Where does your authority come from? Taking action, taking names Allison Zmuda [email protected]

When do our beliefs really limit how we teach our kids? ! Every organization is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. ! The ways in which schools organize their work affects what teachers and students learn and what they do.

What my job isn’t . . . !To “cover” content defined by the parameters of teacher tasks !To leave it in the hands of classroom teachers to evaluate student achievement in Information Literacy !To only work with the students who come through the library media center doors

Where does your authority come from? “True authority does not come from the superintendent, principal, or even the teachers worked with every day; it comes from a very large achievement gap. . . The chasm between the academic expectations for learners and the current achievement levels of students within the schools.” -- Zmuda

“Philosophically at a deeply personal level, I’m very much action-oriented and I believe that nobody is going to rescue school librarians but themselves. So part of that renewal and continuous improvement must come from them. They have to think about what all of this research tells us, reflect on that and decide what steps I can take today that can really enhance the role of my school library in terms of student learning outcomes.” – Ross Todd

Core tenets for reforming schools “by design” 1. The job of all educators is to cause students to learn. 2. What students are expected to learn must be clearly defined and appropriately measured. 3. When students aren’t learning, the job of all educators is to bring to bear the resources, talents, and experiences of the entire school to close those gaps. 4. Effective schools “plan backward” from Mission and goals.

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So, what is my job? What would I look like if I was doing it?

YOUR DESIGN TASK. Write one to two measurable statements of what you would see if you were fulfilling the vision of what a library media specialist should do. . . ! Clearly defining what students are expected to learn ! Appropriately measuring and communicating student learning ! Leveraging resources to scaffold learners to raise achievement ! Working in concert and collaboration with district, building, and classroom initiatives

Need clarity of goals !Good curriculum comes first !Guaranteed for all learners !Articulates what students are expected to know, be able to do, and understand as a result of the learning experience !Connects to larger scope and sequence of curriculum (both within and across classrooms, subjects)

#1: Clearly defining what students are expected to learn

!Need for technical capacity in the discipline (technical vocabulary, procedural fluency) !Need for conceptual understanding (constructing meaning, making judgments about quality) !Need for transfer (create new knowledge, apply learning to new situations) !Need for metacognition (make judgments about attitudes, beliefs, sense of accomplishment)

Good news, more work to do Student voices in the Ohio study

!99% of students really value the library as a physical space for finding, locating and getting access to information. !Not as much focus on how to use the stuff once gotten it. Need to help students ask the question – How do I engage with that information? How do I evaluate it? Analyze it? Pull it apart? Set priorities? Handle conflict? How do I interrogate it in a deep and rich and meaningful way to build new knowledge?

So, what is my job? What would I look like if I was doing it?

YOUR DESIGN TASK. Write one to two measurable statements of what you would see if you were fulfilling the vision of what a library media specialist should do. . .

1. Clearly defining what students are expected to learn 2. Appropriately measuring and communicating student learning 3. Leveraging resources to scaffold learners to raise achievement 4. Working in concert and collaboration with district, building, and classroom initiatives

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#2: Appropriately measuring and communicating student learning

!Assessment of learning

!Summative assessments designed to report achievement

!Assessment for learning !Diagnostic and formative assessments designed to inform teacher’s instructional design and student’s learning process

!Assessment as learning !Self-assessments designed to promote learning about learning so that learner can make strategic decisions about future learning

What you need to exert authority “Without the data to illustrate achievement gaps, it looks like a rhetorical contention based on the unabashedly biased viewpoint of those professionals that seem to have the most to gain.”

Get the data.

Steps in planning assessments !Identify broad standards !Select a specific performance indicator !Describe a learning or performance task !Determine criteria to assess how well students perform !Design measurement tool or method

Need for assessment “As busy professionals, informal assessment, or “assessment-on-the-fly” is certainly a valuable and pragmatic strategy; however, it falls short of providing confirming evidence of actual learning. When we “eyeball the room” or spot check students’ work, we get a gross sense of how students are managing but we don’t capture data on the individual student’s progress.” -- Vi Harada

Why Should the SLMS Assess? !Critical tool to help students determine strengths and weaknesses !Valuable means of analyzing and informing instruction !Infused throughout learning and teaching !Integral to effective teaching and learning

