Running Beau: ST0BENT ASSESNENT 1

Stuuent Assessment anu School Libiaiians

Naiy Boovei

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Stuuent Assessment 2
In a woilu wheie schools have incieaseu accountability anu minimizeu
buugets, it is impeiative that school libiaiians piove theii impoitance. Cuiiently
schools aie uiiven by test scoies anu uata, which pioviue eviuence that stuuent
giowth occuis. In oiuei foi libiaiians to be tiue euucational paitneis they neeu to
be awaie of cuiient euucational tienus anu use this awaieness to aujust theii ciaft.
Authois violet Baiaua anu }oan Yoshina (2u1u) state, " foi libiaiy meuia specialists
to be tiue instiuctional paitneis, they must be actively engageu in assessment with
stuuents" (p. 8). Assessment allows stuuents to analyze theii woik anu is ciitical to
infoiming instiuction.
Stuuent assessment is a bioau teim that encompasses a vaiiety of outputs.
Assessment takes place foimally anu infoimally. It is not limiteu to final outcomes
anu can be infuseu thioughout leaining (Baiaua & Yoshina, 2u1u, p. xxv).
Reseaicheis Baiaua anu Yoshina(2u1u), iepoit that meuia specialist shoulu focus
on assessment foi leaining (p. 6). Assessment foi leaining is an ongoing piactice
that examines the teaching anu leaining piocess. This infoims stuuents anu
instiuctois of what stuuent leaining is taking place. If libiaiians aie to be seen as
school leaueis assessment must occui. The uata that is collecteu can also be useu to
auvocate foi the libiaiy.
Accoiuing to Bebia Logan, (2u1u) "measuiing stuuent peifoimance means
moie than stuuent leaining" (p. 7). Assessment is moie than a way to giaue
stuuents' woik. It allows libiaiy meuia specialists insight into theii teaching anu
helps to evaluate stuuent leaining that has taken place. School libiaiians may finu
that ie-teaching is neeueu oi a ceitain misconception is still piesent. Teachei
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libiaiians can use this infoimation to collaboiate with classioom teacheis to ciaft
theii futuie lessons. As Logan (2u1u) states, "being pait of the assessment piocess
uemonstiably aligns school libiaiy piogiams with the goals of the euucational
community" (p. 7).
Assessment can occui in many uiffeient foimats in the libiaiy. Foimative
assessments happen uuiing the leaining piocess while summative assessments take
place at the enu of a leaining expeiience. Assessment shoulu be vieweu as integial
anu ongoing. Baiaua anu Yoshina (2u1u) note, "stuuents must be cential paitneis in
assessment" (p. 1u). When stuuents paiticipate in the assessment piocess they
unueistanu what is expecteu of them anu they feel owneiship ovei theii leaining.
Rubiics aie one way assessment may be stiuctuieu. }ean Bonham (2uu8)
explains, "in euucation iubiics aie intenueu to uiiect stuuents" (p. 268). A teachei
libiaiian intiouuces iubiics so stuuents unueistanu the peifoimance ciiteiia foi
theii assignment. Rubiics can be useu foimatively thioughout the leaining activity
anu also summatively when giauing the assignment. A well-wiitten iubiic shoulu
incluue cleai categoiies anu uesciiptive language (Bonham, 2uu8, p. 268). Baiaua
anu Yoshina (2u1u) incluue that iubiics shoulu, "encouiage owneiship on the pait
of the leaineis by using the language of the stuuents" (p. 19). Sally Baniels, a
teachei libiaiian in New Yoik, useu a note taking iubiic when she was assisting a
fouith giaue class with theii ieseaich piojects. Baniels (2uu7) iepoits, "they weie
the best fouith giaue papeis I have evei ieau.theie was not one plagiaiizeu woiu
in any of them" (p. 4S). 0sing iubiics is a way teachei libiaiians can incluue
assessment in theii meuia piogiams.
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A seconu way that assessment can be stiuctuieu is thiough the use of
stuuent poitfolios. A poitfolio can be uefineu as "a collection of woik samples that
shows a pictuie of giowth ovei time" (Baiaua & Yoshina, 2u1u, p. 77). In an
euucational woilu that is uiiven by stanuaiuizeu testing poitfolios can be a gieat
auuition to show what leaining is taking place in the school. Poitfolios can be papei
baseu oi web baseu. Shikha Shaima (2uu7) founu, " a poitfolio can be useu both foi
teaching the ieseaich piocess anu foi collecting eviuence to show that stuuent
leaining has taken place" (p. 128). As many uistiicts tiansfei to the Common Coie
Stanuaius theie is an incieaseu emphasis on peifoimance assessment. Poitfolios
can be a gieat way to tiack anu measuie stuuents' giowth on these tasks.
A thiiu anu final way stuuent assessment may be stiuctuieu is thiough the
use of leaining logs anu contact logs. An assessment confeience "is any
conveisation between instiuctois anu stuuents foi the puipose of gatheiing
infoimation ielateu to impoitant aspects of a paiticulai leaining situation" (Baiaua
& Yoshina, 2u1u, p. SS). These confeiences can help stuuents think about the task in
uiffeient ways anu guiue them thiough the infoimation liteiacy piocess. Contact
logs can be useu in a similai fashion. Baiaua anu Yoshina (2u1u) note, "contact logs
aie a valuable tool foi self-assessment anu ieflection that can be useu by stuuents to
monitoi theii own leaining" (p.S8). Logs encouiage stuuents to feel owneiship ovei
theii leaining anu it gives libiaiians uata to show what stuuents aie leaining in the
libiaiy.
Ny woik with Bampsteau Bill libiaiian Sonya Kannam has alloweu me
insight into the assessment piocess. Sonya is the school's meuia specialist foi this
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kinueigaiten thiough eighth giaue city school. Bei libiaiy is on a fixeu scheuule so
she plans hei lessons stiategically. She has been in the school foi ovei five yeais anu
has establisheu collaboiative paitneiships with some of the giaue level teams. I hau
the pleasuie of obseiving a few of Sonya's lessons anu I was able to talk with hei
about how she views assessment.
Sonya was auamant about incluuing assessment whethei foimative oi
summative thioughout the hei lessons. I obseiveu an eighth giaue lesson she was
teaching in cooiuination with an election unit that was taking place. She was helping
stuuents woik on theii note taking skills anu cieating note caius that hau
infoimation in theii own woius as well as a citation. She hau each stuuent tuin in
theii note caius as theii exit ticket at the enu of the class peiiou. Bei plan was to
look ovei the notecaius anu pioviue wiitten feeuback foi each of the stuuents foi
theii next lesson. 0ne suggestion I woulu pioviue foi Sonya is to use a iubiic when
teaching hei next lesson on note taking. This woulu have alloweu stuuents to have a
cleaiei pictuie of what was expecteu an moie owneiship ovei theii leaining.
Cuiiently Sonya is not using any iubiics oi stuuent poitfolios uue to the
natuie of hei fixeu scheuule. She sees each gioup of stuuents once eveiy 6 to 7
school uays. It cieates a uifficult enviionment to uo long iange piojects. Bespite this,
Sonya wants to tiy anu collaboiate with giaue level teams on the new stuuent
poitfolio guiuelines that Bampsteau Bill Acauemy just implementeu. Each stuuent at
Bampsteau Bill Acauemy will have a stuuent poitfolio in each subject anu eveiy
teachei is iequiieu to have foui poitfolio pieces pei stuuent. The poitfolios aie in
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the infancy stages but Sonya was about woiking to be a pait of theii uevelopment.
She wants to woik with teacheis to help with cieate of the piojects.
Fiom ieseaich anu my own expeiiences in oui euucational system,
assessment is an impoitant piece of euucation. It is ciitical that libiaiians begin to
use assessment in theii classiooms if they want to be vieweu as instiuctional
paitneis. Theie aie many uiffeient ways to incoipoiate assessment into the
classioom, but all shoulu be inteiwoven into the leaining piocess. Assessment
shoulu be useu to gauge stuuent unueistanuing, piomote stuuent owneiship, anu
assist in uesigning instiuction. In the woius of Baiaua anu Yoshina (2u1u),
"assessing foi leaining cannot be an afteithought; it must be a cential pait of oui
mission" (p. 224).












