It is the school library's responsibility to provide the tools necessary for students to utilize online resources effectively and efficiently. This education should also account for the increasing need for instruction regarding cyber ethics, particularly with the rise of cyberbullying. The teacher librarian is in the unique position to organize…

In recent years, a number of statewide research studies have been conducted to determine the impact of school library media centers and their school library media specialists (SLMSs) on student achievement. Research studies in eighteen states have clearly established the relationship between well-staffed, well-funded school libraries on student…

In the most effective schools, the potential for positive impact of the school library media center and the library media specialist is recognized, and teachers and media specialists work together routinely to support teaching and learning. This "Informed Educator" examines both the elements of an effective school library media center and the…

Library media specialists in Hawaii, like many of their colleagues elsewhere in the nation, are exploring ways to design and implement a type of student-oriented assessment that focuses on student performance. To tackle the issue of assessment in Hawaii's school library media centers, twenty-four K-12 library media specialists are currently…

In many ways, science classrooms and school library media centers are parallel universes struggling with their own reform issues and with documenting their own positive impacts. As the trend toward data-driven decisions grows in the school setting, it is increasingly important for every component of the learning environment to have demonstrable…

Program evaluation is about measurement, but it is also about making meaning of those things quantified. This booklet aims at providing guidance for school library media specialists in doing both. It offers brief comments about each of the following areas and provides some concrete tools for the evaluator's use when needed: Organization…

This article describes a research center established by Professors Carol Kuhlthau and Ross Todd of Rutgers University in New Brunswick to promote the study of the impact of school library media centers on student learning and the dynamics of effective school library programs. The Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) is…

Reflection and evaluation are key to improving the effectiveness of the school library resource center (LRC). The idea of measuring success may seem initially daunting, or even threatening, and be seen as yet another call on already limited time, but we should not be put off: much of the information required is already there, either explicit or…

Although schools are spending huge sums of money (nearly one billion dollars in 1970-71) on instructional technology, their media programs are disorganized and inefficient as documented in the report of the Commission on Instructional Technology. In the speaker's opinion, effective media programs depend on several factors: choice of appropriate…

This annotated bibliography of 20 research reports identifies what has been determined about the effects of library media services on learning and suggests methodologies available for similar studies. Organization is according to area of learning affected--academic achievement; language, reading, and library skills; mathematics; science; social…

This paper summarizes research and publications on the benefits of providing elementary and secondary school media centers and libraries in developed and developing nations. Summaries of five research studies on the impact of media centers/libraries on teaching and learning provide information on research activities in the United States and Latin…

Intended to assist local school districts in meeting the requirements of the Pennsylvania Code, Title 22, Chapter 5, this publication provides guidelines which school districts can use to develop a flexible integrated K-12 school library media program supported by local school policies and operational procedures. Following a diagram showing the…

This report summarizes studies related to school library media that have appeared in "Resources in Education" (RIE) or "Current Index to Journals in Education" (CIJE) between June 1981 and December 1985. Reports and papers on library media programs are discussed in the following three broad categories: (1) Library Media…

A practicum was designed to increase the utilization of an elementary school media center whose wealth of materials were seldom checked out or used, and whose facilities were used mostly for fixed library scheduled classes. Moreover, the media center's facilities were unattractive and uninviting to visit. The solution strategies involved…

These guidelines provide basic information to administrators, teachers, library media specialists and the general public for the evaluation of library media programs at the school and district level. They can also be used as a resource for establishing, developing and improving programs as well as for setting goals and objectives for the program…