Influencing Instructional Partnerships in Universities: Schools of Library and Information Science and Colleges of Education

Mirah J. Dow, Associate Professor

2014 Association for Library and Information Science Education, Philadelphia, PA January 21-24, 2014

presentation available on slideshare

Entrepreneurial – leadership, willingness

To be entrepreneurial requires leadership and innovation to bring about a new venture, obtain the required resources, and the willingness to accept whatever happens—good or bad.

Two venture categories: Business ventures designed to make more

money Social or political ventures based on a

perceived opportunities to resolve problems

Social and Political VentureVenture

develop new university instructional partnerships

Resolve Problemnationwide de-professionalization and elimination of school

librarians

OpportunityIncreased national emphasis of college and career readiness and

integration of information and technology literacy into every content area calls for more school librarian involvement at the

university level.

Entrepreneurial

The Premise: If collaboration is to move beyond cooperation to instructional partnerships, there must be increased engagement by colleges of education and schools of library and information science in large scale change that provides pre-service educators with experiences in collaboration.

(Patricia Montiel-Overall, 2005).

Entrepreneurial

Best Educational Practice: “For American students, state-licensed school librarians represent a necessity if this country is to move forward with the educational goal to graduate all students prepared for college, jobs, and/or careers.”

(Mirah Dow, 2013)

Entrepreneurial

Mature Organization

• University Colleges of Education and Schools of Library and Information Science

Perceived Opportunity

• Large Scale Change in Curriculum, Teaching Assignments, Budgets

University Instructional PartnershipsLarge Scale Change in Education Curriculum

Creation of new curriculum across licensure programs that will bring subject area content into library science curriculum and library science into subject area content

Shared faculty responsibilities for standards-based learning outcomes

Co-partnering in developing and delivery of instruction and assessment of student learning

Addition of a new content area: Information Science and Technology (information in all formats; information cycle; interdisciplinary field, Taylor, 1966)

Dow, M. J. (2010). School library leadership at the university level. School Library Monthly, 27(3), 36-38.

University Instructional Partnerships

Large Scale Change in University Teaching Assignments Library school faculty teaching in elementary

and secondary education degree programs Elementary and secondary education degree

faculty teaching in library schools New considerations for faculty teaching loads Cross-listing of courses in university catalogs

University Instructional Partnerships

Large Scale Change in University Budgets University provision for deans and

program directors to hire and pay faculty outside their own departments

New, permanent line items in departmental budgets to support faculty in addition to those full-time positions identified by state legislatures

University Instructional Partnership StudyFrom Fall 2008 to Spring 2010 (4 semesters), a new, university-

approved required course was offered for all elementary education students at The Teachers College, Emporia State University.

The Elementary Teacher and the School Library Media Specialist: Partners in Teaching Literature Appreciation and Information Literacy, 1 credit hour

Pre-service elementary education (K-6) teachers taught by library school faculty (3 different faculty; all experienced school librarians)

Required text for course was Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact (Moreillon, 2007)

Pre- and Post-survey (12 Likert items, Moreillon, 2008) of enrolled students to answer the research question: “Are elementary education majors’ perceptions of school librarians as partners in teaching changed through a 1-credit hour course taught by library school faculty?”

Findings, Emporia State University Instructional Partnership Study(n=409)

In 4 of 4 semesters, the number of respondents selecting agree or strongly agree slightly increased from pre- to post-survey for theses statements: School librarians should be responsible for

teaching reading.

every area of the school curriculum.

helping classroom teachers design and plan lessons and units of instruction.

helping classroom teachers co-teach lessons and units of instruction.

assessing students’ learning on projects in which they have taught some or many components.

Findings, Emporia State University Faculty Partnership Study (n=409)

In 3 of 4 semesters, the number of respondents selecting agree or strongly agree slightly decreased from pre- to post-survey for the statements:

♦ School librarians should be responsible for helping classroom teachers find materials.

♦ School library media programs should be a critical part of the literacy program of the school.

♦ School principles should set the expectation for classroom-library collaboration.

♦ When school librarians and classroom teachers collaborate for instruction, student achievement should increase.

Findings, Emporia State University Instructional Partnership Study(n=409)

In 4 of 4 semesters, the number of respondents in the post-survey who agreed or strongly agreed with each statement (12) was above 50 percent of the total valid responses.

fall 2008 44/69 (64%) valid responses

spring 2009 56/97 (58%) valid responses fall 200957/88 (65%) valid responsesspring 2010 45/82 (55%) valid responses

ConclusionsOn the basis of this Emporia State University study, a university-based elementary education (K-6) course taught by library school faculty that focuses co-teaching strategies for classroom teachers and school librarians can improve perceptions about the school library media program and school librarians’ involvement in preparing all students for jobs, college, and careers.

This course is a model for moving beyond collaboration to cooperation in instructional partnerships and has the potential to influence today’s education establishment and the public about the necessity of state-licensed school librarians in every school building.

Dow, M. J., Davis, T., & Vietti-Okane, A. (2013). Influencing instructional partnerships in pre-service elementary education teachers. In M. J. Dow (Ed.), School Libraries Matter: Views From the Research. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

University Instructional Partnerships

(schools and libraries)

University Provision for Budgetary Investment in

University-based Instructional Partnerships

University Provision for Faculty Teaching Assignments Across

Departments and Programs

New Assessed Content Area

“Information Science and Technology”

Shared Faculty Responsibility for Teaching Across Content Areas and Standards

University Partnerships

Until university education faculty partnerships become the norm, subject area teachers and school administrators are likely to

continue to view school librarians as support staff.

information science and technology will not become a recognized content area along with assessed (Annual Yearly Progress) content areas: reading, science, mathematics, social studies, and government.

there will be little proof of school librarians’ effect on student achievement in the area of information and technology literacy.

educational policy makers and the public are not likely to recognize the need, or demand funding for state-licensed K-12 school librarians.

Comments ?

Questions ?

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