Good morning,

I had a number of requests for responses to my inquiry regarding high school research projects and the role of the high school librarian. Below is my original inquiry followed by the responses I got. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions!

Original inquiry:

Good morning,
I am collecting information regarding research/technology projects that all high school students participate in, such as a digital portfolio they work on over the course of four years or one particular research project they complete as part of their English or Social Studies classes, for example. If you have some kind of project that no one graduates without doing, please let me know. I am particularly interested in whether the school librarian is involved in this process, and to what extent. I can be reached at either sjg.librarian@gmail.com or sbriggs@milforded.org.

Thank you,

Sarah Briggs
Library/Media Specialist
Jonathan Law High School

Milford, CT

sbriggs@milforded.org

sjg.librarian@gmail.com

Responses:

At Trumbull High School all Freshman go through a marking period course called Freshman Foundations. They cycle out of the health class. It is a fantastic course. The students are introduced to Google Drive,(THS has been a google apps schools for years now) they research and write a 3 page paper. As the Media Specialist I teach how to access and use Google Drive, Databases, Plagiarism, Website evaluation, digital footprint, google form and google spreadsheet. The students are also required to create and present a google presentation about their research topic, an e-portfolio-where I show them how to set up pages and folders for each academic year and course within the year. This is created using a Google site. They also read for the first ten minutes of class and respond using edmodo. Next year we are switching to Google classroom. Oh, and they also choose lit circles and read a book. I can’t tell you how much I love co-teaching this course. I get in everyday for the first week, and then go back for the graphing and e-portfolio. We are adding a graphing component this year-SLO-so they will be able to create data tables- a request from the Science teachers. After the paper, they will create a survey using Google form, survey their class –using phones-and create the data table and graph. We want them to experience how facts and information are gathered. They will then use the table as part of the presentation-slide show. I can’t say enough about the course. Trumbull is twice the size of Law. Graduating class is 555. There are 3 teachers, who teach 2 sections each of the course. Two are reading teachers and one is our writing specialist. I think they have been teaching this for 4 years now? Maybe longer. The classroom they meet in has 30 computers. From what I hear the scheduling was a nightmare the first year, but they have it down now….

At our school, we have academies, including STEM and AMAT. Students in STEM are required to have an e-portfolio for the four years they’re in the academy. It isn’t a graduation requirement but one that has to be maintained when in the academy. Regular English IV students have a captstone project they have to do a presentation on using a digital tool. This is required for a six weeks grade and is a major assignment. I help with those classes by showing them different tools and how to use them as well as giving them options to pick and choose.

The Connecticut Common Core standards carve out a key role for the school librarian so there is hope on the horizon. For the first time in a long career I feel that my input is valued. I serve on several data teams and have been involved in ELA/SS curriculum writing, I have developed a CC curriculum template for the research unit. The standards are under writing for each grade 9-12. The unit will be embedded in all curricula. We plan to use the TRAILS assessment as a formative and summative assessment. I will be collaborating with grade 9 and 10 teachers to complete a curriculum-aligned research assignment after Christmas. We are discussing using Noodletools so that students may deveIop a writing portfolio over the four years. It is truly a dream come true.

All sophomores at Greenwich High School have to complete a Sophomore Research Project in order to graduate (if they don't pass it in 10th grade, they have to do it again in 11th grade). Media Specialists are significantly involved in this project - depending on the Social Studies teacher, the project is either collaboratively taught by the LMS and the SS teacher or is primarily taught by the LMS with the SS teacher primarily responsible for grading. The project focuses much more on the process as opposed to the end written product and is very skills infused - inquiry, note-taking, conducting research, outlining, etc. Students learn how to use Google Docs, NoodleTools, Turnitin, etc., and conduct research using school databases, Google, e-books, and print materials. In the past, each LMS created a wikispace for each teacher that he or she worked with in order to guide the students through the SRP process and updated the wikispace on a daily basis with assignments, notes, lessons, etc. Our school system just migrated to Schoology so we will use Schoology to guide the SRP process this year but here is a link to the wikispace that I used last year with one of my teachers if you want to get an idea of what I did in the past. The entire project takes 6-8 weeks to complete and the LMS is usually in the classroom each day with the students even when not teaching a specific lesson. The LMS also communicates via e-mail with students and reviews and comments on students' research questions, note cards and works cited. And the LMS will meet with students individually to review their research, outlines, first drafts, etc. when students so request. In addition, GHS also has a senior health/wellness project that all seniors must complete in order to graduate. Again, this is a very LMS-directed project and every student must meet with one of the LMS to review their work before submitting their essay and doing their presentation. Here is a link to the wikispace that guides that process. Finally, all students also have a presentation requirement in their junior English classes but LMS involvement in that is completely hit or miss, depending on the teacher. We would like to be more involved in this project eventually but given that we need to get 650-700 sophomores through the SRP process and another 650-700 seniors through the health & wellness project every year, we haven't really had the time to make more inroads on the junior English presentation project yet.

