Alignnment of information skills

Vertically Aligning Information Literacy with help from the

Common Core

Debbie DupreeWake Young Women’s Leadership

Academy

What is Information Literacy?

ALA (American Library Association) states: Information Literacy is the set of skills needed

to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information. (ALA, 2013)

How are we doing?

“Despite the considerable attention paid to the need to increase the information literacy of high school students in preparation for the transition to college, poor research skills still seem to be the norm.”

(Varlejs, Stec, and Kwon, 2014)

Evidence from research

• administrative oversight • pedagogy NOT rooted in inquiry based learning • lack of information skills among content area

teachers • lack of collaboration • lack of staff in school library due to budget cuts • assigning projects that are not inquiry based • grades only on format and final product

Complaints from the Research

• Teachers are not willing to give up the time• Teachers need to be in control and are

reluctant to treat librarians as collaborative partners

• Teachers education has not included information literacy in curriculum

•Your thoughtsDiscussion with a partner or two on how to address these issues at our schools.

•Responses?

How to do this?

• Strong knowledge of the Common Core• Collaboration• Alignment of skills across grade levels • More Collaboration• Process for Research in all subjects• Leadership and Collaboration

eWISE• Inquiry based•Allows differentiation•WCPSS supported

W

Research Model – High School

• Review of research• Transition from middle to high

• Are 9th grade students skilled in the process of research?

• How do we respond?

AASL’s Action Brief

AASL Action Brief

• “This action brief is a starting point,” said AASL President Gail Dickinson. “It was designed to increase awareness of the Common Core State Standards, create a sense of opportunity around their implementation, and provide school librarians — who are faced with increased opportunities in the context of fewer resources — with a deeper understanding of the standards and their role in implementing them.”

Loertscher on the Common Core

• “The CCSS is a fresh leadership start for every librarian in the nation,” Loertscher concurred. “This action brief illustrates multiple opportunities for school librarians to move themselves to the center of teaching and learning in their schools and breathe new life into their programs. The document also serves as an excellent advocacy tool to help build essential partnerships with principals and teachers to implement the CCSS.”

But What About the Common Core?• 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research

projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

• 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

• 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

• “College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing,”

Reflect - Common Core

• Take a minute to reflect on how the Common Core may have impacted your practice

Ways to Act on the Common Core

• Get the discussion started at your school• Research is not the responsibility of only

Language Arts teachers“research and media skills and understandings

are embedded throughout the Standards rather than treated in a separate section.” (CCSS)

• Other ways?

Rita Martens of the Iowa Department of Education identified five key areas in which librarians can support the implementation of Common Core Standards

5 Key Areas

1. Creating sound persuasive arguments with evidence

2. Reading comprehension strategies3. Effectively using primary and secondary

sources4. Reading and analyzing complex texts5. Reading and comprehending informational

text in all content areas

Important links• Livebinder

for School Librarians with loads of resources on Common Core

• Article by KRISTIN FONTICHIARO with loads of links

• ALA’s ACRL on Information Literacy

• AASL’s Action Brief: Implementing the Common Core State Standards: The Role of the School Librarian. Go to Resources on page 28 of the 31 page PDF document.

Next Steps

• Implement a Research Process?• Use the CCSS to get the discussion started – or

to continue it?• Vertical alignment in your school?• What next for WCPSS?

Resources"Action brief helps school librarians support Common Core State Standards implementation".

American Library Association, November 12, 2013. Web. 22 April 2014.

Gustavson, Amy, and H. Clark Nall. "Freshman Overconfidence And Library Research Skills: A Troubling Relationship?" College & Undergraduate Libraries 18.4 (2011): 291-306. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Johns, Sara Kelly. "“Library Skills” = Information Literacy Skills = Common Core Skills." School Library Journal March 23 (2012): n. pag. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://blogs.slj.com/make-some-noise/2012/03/23/library-skills-information-literacy-skills-common-core-skills/>.

Lehman, Kathy. "Preparing Students For College: Whose Expectations Are We Meeting?" Library Media Connection 31.5 (2013): 10-12. Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Naylor-Gutierrez, Elizabeth. “Making The Common Core Work for School Libraries.” Young Adult Library Services 11.2 (2013): 13-16. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 22 April

2014.

Thomas, Nancy Pickering, Sherry R. Crow, and Lori L. Franklin. Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction: Applying Research to Practice in the 21st Century School Library. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, 2011. Print.

Varlejs, Jana, Eileen Stec, and Hannah Kwon. "Factors Affecting Students' Information Literacy as They Transition from High School to College." School Library Research 17 (2014): 1-23. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.