The Advocacy Impact of ESSA Workshops
The 2017 ALA Emerging Leaders team sponsored by AASL was charged with evaluating the effectiveness of the division’s ESSA state workshops. The team found that before AASL’s ESSA Workshops almost 60% of participants indicated they were “not comfortable” or “somewhat comfortable” advocating for their programs. After AASL’s ESSA Workshops more than 65% of participants indicated they were “completely comfortable” or “adequately comfortable.” An executive summary report and infographic outlines their findings.
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New eAcademy Course on Making Your Library Epic
AASL’s upcoming eAcademy course “Making Your Library Epic: Creating Innovative Spaces for Student Learning” offers attendees ideas and inspiration for transforming the physical space of their libraries to make them innovative, student-friendly learning environments. Learn how to apply educational design theory to renovate your library no matter what your budget is. Learn strategies for changing up your space that you can apply immediately. The course runs September 25–October 13, 2017.
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ALA Nominating Committee Extends Deadlines
The ALA 2018 Nominating Committee announces a deadline extension for completing the candidate biographical form for the position of Councilor-at-Large. Any ALA members interested in being considered for candidacy for the positions of ALA Councilor-at-Large have until 9:00 a.m. CT time on Wednesday, July 26, to complete the form. All potential nominees must complete the Potential Candidate Biographical Form available at https://ala2.directnominations.net. You will be asked to create an account in order to access the form.
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Katherine Lester’s School Library Receives Award
Katherine Lester’s East Middle School Library Center was awarded Michigan’s 2017-2018 Model 21st Century School Library for excelling at the important library skillset of collaboration. The school library, part of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, won the honor for its focus on services and programs for students and staff, and extensive professional activities promoting school libraries and quality services statewide.
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Debbie Supplee Advocates for School Library Positions in Delaware
Debbie Supplee, librarian at John Dickinson High School in Delaware, advocates for school library positions in Delaware in an online article. "We have a lot of kids who have a high level of anxiety in school, and have a trauma going on at home, and this is a great way for them to come in and just decompress,'' she said. "So they come in, they sit down, it might be at the end of a class period, it might be during lunch, and they just kind of mess around with the puzzle."
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Lauri Vaughan Receives Margaret A. Edwards Award for Best Reading Program for Teens
Lauri Vaughan, upper school campus librarian at The Harker School in California, accepted the Margaret A. Edwards Award for the nation’s best reading program for teens at the ALA Conference in Chicago on Mon., June 26. ReCreate Reading, Harker’s summer reading program, celebrates reading for pleasure and offers students in grades 10-12 a choice of approximately 70 titles sponsored by as many teachers.
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Jean Pfluger Highlighted for Efforts to Combat Fake News
Jean Pfluger, upper school librarian for the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, was featured for taking part in a panel discussion at ISTE on efforts to fight fake news. Pfluger believes the growing influence of fake news websites is proof that the role of school librarians is more important than ever. “I spend hours finding resources and teaching students how to evaluate online information,” she said. “I don’t see teachers having the time to do that for themselves. The best thing K–12 leaders can do is get librarians back in their schools.”
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Michelle Cooper Featured as a Tech Leader in Tech & Learning
Michelle Cooper, library media specialist at White Oak Middle School in Texas, is featured for her tech leadership in Tech & Learning. She started a lunchtime tech club that now boasts 200 members. Cooper hosts multiple sessions a week and lets her students select the activities, which include 3D printing, coding, and participating in GlobalMakerDay.
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Becky Calzada Highlighted for Redesign Efforts
Becky Calzada, district library coordinator at Leander ISD in Texas, is highlighted for her efforts to redesign and re-imagine her school library space. Calzada took part in a panel discussion during the ISTE Conference. “People aren’t coming to the library anymore for books,” Calzada said. “The big, bulky furniture we had wasn’t working anymore either.”
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Tracey Wong Awarded Lemelson-MIT Excite Award
Tracey Wong was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Excite Award. The award is given annually to a select group of educators across the country who have applied to receive a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant for the following school year and have been selected as a finalist. Award recipients participate in invention education learning opportunities as part of an all-expenses paid trip to MIT for the Lemelson-MIT Program’s annual EurekaFest, a multi-day invention celebration in mid-June.
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Submit a Member Spotlight
Have you been recognized for your work as a school librarian, received an award, published a book or article, or received another industry accomplishment? Submit a Member Spotlight today!
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April Dawkins is now an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
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Submit a Member Current
Have you graduated, received a new certification, changed positions, or retired? Submit a Member Current for inclusion in the next KQ Express.
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Florida Allows Anyone to Challenge Books in Schools
Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a bill that allows any Florida resident to formally challenge new or old materials available in public schools. The bill was intended to challenge science content; however, based on affidavits, it seems likely that the law will be used to request the removal of library books that parents find objectionable.
Trump’s Infrastructure Proposal Would Extend Broadband Access to Rural Areas
President Donald Trump's infrastructure proposal prioritizes broadband internet in rural areas. Data show 39% of those living in rural areas lack access to what the Federal Communications Commission considers "basic fixed broadband internet service."
Personalized Learning Linked to Higher Test Scores
Students attending schools that use personalized learning may post slightly higher test scores in reading and math than peers in other schools, according to a study by the RAND Corp. The findings highlight data from 40 schools.
