paper by Christine Caruso LBSC 741

School Librarians and Assessment The role of the school librarian (SL) is constantly evolving due to changes in technology, curriculum and student needs. Through student assessment, the librarian can be reflective of their overall program, instruction, and needs of their students. Furthermore, the school librarian can use student assessment to advocate for their programs. My idea of student assessment is how well students achieve the learning outcomes set forth by the instructor. The focus of assessment is to understand and improve student learning as well as to provide opportunities for reflection of the instruction. With Common Core State Standards (2012) being incorporated with schools and aligned with AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner (2007), the school librarian should be committed to student centered learning. The overall focus of the SL should be on turning the content into authentic, meaningful actions that better prepare youth for the world outside of the classroom (Wiggins and McTighe, 2008). Furthermore, by helping to assess students in the media center, the SL can give new perspective to the classroom teachers about the ways students learn and achieve. Through assessment, the SL can collaborate with teachers to assist students in dealing with academic challenges as well as make the most of their strengths (Harada & Yoshina, 2010). Simply put, if school librarians view themselves as teachers, they too must ensure that students are learning and not doing, (Fontichairo, 2011). With the new focus of the Common Core on formative assessments, SLs have opportunities to use a variety of methods to evaluate student learning. Some of these include checklists, note card reflections, conferencing, observation, rubrics etc. Typically these types of assessments come naturally to many school librarians, as many often critique their lessons and student performance as they teach. However, time continues to be a huge in documenting these observations. The librarian at College Gardens Elementary School is not required to formally assess students for the report card. However, through collaboration with classroom teachers, the school librarian supports the curriculum by providing opportunities to help teachers think of creative ways to assess student learning. For example, one of the common core standards for

Assessment Paper by Christine Caruso LBSC 741

grade 5 in writing requires students to write an opinion piece supporting a view with reasons and information (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012 5.1). In order to meet these standard, the school librarian came up with a unique way to conquer her own needs as well as those of the fifth grade teachersallow fifth grade st udents to select a book from her weeded or unused materials box, read the book and write an opinion piece stating whether or not the book should be removed from or kept within the collection. This task also aligned with several AASL standards of the 21st century learner including respond to literature and creative expressions of ideas in various formats and genre and use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings (AASL 2007, Standards 4.1.3 & 2.1.6). Initially, teachers thought this idea was imaginative but they werent sure the students would be interested in reading these unwanted books. However, they finally agreed to give it a chance with the stipulation that they (the teachers) would instruct students on how to write an opinion piece while the SL tackled the job of modeling the criteria for book reviews and explaining the process of weeding. Additionally, the school librarian would teach unique options for student presentations such as using Microsoft PowerPoint or Web Blender to create a blog of their reviews. Together, the teachers and the school librarian collaborated and taught the concepts for three weeks (each 5th grade class visits the library once per week) before giving the students the books to take home, read and review. Upon receiving their books, students immediately commented about the book covers, titles and summaries. Yet, the students seemed enthusiastic and curious about determining whether or not these books would stay in the media center. They seemed excited about having their opinions matter to the SL. As time progressed, the teachers and the school librarian discussed their 4 point rating scale rubric criteria for both the written and presentation pieces using both Common Core and AASL standards. They shared some of the rubric points with the students but wanted to give them some freedom for creativity and risk-taking. Students were able to use the rubric to reflect on whether their pieces met the criteria set forth. Also, in using

Assessment Paper by Christine Caruso LBSC 741

rubrics, students can immediately see what is expected for an assignment (Strickland & Strickland, 2000). Furthermore, one last incentive was given by the SL to hook students into the process by explaining the potential of one day having their own critiques posted online to websites such as http://www.slimekids.com/book-reviews/. After two weeks of reading and working in the classroom and media center, the presentations were finally ready to be shared. One student used Web Blender to present a blog post about a 1986 Newberry Winner called The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. The overall critique focused on the opinion that the cover was outdated and unclear as to what the book was about (it is a foggy scene with two large trees and smaller characters in the background). The student also commented that parts of the book were confusing because there were a lot of strangely named characters. But overall, they found the book to be surprisingly funny with a message about unlikely friendships. Later, I found out from the school librarian that this book was weeded because of the cover and the fact that it had not been checked out in three years despite her best efforts to put it on display. The SL further commented that she believes many Newberry Winners are enjoyed more by adults than elementary aged students. Research by Rowe (2004), who interviewed 200 school librarians in North Carolina, indicated that most elementary media specialists promoted Newberry honor books but choose not to keep all of the award winning titles on their shelves because they felt they are often written for an audience older than elementary school students. This could be one reason why the Whipping Boy was not widely circulated. As each student presented their reviews, the school librarian and teachers used their 4 point scale rubric to assess them. The teacher scored items included Common Core standards such as: introducing a topic, stating an opinion, using facts and statements to support the opinion, and providing a conclusion statement, (Common Core State Standards Initiative 2012, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1). The rubric also contained AASL Standards scored by the SL such as using speaking skills to communicate effectively and using technology and other information

Assessment Paper by Christine Caruso LBSC 741

tools to organize and display knowledge (AASL, 2007 3.1.3 & 3.1.4). Later, the teachers met with the librarian to discuss their grading. Overall, by using a dynamic model of relationships between curriculum, instruction and assessment, the project was successful (Harada & Yoshina, 2010). The students enjoyed the work because it was fully interactive and integrated with the standards. The teachers as well as the school librarian benefited from sharing ideas, the instruction and the grading. Through their partnership, both parties also became knowledgeable about differentiation, learner development, and commitment (Zmuda and Harada, 2008). In addition to this project, I have seen the school librarian give quick verbal and or written feedback to teachers about student concerns from the library. For example, the SL commented to a third grade teacher about using bilingual childrens books for assisting a struggling reader with learning the English language. Furthermore, she has also used exit cards to assess the skill taught from the days lesson with grades 2-5. With Kindergarten and first grade, the school librarian usually writes observation notes in her plan book throughout her lessons. In conclusion, there is strong research based evidence that indicates effective library media programs positively affect student achievement, (Harada & Yoshina, 2010, p.13). Not only does assessment provide accountability but it also provides opportunities for both the student and the instructor to reflect on their abilities and learning. Finally, assessment allows the school librarian an opportunity to provide evidence of their programs effectiveness and required place within the school community.

Assessment Paper by Christine Caruso LBSC 741

References American Association of School Librarians. (2007). Standards for the 21st Century Learner, Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learnin gstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf Fine, A, (2013). Slime Kids. Retrieved from: http://www.slimekids.com/book-reviews/ Fleischman, S. (1986). The Whipping Boy. New York: Greenwillow Books. Fontichairo, K. (March 2011). Nudging Toward Inquiry: Formative Assessment. School Library Journal, XXVII (6). Harada, V. & Yoshina, J. (2010). Assessing for Learning: Librarians and Teachers as Partners. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. (2012). Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved from
http://www.corestandards.org/.

Rowe, G. (2004). The Role of Newbery Award Winning Books in Elementary School Media Centers. (Masters Paper). Retrieved from http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/2963.pdf Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2008). Put Understanding First. Educational Leadership, 65 (8), 3641. Zmuda, A., & Harada, V. H. (2008). Librarians as learning specialists: Moving from the margins to the mainstream of school leadership. Teacher Librarian, 36, 15-20.