Evidence, Standards, and School Librarianship: Prevailing Policies, Promising Methods, and Progress on a Research Agenda

Abstract

Guided by the question, “What are the implications of national educational evidence standards for school librarianship research?,” prevailing U.S. evidence-driven educational policies are examined to identify implications for school librarianship research; promising methods to contribute to building this evidence base are explored; and finally, progress on a long-term research agenda designed to enable school librarianship researchers to contribute evidence to educational policy is reviewed. As promising methods are explored, an actionable agenda is proposed that school library researchers can undertake to participate in a causal research environment.

They Should Be Called Guiders": Teachers and Teacher Librarians Developing Inquiry Learners

“…(Behrenbruch, 2012, p. 79) Findings on what teachers found essential were time, discourse and relationships, all tightly interwoven into common processes, including planning and developing student inquiries, assessing, and working in teams with other teachers. These findings demonstrate similar understanding to the teaching practices described by Schultz-Jones, et al (2018) which foster learning and understanding in their students. However, Behrenbruch's teachers do not discuss the teacher librarian's involvement in their inquiry units, nor do they discuss how they will help their students with seeking and using information, which is so much part of the teacher librarian's role in inquiry learning (2012).…”

“…It is clear that there is a strong need to develop teacher understanding and involvement in inquiry learning, especially in the information literacy skills involved as well as their understanding of collaborating with the teacher librarian. The OECD offers a conclusion here in concurrence with the research of Schultz-Jones, et al (2018), that there is no single best method of teaching:…”

“…Allied to the pressures of covering content and accountability is student and teacher perception of the teacher's role in inquiry learning. The research of Schultz-Jones, et al (2018) has early findings on the actions of teachers which best encourage learning. They describe practices such as using constructivist approaches, making connections with new and prior knowledge, blending group activities with direct instruction, asking "deep-level" questions, using hands-on, real world experiences, considering metacognitive skills, giving constant feedback, supporting reflection, and using visual representations (Schultz-Jones, et al, 2018).…”

“…The research of Schultz-Jones, et al (2018) has early findings on the actions of teachers which best encourage learning. They describe practices such as using constructivist approaches, making connections with new and prior knowledge, blending group activities with direct instruction, asking "deep-level" questions, using hands-on, real world experiences, considering metacognitive skills, giving constant feedback, supporting reflection, and using visual representations (Schultz-Jones, et al, 2018). These teaching practices are also central to inquiry learning and the partnership teachers and teacher librarians develop in planning, delivering and implementing inquiry units.…”