All of our students are to create a digital portfolio which is then the bases for a 'senior exit interview.' I have included a link to info sites here at school—however, the process has changed some and will be modified before the end of the year. Also, I don't think the links work on the projects but maybe you can understand the basics of the expectations.

http://nphs.newpal.k12.in.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=44

At our school, I am involved in research/inquiry based projects from grades 9 - 12. We have been a 1:1 school for over 10 years now, so tech is integrated into everything we do...

Here's a couple things off the top of my head:

In 9th grade, students set up digital portfolios through Advanced Computer Apps class (run by another teacher); I teach several units in this class related to information fluency: using OPACs, database searching (called Search App Smackdown!), curation tools (like Scoopit), evaluation (CRAP system), documentation (using Noodletools), etc. These pave the way for subsequent research done: 9th grade- Career research paper (APA style; using databases, interviews, surveys); Civil War, etc.

10th grade: Biology research projects (biologists; genetics, etc.- incorporating infographics; Holocaust research; Opposing Viewpoints persuasive writing research; Book trailers (partners read same title, create 2 min. video trailer to promote)

11th grade: Opposing Viewpoint seminar - Finding solutions to issues, incorporating infographics; World Cultures - folklore research; Urban Legends research and movie creation; etc.

12th grade - Government - Constitutional issues; research and production for various senior projects for our students who attend the Tech school;

Senior Research Paper - encapsulates & assesses all skills - (basic and advanced search of OPACS and web, evaluating info, documentation, pre-search skills, in-text citation, close nonfiction reading, visualizing info via graphic organizers, thesis writing, etc... peer review and reflection elements included in this process) - For SRP, the formative process steps are also assessed, and the points for the process are higher than for the final written project. This helps to reinforce that it is the research / inquiry process that is the most important part of what they are doing, as this is what's really transferrable to career/college. Chief communication between teachers/librarian/student occur via an "Inquiry Process Guide" GoogleDoc. Everything is documented, all rubrics, directions, and assessments leading up to the final paper are there. Our collaborative work on the Senior Research paper won the 2014 AASL Collaborative School Library Award

Sarah, when I was at ALA a few years ago, a librarian from a high school in NYC which I think was Little Red School or something like that presented as part of a panel on embedded librarianship, I think. Anyway, her school had an incredible year long project that was community service oriented. I wanted to get more info, but she never responded. Maybe you can check with her.

The closest thing we have at this time is passing Senior Health, which includes a research/presentation. Luckily, the teacher agreed this year to let me in on the project. I required a bibliography, (which I scored) and responsible sources database, ebook, and websites via Medline Plus.

I'm very involved with digital portfolios, but there is no graduation requirement, nor does administration talk about it. It was an outcome of NEASC in order to measure our school wide expectations. In the beginning teachers were required to have students turn in 2 pieces of work per course. Class of 2013 was our first class that was supposed to have a completed portfolio. It never happened. No we're conducting MAP testing 3 times a year for English & Math and will have data based on CCSS rather than our school wide rubrics. I became involved because I really believe portfolios are awesome. Unfortunately I can't require the teachers to do anything more. We've discussed Powerschool & what looks like its ability to collect work for a portfolio. They didn't have that tool 5 years ago. Other than that there's nothing required that I'm involved in, except the traditional research projects, but that's simply sharing how to search, I don't grade anything. I'm actually collecting information on Senior Experiences & the librarians involvement.

Our 10th grade English students do a research project, although the length and resource requirements vary from teacher to teacher. 11th grade Social Studies does a long research paper also, with much agreement on scope. I'm involved with the 10th grade, have them for 5 days of research related instruction, website eval, citation practice. Really short reminder with 11th grade - 10-15 minutes, hand out database sheet again, point out Social Studies specific resources they might not (ok, don't) know about.

Thanks Sarah. I participated in this AASL Webinar a few weeks ago. You might want to see if you can access it on the AASL site. It's been archived:

Senior/Capstone Project: The Role of the School Librarian

West Hartford is just beginning to discuss digital portfolios and Capstone projects for both middle and HS . We are creating a google site to use as a template for grades 6-12 to use as a digital portfolio, we hope to pilot at grade 6 this year , and yes LMS will be involved in supporting students in learning how to use a google site to upload etc. Part of the hold is waiting for the SDE for more direction.