Identify Broad Standard !ELA – 5th Grade – !Standard 5 – Writing Applications ! At Grade 5, students write narrative (story), expository (informational), persuasive, and descriptive texts. Student writing demonstrates a command of Standard English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Standard 4 – Writing Processes and Features. Writing demonstrates an awareness of the audience (intended reader) and purpose for writing. In addition to producing the different writing forms introduced in earlier grades, Grade 5 students use the writing strategies outlined in Standard 4 to:

!Information Literacy !Standard 3 – Uses information !Standard 6 – Generates knowledge

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Specific Performance Indicator !ELA – 5th Grade !5.5.3 - Write or deliver a research report that has been developed using a systematic research process

! Information Literacy ! ILS 1 – Accesses information ! ILS 2 – Evaluates information ! ILS 3 – Uses information ! ILS – Generates knowledge

Assessment How will we know if they got it?

!Criteria for assessment

!Tool or method to use

Taking leadership on task design The research is positive on effect of library visits (7-11%) but:

Not all library visits are created equal. “I sense that a lot of what kids do in school libraries is purely busywork.” – Ross Todd

Performance Tasks ! Students will: Define topic Gather information Determine credibility Report findings Use information from variety of sources ! Document sources ! Demonstrate gathered information is summarized ! Organize information by categorizing and sequencing ! ! ! ! !

!Instructors will: !Decide what lessons need to be taught

Assessment Method

Tool

Observation

Checklist of behaviors Rubric of criteria for performance with levels of performance Rating scale of different levels of performance on a scale

Personal Communication

Informal conference to check for understanding Formal conference to gain insight into student learning Logs of student thoughts and feelings about content and process Notes and letters for self-assessment and feedback

Examination of Student Work

Checklists of criteria for proficiency Rubrics of various levels of proficiency Graphic organizers so students can organize and synthesize work Portfolios of samples of student work providing cumulative view of learning

Taking leadership on task design: a 2-pronged approach

1. Collect data on the type of task students are completing based on teacher design using an established taxonomy (ie. Bloom) 2. Design cornerstone tasks that demonstrate significant achievement in student work K12

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The goal of schooling Transfer of learning is the cornerstone upon which education should ultimately rest. In its broadest sense, transfer of learning is basic to the whole notion of schooling. If there is no transfer at all, students will need to be taught specifically every act that they will ever perform in any situation [which is impossible]. (Bigge & Shermis, 1992).

So, what is my job? What would I look like if I was doing it?

YOUR DESIGN TASK. Write one to two measurable statements of what you would see if you were fulfilling the vision of what a library media specialist should do. . .

1. Clearly defining what students are expected to learn 2. Appropriately measuring and communicating student learning 3. Leveraging resources to scaffold learners to raise achievement 4. Working in concert and collaboration with district, building, and classroom initiatives

Assessment for Learning ! Information to modify and differentiate teaching and learning activities, streamline/target instruction and resources, use feedback to advance learning “To make student learning visible so that teachers can decide what to do to help students progress” – effectiveness is based on the usefulness of the information in designing next stage of learning (importance of good record keeping).” -- Rethinking Classroom Assessment

Cornerstone Assessments Anchor the curriculum around important, recurring tasks. Require understanding and transfer of learning. Provide evidence of authentic accomplishments. (“doing the subject” and “playing the game”)

#3: Leveraging resources to scaffold learners to raise achievement

!Analysis of student assessment data to identify learning problems !Evaluate the nature of the problem (technical, conceptual, procedural, metacognitive) !Troubleshoot how to raise achievement for each learner to impact overall achievement

Research on assessment for learning !Sharpens the instructors’ ability to modify instruction (Stiggins, 2002; Earl, 2003; Marzano, 2003) !Enables instructors to provide specific and personalized feedback to individuals and teams (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2002) !Emphasizes the need for differenitated approaches to improve achievement based on assessment data (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2002)

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Need for planned instructional interventions in the LMC

!What are the big achievement concerns evidenced in student work in the LMC? !What impact do gaps in this area have across classrooms? !How do you scaffold the learning to close the gap? !How do you know if the design had the intended effect?

Transforming a typical instructional intervention: 9th grade LMC orientation !What are the big achievement concerns evidenced in student work that led to the intervention being implemented? !What impact do gaps in this area have across classrooms? !How do you scaffold the learning to close the gap? !How do you know if the design had the intended effect?