Advocacy Takeaway: School librarians provide personalized, rigorous learning experiences supported by technology; they offer instruction and equitable access to print and digital resources to ensure a well-rounded education for every student.
Access to High-Speed Internet Access Lags
More than 10.6 million US households have no access to wired Internet service with download speeds of at least 25Mbps, and an additional 46.1 million households live in areas with just one provider offering those speeds, a new analysis has found. That adds up to more than 56 million households lacking any high-speed broadband choice over wired connections.
Is ESSA Being Misinterpreted on Science?
The National Science Teachers Association and the STEM Education Coalition have sent a letter to the US Department of Education criticizing its approach to science under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The groups write that the Education Department is misinterpreting the goals of ESSA when it discourages states from making science a priority in their accountability plans.
Parents’ Attitudes about Classroom Technology
A majority of parents believe that classroom technology can help prepare their children for college and careers, according to a survey of administrators, parents, and teachers. The survey, produced by Project Tomorrow and Blackboard, also found that 51% of principals and 67% of technology leaders say the biggest obstacle to tech expansion is getting teachers to change.
Advocacy Takeaway: School librarians are highly involved professionals that not only participate in but deliver professional development to their peers and to educators and staff in their schools.
Homeless Students Not Getting Enough Help
Data show that many students who are homeless nationwide are not receiving the assistance they are legally entitled to under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Officials say the act has not been implemented effectively because it lacks funding.
Advocacy Takeaway: School librarians work every day to meet the needs of all students in their school, including those from underserved populations
Are Fewer Art Classes Harming Math Skills?
The amount of time students spend drawing in school has dropped drastically over the past two decades, according to a study conducted in the Netherlands. Previous research has shown that drawing is linked to mathematical reasoning and can improve reading and writing skills.
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Most Talked-About KQ Blog Posts
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Resources for School Librarians
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Ideas to Help Students Think about Goals
Inviting students to write about their guiding principles and goals can be a good way to start the school year, asserts Maurice Elias, a professor of psychology. In this blog post, Elias provides a framework -- including question prompts -- for the back-to-school activity.
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A Guide to Twitter Chats for Educators
Twitter education chats are a valuable way for teachers to grow their personal learning networks, writes educator Robert Ward. In this blog post, he shares ways teachers can enter and bring value to the conversation.
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Podcasts Boost Lessons in Reading and Writing
High-school English teacher Nancy Hoppe uses podcasts to help her students improve skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking. In this commentary, Hoppe shares six ways in which she uses podcasts to help students learn.
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New Game Allows Students to Spot the Fake News
Journalist Maggie Farley has created a game called Factitious -- modeled after the dating application Tinder -- to help people distinguish between fake news and real journalism. Farley designed the game for middle- and high-school students, but she says it can be useful for all ages.
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Best Ways to Flip Instruction
The flipped instructional model can work, assert several educators interviewed in this blog post. Jeryl-Ann Asaro, an eighth-grade English teacher, offers 12 ideas to make flipped instruction work, and Daniel Schwartz, dean of the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, shares a concept he calls "double flipped" instruction.
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How to Combat Negative Online Behavior
The toxic behavior of internet trolls and cyberbullies can discourage some educators from using the internet, to the detriment of their students, writes Donnie Piercey of Eminence Schools in Kentucky. In this commentary, Piercey suggests that educators can combat the negative online culture their students encounter by modeling positive, "internet kind" behavior.
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Tips for Fostering Passion-Based Learning
Students are more likely to demonstrate grit and perseverance if they are interested in what they are learning, asserts middle-school teacher Heather Wolpert-Gawron. In this blog post, she shares several tips to help educators inspire students to learn.
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Tips for Creating Successful PLCs
Teacher collaboration can help educators improve student performance, asserts Ben Johnson, an author, educator and administrator. In this blog post, he shares tips to help educators form successful professional learning communities.
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Why Students Need Mentors, Not Red Ink
Students need teachers who are writing mentors rather than just feedback on papers with red ink, literacy consultant and author Patty McGee writes. In this article, she shares resources and ideas for using the writing-mentor strategy, such as offering students choices in expressing ideas.
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Partnership & Collaborator News
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Achieve’s New Transparency Reports Show Many States Don’t Report Data by Student Subgroups
Achieve released new state college and career readiness transparency reports, which award each state a score on its transparency of public reporting at the state level on several indicators of college and career readiness. Achieve asked questions about state reporting on eight different indicators of college and career readiness, including college- and career-ready course of study completion, earning college credit while in high school, postsecondary enrollment, remediation, and persistence, and more. Scores ranged from a low of just four points out of 32 (earned by Pennsylvania) to a high of 26.25 out of 32 (earned by Minnesota).
New CoSN Paper Underscores Why Students Need 24/7 Broadband Access
CoSN issued a new paper for education leaders, titled “School-to-Home: Understanding Why 24/7 Access to Broadband is Essential to Student Learning.” The paper, which is part of CoSN’s Digital Equity and Smart Education Networks by Design (SEND) Initiatives, gives school leaders guidance to improve digital access in their communities. In addition, CoSN puts forth recommendations for districts to build and strengthen their networks and identifies funding opportunities for school systems to improve digital equity.
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