Volume 12, Issue 8
November 2013
In This Issue:
Association News
Education News
Resources for School Librarians
Grants & Awards
Partnership News
Association News
AASL Launches National Surveys on the Branding of School Librarianship
In order to provide a refreshing and inspiring image of school librarians and school library programs, AASL has launched two national surveys to examine the brands of the profession. The surveys will determine what the brands “school librarian,” “L4L” and “@your library” mean to current and future school library professionals and educational stakeholders. School librarians are not only encouraged to complete the profession-focused survey, but to ask members of their educational communities to take the stakeholder survey as well. The comparison between the data collected from each survey will help AASL determine how it can best address gaps and meet the needs of both groups.
To reach a wide audience and collect a representative sample, AASL will also reach out to several national educational organizations and request their help in disseminating the stakeholder survey to their memberships. The surveys will be open until December 2.
AASL Names Ina Laguerta 2013 Spectrum Scholar
As part of its commitment to furthering diversity in the school library profession, AASL has named Ina Laguerta as its 2013 Spectrum Scholar. Laguerta is currently working on her master of library and information science degree through San Jose State University's online program with a focus on children's services and teacher librarianship. She is also pursuing a graduate degree in public administration at California State Polytechnic University,
focusing on services in public library and public school library settings. She is employed as the library clerk at Wallen L. Andrews Elementary School in Whittier, Calif. and hopes to continue working in a school library or public library with children.
AASL Releases Executive Summary of 2011-2012 NCES Schools and Staffing Survey
AASL has released an executive summary of the 2011–2012 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). Prepared by the AASL research and statistics committee with a data analysis by Sue Kimmel, the summary highlights findings relevant to the school library profession and areas inviting further study. The executive summary can be downloaded as a PDF via the AASL website at
www.ala.org/aasl/research.
Mobile App Keeps AASL13 Information at Attendees’ Fingertips
Attendees of the AASL 16th National Conference & Exhibition can plan their conference schedule at home or on the go with the new AASL13 Mobile App. The app and companion registration dashboard syncs user data so updates to a schedule can be made and accessed via a person’s laptop or mobile device. For more information on features and how to download the mobile app, visit
national.aasl.org/mobile-app. Be sure to click the "Refresh" button in the app to get the latest schedule updates.
Learn More about AASL Toolkits at the Booth Demos during AASL13
Attendees of AASL’s 16th National Conference & Exhibition can learn more about AASL toolkits during AASL’s Booth Demos. The booth demos feature seven AASL-developed toolkits for advocacy, AASL learning standards and program guidelines, Common Core State Standards (CCSS), reading and instruction. Demonstrations will be held at the AASL booth (Booth 1125) during exhibits-only hours. Stop by for a tour and bring your questions about these AASL online resources.
Meet Your Favorite AASL Authors and Purchase Their Books at AASL13
Attendees of AASL’s 16th National Conference & Exhibition will have the opportunity to purchase AASL’s newest publications from the exhibit hall bookstore while onsite in Hartford, Conn. In addition, selected authors of these publications will be on hand to sign copies of their book during the conference taking place Nov. 14-17. More information and a full schedule of appearances is available on the national conference website at
national.aasl.org/exhibits.
AASL13 Storytellers to Weave Flights of Fancy
Three master storytellers will share their craft as part of the AASL 16th National Conference & Exhibition taking place Nov. 14-17, 2013, in Hartford, Conn. Performers Carol Birch, Bill Harley and Valerie Tutson will appear at the storytelling festival and help attendees celebrate the everyday and fantastic in a casual evening of traditional and original tales. Admission to the festival is included in the price of registration, and a Q&A and book signing will follow the performance. More information on the event is available at
national.aasl.org/storytelling-festival.
New AASL Publication Helps School Librarians Navigate the Changing Landscape of E-books
The newest publication from AASL, “Ebooks and the School Library Program: A Practical Guide for the School Librarian,” provides school librarians with a roadmap to help navigate the vast and intricate world of e-books. Written by AASL members Cathy Leverkus and Shannon Acedo, the book familiarizes school librarians with available e-book devices and helps facilitate decision making about e-book collections. The publication is available in both
print and e-book formats, as well as a print/e-book bundle, and can be purchased through the
ALA online store.
Education News
Instructional Shifts Needed for Common Core State Standards
A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute looks at assigned texts and instructional techniques in Common Core states as a baseline indicator of early CCSS implementation. For the most part, it finds the work of aligning curricula and instruction to CCSS rigor has not yet been undertaken. The Common Core asks teachers to assign texts with language complexity appropriate to grade level, but significant proportions of teachers -- particularly in elementary grades -- still assign texts based on student reading ability. Teachers are also more likely to fit texts to skills than to ground skills instruction in texts.
