Cut-to-the-Chase Research Why & How to Pursue Evidence-Based Practice in Your School Library

Keith Curry Lance

Evidence-Based Manifesto for School Librarians2007 Leadership SummitSchool Library Journal, April 2008

• Core beliefs about evidence-based practice• Challenges ahead• Key actions to be taken

Core Beliefs

• Fusion of learning, info & technology presents challenges

• School libraries essential to addressing standards, learning & quality teaching

• Certified librarians best equipped to apply research to practice

• School libraries equip all students to achieve & learn more

• Library instructional interventions help students transform info into knowledge

More Core Beliefs

• Value of school libraries can be (& has been) measured

• Existing evidence is not seen or understood

• Accountability is essential to sustain development of school librarianship

• Requires shift of focus from process to outcomes

• If we do not show value, we will not have a future

Challenges

• How to make research-based evidence more accessible & applicable?

• How to build stronger participation in research?

• How to share & accumulate local evidence?

• How to deal with negative evidence?

More Challenges

• How to build commitment to EBP?• How to train librarians in EBP?• How to address “not enough time”

perception?• How to persuade administrators to

support EBP by librarians?• Does librarian need “authority” to

engage in EBP?

Key Actions To Be Taken by School Librarians

• Shift from advocacy to outcomes focus

• Just do it• Share outcomes rather than

seek permission• Establish EBP mentorships,

partnerships

More Key Actions To Be Taken by School Librarians

• Gain access to test score data

• Get involved with school improvement

• Build research into practice• Work within school’s data

structures

• Make advocacy evidence-based• Construct evidence

portfolio• Identify professional

development needs

More Key Actions To Be Taken by School Librarians

Evidence-Based Practice ModelTodd’s School Librarianship & EBP in Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 2009

Evidence FOR PracticeLiterature

Existing formal research

Evidence IN PracticeApplications/Actions

Local evidenceLibrarian-observed evidenceData from practice combined with formal research

Evidence OF PracticeResults: impact, outcomes, evidence of closing gaps

User-reported evidenceLearner changes as result of inputs, interventions, activities, processes

EBP Evidence-Building Tools

• CISSL’s SLIM (School Library Impact Measure) Toolkit

• Nancy Miller’s IMPACT Excel-Based Software

The Impact of School Libraries on Student Learning (NJ)SLIM (School Library Impact Measure) Toolkit

• Demonstrated how NJ libraries helped students become • More skillful & confident

as info seekers• More engaged, interested

& reflective learners• More critical thinkers

about info sources & purposes

• Use SLIM’s 4 guided-inquiry instruments to document how students• gain practical skills in

inquiry-based learning & independent info seeking

• experience conceptual change regarding info

IMPACT! Documenting the LMC Program for Accountability

• Communicate value of what you do via:• Collaborative planning• Information literacy• Links to state

standards

• After you record units of instruction and teaching you have been doing, this Excel-based software transforms what you do into charts

• Also collapses data across schools to provide district overview

• http://www.LMCsource.com

What You Are Already Doing?

• Familiarity with, use of published research?• Usage data you collect for library program?• Engagement with test score data?• Observations you make of teacher & student users

of your library?• Outcome data you collect?• Outcome data you could be collecting?• What outcomes are you intending?

Other EBP/Action Research Resources

• Articles and Books About Evidence-Based Practice http://www.oelma.org/EBPBiblio.htm

• American Association of School Librarians, Crosswalk of the Common Core Standards and the Standards for the 21st-Century Learnerhttp://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/commoncorecrosswalk

More EBP/Action Research Resources

• Daniel Callison, Action Research, School Library Media Activities Monthly, June 2007

• Lesley S. J. Farmer, How to Conduct Action Research: A Guide for Library Media Specialists. Bottom Line series. American Association of School Librarians, 2003.

• Carol Gordon, A Study of Three-Dimensional Action Research: A Training Model for School Library Media Programs. School Library Media Research 9, 2006. http://www.ala.org/aasl/SLMR

• David V. Loertscher with Ross J. Todd, We Boost Achievement! Evidence-Based Practice for School Library Media Specialists. Hi Willow, 2003.

• Leslie Preddy, SSR with Intervention: A School Library Action Research Project. Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

• Judith A. Sykes, Action Research: A Practical Guide for Transforming Your School Library. Libraries Unlimited, 2002.

Closing Thought

If being an effective school librarian was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?