Educational/Literacy Impact | Page 3

Reading scores are higher where librarian-teacher collaboration is considered essential

At the middle school level, the percentage of students with advanced reading scores was 12.6% higher for schools with administrators who considered librarian-teacher collaboration (in design and delivery of instruction) essential (vs. less than essential).

Reference:

How students, teachers & principals benefit from strong school libraries : the Indiana study

Schools with above average reading scores frequently have full-time media specialists

In Minnesota schools with above average student scores on the Grade 3, 5, and 8 reading tests, 66.8% were schools where the media specialist worked full-time. Twice as many schools with above average scores had full-time media specialists. Student reading achievement in elementary and secondary schools is related to increases in school library media program spending.

Reference:

Check it out! : the results of the school library media program census. Final report

Library media specialists have an important role to play with technology

Library media specialists have an important role to play regarding the use of technology to support teaching and learning in their schools. Seventy-four percent of respondents provide guidance to students in the use of digital resources at least once a week.

Reference:

New York State's school libraries and library media specialists: An impact study; Preliminary report.

School libraries boost students' confidence as information seekers

Ninety percent of the students recognized that the school library had helped to boost their confidence as proficient information seekers and users, enabling them to work independently; 91.8% of the students appreciated the school library’s help regarding working out the most important information, and sorting and analyzing information.

Reference:

Report on the Delaware School Library Survey

Students whose library media specialists played an instructional role achieve higher test scores

Students whose library media specialists played an instructional role—either by identifying materials to be used with teacher-planned instructional units or by collaborating with teachers in planning instructional units—tend to achieve higher average test scores

Reference:

How school librarians help kids achieve standards: the second Colorado study

Better-funded school library media programs help to close the achievement gap

Better-funded school library media programs help to close the achievement gap for poor and minority students and poor and crowded schools. There is a positive relationship between total library expenditures in high schools and both PSAE reading scores and ACT scores of eleventh-graders persists, despite community income, per pupil spending, the teacher-pupil ratio, and student’s race/ethnicity.

Reference:

Powerful libraries make powerful learners: the Illinois study

Top 25 high scoring schools have large library media operating budgets

The library media programs in the 25 top scoring high schools [based on tenth grade performance on standardized reading tests] had … 14.9 percent more operating dollars per student [than the 25 lowest scoring schools] ($29.19 vs. $25.40). Students in high school library media programs with larger operating budgets scored [almost eight percent] better on ACT Reading and [more than 18 percent better on ACT] English than students in high schools with library media programs with smaller budgets. [T]he library media programs in the top [25 elementary] schools [based on fourth grade performance on standardized reading tests] had … 7.7 percent more library media program dollars per student [than the 25 lowest scoring schools] ($27.80 vs. $25.80).The library media programs in the 25 top middle/junior high schools [based on eighth grade performance on standardized reading tests] … had … 19.3 percent more operating dollars per student [than the 25 lowest scoring schools] ($24.76 vs. $20.76).

Reference:

Student Learning Through Wisconsin School Library Media Centers: Case Study Report.

Teachers agree pre-kindergarten programs would help more children succeed

In nearly half the classrooms (46%), at least one out of five kids was inadequately prepared for kindergarten when they started schools. A 2004 poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. was the first national survey in more than a decade to solicit kindergarten teachers’ opinions on the value of pre-kindergarten. Nine out of ten teachers agreed that “substantially more” children would succeed in school if all families had access to quality pre-kindergarten programs. The agreement rate rose to nearly 100% among teachers with mostly poor, minority children in their classes.

Reference:

Fight crime: Invest in kids national kindergarten teacher survey

Libraries provide homework resources

Libraries provide portals for children to perform age-appropriate Internet searches. More than 68% of libraries reported offering homework resources in 2006–2007—serving the educational needs of more than 36 million school-age children—up 7.3% from the previous year. Almost 68% of library staff reported that providing educational resources and databases for K–12 students was most critical to the role of the public library branch in their community

Reference:

Libraries connect communities : Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study, 2006-2007

Reading for fun improves students test scores

Fourth grade students who read for fun every day score the highest on reading assessment tests. The three-quarters of students who reported reading for fun on their own time once a week or more performed at the high end of the Basic level (scores from 208-237 on the NAEP reading assessment test), while the 14% of students who never or hardly ever read for fun performed below the Basic level (scores below 208 on the test). Students who talked about their reading with family and friends on a weekly basis had a higher average score than students who talked about their books once a month or less. Sixty-one percent reported talking about their reading with family and friends at least weekly.

Reference:

At these readings, listeners growl for more

The Link between Public Libraries and Early Reading Success

The Nation's Report Card: Fourth-Grade Reading 2000.