States Should Link Teacher Evaluations with Other Measures
States have made great strides in updating teacher evaluation systems to incorporate rates of student achievement; however, very few are using the data to inform decisions about teacher preparation programs, professional development compensation, and consequences for ineffective teaching, according to a study by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The study notes that 35 states and the District of Columbia Public Schools require that student achievement is strongly considered in teacher evaluations, but only 20 states and the District of Columbia use that information to shape professional development for teachers.
Trends in Teacher Evaluations
A ne
w report from the Center for Public Education finds that states are tackling teacher evaluations in a variety of ways. For example, this year, 34 school districts in Illinois will begin evaluating teachers based in part on student test scores for the first time. Tennessee recently joined a handful of other states in tying student scores to whether their teachers’ keep their licenses. States differ in the degree of involvement
in designing and implementing teacher evaluation systems: 13 states require school districts to implement state-mandated evaluation systems with little flexibility, 21 states allow school systems to design their own evaluation systems with state approval and 17 states fall somewhere in between.
Authors Call for More Reading, Less Time on Standardized Tests
The nonprofit National Center for Fair & Open Testing organized an effort by more than 120 authors and illustrators to ask President Barack Obama to scale back the national focus on standardized testing. The letter -- delivered to the White House and signed by Maya Angelou, Judy Blume and others -- states, "Our public school students spend far too much time preparing for reading tests and too little time curling up with books that fire their imaginations."
Tablet and E-reader Ownership Update
The number of Americans ages 16 and older who own tablet computers has grown to 35%, and the share who have e-reading devices like Kindles and Nooks has grown to 24%. Overall, the number of people who have a tablet or an e-book reader among those 16 and older now stands at 43%. Up from 25% last year, more than half of those in households earning $75,000 or more now have tablets. Up from 19% last year, 38% of those in upper-income households now have
e-readers.
Resources for School Librarians
Gaming in the Library
Setting up a games program in your school library brings students in and can be a great way to show teachers and administrators an academic approach that really works. Winter is a great time to offer an after-school gaming program.
AASL’s Essential Links provides the resources you’ll need to get going and the research you can use to convince parents and teachers that library gaming is the way to go!
How Students Can Improve Their Writing with Ungraded Work
Writing in ungraded practice sessions can help students organize and solidify their ideas before working on the assignment that will be assessed, writer and former teacher Lily Jones suggests in this blog post. Jones offers three examples of using this writing-to-learn technique using videos from Educate Texas. "By teaching writing as a way to develop understanding, you can help students learn to see writing as neither product- nor process-driven, but thinking-driven," she writes.
Using Storyboards to Improve Reading
Newspaper articles and storyboarding can help students plan presentations and writing assignments and encourage them to read text more carefully, according to the writers of this blog post. The writers share a template for storyboards, along with other resources, such as a video enabling teachers to compare storyboards to the Pixar animation process and another showing how high-school journalism students used the technique to share what they had learned.
Infographic Shows Millenials’ Use of Technology
A Platform for Good has created an infographic illustrating how millenials are using technology. Among the stats, the infographic shows that 80 percent of millenials say they have defended victims of online harassment and 55 percent decided not to post something on social media because it might reflect poorly on their future. In addition, 73 percent of millenials volunteered for a nonprofit in 2012.
Incorporating Narrative Writing for the Common Core State Standards
While some teachers are concerned about the emphasis on nonfiction text in the Common Core State Standards, middle-grades teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron writes in this blog post about the importance of teaching narrative writing. She offers one example of a lesson in which she met the Common Core's requirements and also taught narrative, in part by requiring students to learn about historic eras in which the narratives were set and guiding them through the scientific lessons that affected the stories.
How to Link Co-teaching and Common Core State Standards Instruction
Educators teaching in co-taught classrooms will need to consider how co-teaching models can support implementation of the Common Core State Standards, special-education teacher Elizabeth Stein writes in this blog post. She describes examples of how three co-teaching strategies can work to support deeper learning under the standards. For instance, station teaching involves breaking the class into two groups and having each teacher work on a separate lesson.
Why Novels Should Be Taught as a Whole
Students benefit from reading entire books first, rather than tackling material chapter-by-chapter, eighth-grade English-language arts teacher Ariel Sacks' writes. Adapted from a recently released book, Sacks writes in this article that reading the whole book helps students engage with the story and allows them to tap into their own experiences and imagination to the meaning rather than the teacher's translation. "In the classroom, we can build a social experience of living in the literary world without discussing each chapter," she writes.