Stuuent Assessment 7
Refeiences
Baniels, S. (2uu7). Fiom uesign to assessment: Assessment uoes make a uiffeience.
!"#$%&'(& *+&,-, SS (4), 4u-4S.
Bonham, }. (2uu8). ."/0"12"( -&01/2"( 0"' %&03"2"(4 5 %&0'&3,/26 (+2'& 7#3 ,1/##%
%283039 :&'20 ,6&120%2,-, (2
nu
eu.) . New Yoik, NY: Neal-Schuman Publisheis,
Inc.
Baiaua, v., & Yoshina, }. (2u1u). 5,,&,,2"( 7#3 %&03"2"(4 ;2830320", 0"' -&01/&3, 0,
603-"&3, (2
nu
eu). Benvei, C0: Libiaiies 0nlimiteu.
Logan, B. (2u1u). Piactical auvocacy: A measuie foi success. ;283039 <&'20
=#""&1-2#", 28 (S), 7.
Shaima, S. (2uu7). Fiom chaos to claiity: 0sing the ieseaich poitfolio to teach anu
assess infoimation liteiacy skills. >/& ?#+3"0% #7 510'&:21 ;2830320",/26,
SS(1), 127- 1SS. http:ux.uoi.oig.pioxyum.ieseaichpoit.umu.euu
1u.1u16j.acalib.2uu6.u8.u14