AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Library Media Specialists:
Standard 3: Information and Knowledge: Candidates model and promote ethical, equitable access to and use of physical, digital,and virtual collections of resources. Candidates demonstrate knowledge of a variety of information sources and services that support the needs of the diverse learning community. Candidates demonstrate the use of a variety of research strategies to generate knowledge to improve practice.
3.4 Research and Knowledge Creation Candidates use evidence-based, action research to collect data. Candidates interpret and use data to create and share new knowledge to improve practice in school libraries.
Artifact Descriptions: ISTC 667 Instructional Design and Development - Learner Analysis example. This artifact allowed me to assess participants and reflect how to improve instruction. I shared some data with each participant. In some cases this data could be shared with family or with the classroom teacher. ISTC 789: Practicum and Portfolio in School Library Media - Paraphrase research unit. The unit was revised from a research unit made available within the library media curriculum. The revision focuses on paraphrasing. Data gathered before and after the instruction provides information about how well the students have learned the skill and links to the school SPP to improve language arts scores. ISTC 789: Practicum and Portfolio in School Library Media - Paraphrase Assessment handout. This artifact enables me to gather data related to students' ability to paraphrase. The initial assessment related to a particular article which I translated for those who preferred to read it in Spanish. The final assessment allowed students to read about storm water drainage from the Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, [2008], p.78) and to paraphrase with the assessment handout.
Relevance: ISTC 667: Instructional Design and Development - Learner analysis example. I found this instrument helpful to improve weekly instruction in an after-school chess program. Because social behavior was important for success in the game, affective behaviors were assessed as well. The data from this analysis helps to inform instruction and communicate changes in improvement to students. It can be used as the basis for communicating with the classroom teacher who is focusing on improved student behavior and attention to required assignment. This enabled me, as an LMS candidate, to collect data to improve instruction and to share with teachers to meet the AASL standard 3.4 for Research and knowledge creation. ISTC 789: Practicum and Portfolio in School Library Media. The unit provided an opportunity for me gather pre-assessment data about students' understanding of paraphrasing, direct teach the note-taking skill, and plan to administer an assessment to review improvement on the skill. An initial assessment provided students with a general article about forests. I was able to gather data which showed students had some understanding about how to read and put in their own words. Again, where the LMS can do this within curriculum to improve instruction, the AASL standard 3.4 is met. ISTC 789: Practicum and Portfolio in School Library Media. The final assessment allowed students to read about storm water drainage from the Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, [2008], p.78) and to paraphrase with the assessment handout. With data collected from this resource, as a teacher and LMS candidate, I could compare to pre-assessment data to improve instruction. This process allows the AASL standard 3.4 to be met.
Analysis/Reflection: In the first artifact, I have used an assessment to show improvement of the chess-playing skill and to observe change in social behaviors which enable the participant to improve their game. Where data is collected to improve instruction or to inform about success of particular strategies, the LMS is able to meet the AASL standard 3.4 for research and knowledge creation.
In my experience designing and developing instruction to support a skill, data at a pre-assessment allowed me to focus on identifying key ideas and supporting detail in order to improve student note-taking. My numbers were small - sixteen participants out of nineteen students. But I was able to see that skill improvement was needed and to predict improvement after instruction if students had clear direction and time to finish the paraphrase. I learned that where there was a lack of basic knowledge on a topic, students might rephrase new information but still not know what they had made a note about. The LMS can use data to inform the classroom teacher of discovered results and use other opportunities to bring up the skill and improve it during other times within the curriculum.