On another post Anonymous wrote:
NEW TOPIC-Librarians, scores, and black students
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/study-students-with-access-to-full-time-librarians-do-better-663699/
" For black students,it found six times as many who have flexible access to their school library during the day scored advanced on state writing tests as black students lacking such access."
The article mentions that with budget cuts across the state, some districts have fewer full time librarians than in the past. It doesnt mention that PPS is way worse-- taking out the director of school libraries so that there is no central organization and then, having elementary and middle school ibrarians one day out of every 5 or even 6 in the schools shows absolutely no knowledge of the information that this study and countless others have found.
Part of this is a direct result of the "script." The managed curriculum folk certainly dont want the kind of "free range reading" that occurred in the past.
They want boxes in books in classrooms- chosen by the companies who write the script.
The last thing the "good soldier" principals want to hear is that students are free to select books to read from a well- stocked library, guided by a certified school librarian.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
PPS is living with the first year of a new model. I remember that A+ Schools touted it as a good plan to have a librarian available in all schools. Tell me again how many periods a week a librarian is available in each buidling? Also, I wonder how effective the FACE position is in each building? How many minutes a week is devoted to Family and Community Engagement and what do the activities look like? Until money becomes available buildings can't increase the hours of a librarian's availability and we will see a continued dependence on our community partners to provide opportunities for engagement. Thanks to all of them.
It is true that the model is indeed new, and it was a way to get librarians into the 10 schools that had none. However, having schools with none get one day a week, doesnt justify taking schools who had full time librarians and excellent programs DOWN to one day a week. Again- the studies all say schools with full time certified school ibrarians have higher scores-- " these differencews are not explained away by socioeconomic, racial/ethnic or disability status of the students."
In fact,"The study concluded that some student subgroups that tend to have academic achievement gaps-- such as racial minoritiers, economically disadvantaged, and special education-- benefit more proportionally than the general school population."
We've all written here- and well-- about what is wrong andf what to do....here is one solution in writing-- instead of hiring more consulants
--implement the answers put forth in this study
--look to districts -about 490 of them- who had higher scores and think--hmm, maybe it is exactly what has been said rather than some idea that a non educator consultant dreams up.
While all of what is stated here may be true, it will not be enough to move PPS from 493 of 500 very far out of the lowest districts in the state WITHOUT better curricula and a much better teaching/learning process!
It will also be very important to stock those libraries with many more current, relevant, and even culturally-relevant books!
Post a Comment