6-12 (elementary/middle school)

… The Librarian Qualifications component was computed by aggregating the relevant questions of the questionnaire. The questionnaire asked a series of questions pertaining to the highest level of education and certification the paid library staff had obtained. The component was composed of one variable for a librarians’ education and experience weighted by the work hours. This analysis shows that the Librarian Qualifications component was significantly correlated with student achievement, represented by the Overall Weighted Average Map Index, when other variables were not present.

For Michigan middle schools, seventh grade reading test scores usually rise as school libraries report:high numbers and weekly hours of librarian and total library staff;offering more weekly hours for flexible access/scheduling;librarians spending more time planning and teaching cooperatively with classroom teachers, and providing in-service training to teachers;larger collections of print volumes and video materials;access to more library and school computers that connect to Access Michigan, library catalogs and licensed databases, and the Internet and the World Wide Web;more frequent individual and group visits to the library; andspending more on library operations.

The findings from our study can be roughly summarized by educational level as follows:At each grade level school library programs improve MCAS [Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System] scores.At each grade level students score higher on MCAS tests when there is a higher per pupil book count.At each grade level student use of the library produces higher mean MCAS score;At each level hours open make a difference in MCAS scores.

Across grade levels, schools tended to perform better on the ISTEP+ [Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus] tests where there were better-staffed, better-stocked, and better-funded school library programs.