Grants & Awards
The Loh Down on Science Partners with Howtosmile.org to Bring STEM Activities to K-12 Students
The Loh Down on Science, public radio’s syndicated daily 90 seconds of science hosted by Sandra Tsing Loh, in partnership with UC Irvine, launched a school contest to promote science education among K–12 students. The contest encourages participants to answer the daily science-themed questions. The contest will be based on the number of participants from each school and on how often they answer November’s science-themed, multiple-choice “Questions of the Day.” The correct answer with a fuller explanation appears the next day, along with a fun, do-it-yourself activity from Howtosmile.org, an AASL 2012 Best Website. The competition runs November 4-29, with the winner announced December 2. All U.S. public schools are eligible to compete for a $1,000 cash prize.
NSTA Shell Science Teaching Award
The Shell Science Teaching Award recognizes one outstanding classroom science teacher (K-12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and community through exemplary classroom science teaching. Maximum award is $10,000. K-12 classroom science teachers are eligible. Deadline is November 8, 2013.
NSTA Sylvia Shugrue Award for Elementary School Teachers
The National Science Teachers Association Sylvia Shugrue Award honors one elementary school teacher who has established (or is establishing) an interdisciplinary, inquiry-based lesson plan. The lesson plan will fully reference sources of information and any relevant National Science Education Standards and benchmarks found in the Atlas of Science Literacy. Maximum award: $1,000 and up to $500 to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education; the recipient of the award will be honored during the Awards Banquet at the NSTA Conference. Eligibility: elementary school teachers (grades K-6); applicants must be a full-time teacher with a minimum of five years of experience. Deadline: November 30, 2013.
AIA/NAR Team America Rocketry Challenge
The Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry’s Team America Rocketry Challenge invites teams of three to ten students to design, build, and fly a model rocket that reaches a specific altitude and duration. The top 100 teams will go to Washington, DC, for the national finals in May. Maximum award includes $60,000 in cash and scholarships split between the top 10 finishers. The application for a team must come from a single school or a single U.S. incorporated non-profit youth or educational organization. Team members must be students currently enrolled in grades 7 through 12 in a U.S. school or home school. Deadline is November 30, 2013.
Delta Education/Frey-Neo/CPO Awards for Excellence in Inquiry-based Science Teaching
The Delta Education/Frey-Neo/CPO Science Awards for Excellence in Inquiry-based Science Teaching will recognize and honor three full-time preK-12 teachers of science who successfully use inquiry-based science to enhance teaching and learning in their classrooms. Maximum award includes $1,500 toward expenses to attend the NSTA National Conference, April 3-6, 2014, Boston; and $1,500 for the awardee. PreK-12 teachers are eligible. Deadline is November 30, 2013.
AAPT Barbara Lotze Scholarships for Future Teachers
The American Association of Physics Teachers Barbara Lotze Scholarships offer funds for future high school physics teachers. Maximum award is $2,000. U.S. citizens attending U.S. schools as undergraduates enrolled, or planning to enroll, in physics teacher preparation curricula, and U.S. high school seniors entering such programs are eligible. Deadline is December 1, 2013.
Starbucks Foundation: Youth Leadership Grants
The Starbucks Foundation is interested in supporting organizations that equip young people in three areas: business savvy, social conscience, and collaborative communication. Maximum award is $30,000. Eligibility: youth ages 15 to 25 years old. Deadline is December 15, 2013.
National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Awards
The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards program raises awareness among the nation's youth of the critical role that private enterprise and entrepreneurship play in the building of America. Maximum award: $10,000 in tuition assistance. Eligibility: high school seniors. Deadline: December 18, 2013.
StudentCam National Video Documentary Competition
StudentCam is C-SPAN’s annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation. StudentCam's theme for 2014 is “A Message to the U.S. Congress: What's the most important issue the U.S. Congress should consider in 2014?” Maximum award includes $5,000, plus $750 to spend on digital video equipment for his/her school. Students grades 6-12, individually or in teams, are eligible. Deadline is January 20, 2014.
Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards
The Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision Awards Program encourages kids to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. Maximum award is a $10,000 bond per student on winning team. Students K-12 are eligible. Deadline is January 30, 2014.
Innovation Generation Christopher Columbus Awards
The Christopher Columbus Awards is a national, community-based STEM competition for middle school students and teachers looking to make a difference in their community. Working in teams, students identify a problem in the community and apply the scientific method to create an innovative solution. Maximum award: $25,000 grant. Eligibility: schools (grades 6-8) and community groups. Deadline: February 3, 2014.
Partnership News
ASCD Launches New Antibullying Resource for Educators
ASCD announced the release of a new PD In Focus channel for educators, titled “School Culture and Climate: Addressing Bullying.”
The PD In Focus online application is an award-winning, cost-effective, web-based professional development tool from
ASCD that provides hundreds of hours of highly effective videos, related resources, activities, and insight from some of the most important voices in education today.
