Research examines AASL Standards impact on administrator initiative

CHICAGO – Just published research from the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) peer-reviewed online journal, School Library Research (SLR), investigates the impact of the AASL National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries on the association’s two-year long administrator initiative. Articles can be accessed for free at www.ala.org/aasl/slr.

In their article, “Take Action: A Content Analysis of Administrators’ Understandings of and Advocacy for the Roles and Responsibilities of School Librarians,” the research team of Pamela Harland, Judi Moreillon, and Anita Cellucci share the results of their content-analysis study investigating the impact of the AASL Standards on the AASL School Leader Collaborative members’ understanding of and advocacy for the roles and responsibilities of school librarians. The researchers used documents co-developed by AASL and the Collaborative to create a category matrix to analyze the content of primary and secondary source videos.

The results of the study show the extent to which these exemplary administrators value leadership and other responsibilities of school librarians. The research team found that administrators’ understandings and perspectives can guide members of the school library profession to demonstrate specific behaviors and take specific action toward exemplary practice to meet administrators’ needs.

School Library Research (ISSN: 2165-1019) is the successor to School Library Media Research (ISSN: 1523-4320) and School Library Media Quarterly Online. The journal is peer-reviewed and indexed by H. W. Wilson's Library Literature and by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology. It welcomes manuscripts that focus on high-quality original research concerning the management, implementation, and evaluation of school libraries.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.