Transforming a typical instructional intervention: Fixed schedule for Kindergarten students to take out 2 books instead of 1

!What are the big achievement concerns evidenced in student work that led to the intervention being implemented? !What impact do gaps in this area have across classrooms? !How do you scaffold the learning to close the gap? !How do you know if the design had the intended effect?

Need for unplanned instructional interventions in the LMC !All tasks should be respectful of each learner !Honors individual mental models, interests, and conceptions that students arrive with !Puts all learners on a pathway to accomplish articulated curriculum goals

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“Differentiation is making sure that the right students get the right learning tasks at the right time. Once you have a sense of what each student holds as ‘given’ or ‘known’ and what he or she needs in order to learn, differentiation is no longer an option; it is an obvious response.”

Assessment as Learning Develop and support metacognition: “Learning is not just a matter of transferring ideas from someone who is knowledgeable to someone who is not, but is an active process of cognitive restructuring that occurs when individuals interact with new ideas.” -- Rethinking Classroom Assessment

Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize Student Learning Lorna M. Earl Corwin Press, Inc. – 2003 – pp. 86-87

Struggling Learners: Heavy Effort Little Success

All learners need a balanced success to effort ratio

Assessment as Learning

Advanced Learners: Great Success, Little Effort

!Model and teach skills of selfassessment !Guide students and setting and monitoring goals !Models of good practice !Compare learning over time; have clarity about what proficiency looks like and where students are in relationship to it !Create an environment safe for students to take changes, support is readily available

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So, what is my job? What would I look like if I was doing it?

YOUR DESIGN TASK. Write one to two measurable statements of what you would see if you were fulfilling the vision of what a library media specialist should do. . .

1. Clearly defining what students are expected to learn 2. Appropriately measuring and communicating student learning 3. Leveraging resources to scaffold learners to raise achievement 4. Working in concert and collaboration with district, building, and classroom initiatives

What evidence do you have that your school district, your library really matters in the instructional landscape? •Mission statement •State expectations of LMC programs (defined outcomes, guidelines) •Physical features of the school "Calendar, schedules "Meeting structures, committee compositions "Building layout

#4: Working in concert and collaboration with district, building, and classroom initiatives

!Need to embody the work of the school in your environment !Focus on standards-based curriculum anchored in the “big ideas” of the discipline !Focus on results and data-driven decision making !Focus on literacy and numeracy !Focus on preparing students for the 21st century (global focus)

Education provides learners the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills to enrich their lives. A more rigorous and relevant form of accountability emerges when information is applied in search for a solution to a problem, to better understand a problem, or to create new knowledge. The foundation of our library media program is to facilitate the competence of learners as unique individuals with interests and ideas, citizens, and future members of the workforce. The development of that competence comes from the learner’s clarity of task, ability to access information and literature, evaluate and synthesize information, produce critical and creative works, and communicate to an intended audience. Underlying this work is the learner’s ability to critically think and problem solve in an efficient, effective, and ethical manner. --Excerpted from an LMC Philosophy Statement, Simsbury, CT

•Allocation of resources

Authentic collaboration with classroom teachers !What are the most critical learning gaps that my students are facing at this time? How does my teaching support the classroom teachers’ efforts to close the gaps? -- Based on a 2006 assessment project in Hawaii

Evidence of impact, one building at a time . . . Hawaii

Model ! Brief description of how the library’s mission connects with the school’s mission ! Brief description of school’s major learning targets for the school year and how instruction in the library connects with school’s learning targets ! Samples of lessons taught in the library that connect with the school’s learning targets ! Samples of student performance for each lesson in the folder ! Displays of compiled assessment data that communicate what students learned from these lessons ! Sample commentary from students and instructors about possible future improvements

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Short term good news, but will there be long term trouble? “Superintendent was convinced after reading a summary of the report and meeting with DOE and LMCs that to improve student achievement across the board, a well-managed media center was a priority….” (Appoquinimink School District in Odessa Delaware)

So, what is my job? What would I look like if I was doing it?

YOUR DESIGN TASK. Write one to two measurable statements of what you would see if you were fulfilling the vision of what a library media specialist should do. . . ! Clearly defining what students are expected to learn ! Appropriately measuring and communicating student learning ! Leveraging resources to scaffold learners to raise achievement ! Working in concert and collaboration with district, building, and classroom initiatives

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