TL10.3lmp1-11ARaccessola2.com/images/infocentral/TL10.3_pt1.pdf · Title: TL10.3lmp1-11AR Created Date: 7/26/2004 11:30:58 AM

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TEATEACCHINHING G LIBRARIANLIBRARIANThe magThe magazine of tazine of the Onthe Ontarario Scio School Librhool Librarary Associationy AssociationIndian Summer 2003 vIndian Summer 2003 volume 1olume 10, number 3 ISSN 10, number 3 ISSN 11188 688 679X79X

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The Evidence @ your library™

77 THE EVIDENCE @ YOUR LIBRARYby Bobbie Henley

1122 ADVOCATING THE EVIDENCEby Carol Koechlin

1166 DO WE ASSUME TOO MUCH? by Tanya Green

1188 CRITICAL THINKING: THE TC2 CONCEPTIONby Rose Dotten

2277 IS THE PENDULUM SWINGING BACK FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES?by Susan Moroz

3300 ANOTHER WAY WE MAKE A DIFFERENCEby Bobbie Henley

3333 OLA'S READING PROGRAMS: DO THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?THE EVIDENCEby Sya Van Geest

4411 LOOKING BACK ON LOOKING NORTHBrenda Dillon reports from June’s Joint CLA/ALA Conference

4444 TTLL The ProfilePETER ROGERS: QUIET INSPIRATIONAn interview by Dianne Clipsham

THETHE

TEATEACCHINHING LIBRARIANG LIBRARIANIndian Summer 2003 Volume 10, number 3 ISSN 1188 679X

88 TTLL IItt WWoorrkkeedd FFoorr MMee!!

99 TTLL LLeetttteerrss ttoo tthhee EEddiittoorr

1100 TTLL PPrrooffeessssiioonnaall CCoonnnneeccttiioonnssby Brenda Dillon

4466 TTLL PPrrooffeessssiioonnaall RReessoouurrcceess

5500 OOSSLLAA PPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss RReeppoorrtt by Esther Rosenfeld

5511 TTLL DDaatteelliinnee

IInnsseerrtt OOSSLLAA CURRICULUM IDEABOOKGrade 6 SCENCE: DIVERSITY OF LIVING THINGSby Darlene Doner and Cheryl DinninGrade 10: CAREER STUDIESby Cathy Thompson

IInnsseerrtt OOLLAA ADVOCACY FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIESThe Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries: the Case for Reform and Redevelopment by Ken Haycock

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4 Ontario School Library Association

Thanks go to the contributors to TThhee TTeeaacchhiinngg LLiibbrraarriiaann,, Volume 10, number 3

SUSAN MOROZis teacher-librarian at J.A.McWilliam Public School inthe Greater Essex CountyDistrict School Board.<[email protected]>

BOBBIE HENLEY is teacher-librarian atBrantford Collegiate inthe Grand Erie District School Board. She isOSLA Vice-President/President-elect and iseditor of The TeachingLibrarian. <[email protected]>

ROSE DOTTENis Director of Library andInformation Services at the University of TorontoSchools and one of theauthors of InformationStudies: Kindergarten to Grade 12.<[email protected]>

BRENDA DILLON is teacher-librarian atPhilip Pocock CatholicSecondary School inthe Dufferin-PeelCatholic District SchoolBoard. <[email protected]>

ESTHER ROSENFELD is District-Wide Co-ordinator in Library andLearning Resources atthe Toronto DistrictSchool Board. She is atwo-time OSLA President(2002 and this year).<[email protected]>

SYA VAN GEESTretired from the PeelDistrict School Board.She is a popular work-shop presenter in theOLA Education Institute,a two-time President ofOSLA (2000, 2001) and apassionate volunteer.<[email protected]>

CAROL KOECHLINis recently retired as aconsultant with theToronto District SchoolBoard. She is co-authorof the popular InformationPower Pack and InfoTasks for SuccessfulLearning.

TANYA GREENis teacher-librarian atNottawa ElementarySchool in the SimcoeCounty DistrictSchool Board.<[email protected]>

DIANNE CLIPSHAM retired as Head of theLibrary at WoodroffeHigh School in theOttawa-CarletonDistrict School Boardand is a consultant.<[email protected]> CHERYL DINNIN

is teacher-librarian at CaradocCentral and Parkview Schoolsin the Thames Valley DistrictSchool Board.DARLENE DONERis a Learning Support Teacherand part-time classroomteacher at Caradoc CentralSchool, Thames Valley DistrictSchool Board.

CATHY THOMPSONis teacher-librarian at Robert F.Hall Secondary School of theDufferin-Peel Catholic DistrictSchool Board.

OOSSLLAACURRICULUM IDEABOOK

KEN HAYCOCKFormer Dean of the School ofLibrary, Archival andInformation Studies, professorat the University of BritishColumbia, and Principal of KenHaycock and Associates.

OOLLAAPUBLICATION INSERT

The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 5

The Teaching Librarian is a benefit of OSLA membership. It is also available on subscrip-tion for $36.00 per year, plus GST. To become a member or subscriber, contact:

Membership Services,Ontario Library Association,100 Lombard Street, Suite 303, Toronto, ON M5C 1M3 416-363-3388 or 1-866-873-9867 toll free outside Toronto calling areaFAX: 416-941-9581 or 1-800-387-1181 toll free outside Toronto calling area<[email protected]> URL: http://www.accessola.com

Copyright © 2003, Ontario Library Association. All rights reserved.

THE TEACHING LIBRARIAN is the official magazine of the Ontario School LibraryAssociation. It is published three times a year to supportOSLA members in providing significant and effective libraryprograms and services. The Teaching Librarian promoteslibrary program and curriculum development that further theobjectives set out for students and teachers by the province,school boards, administrators, teachers and parents. It fos-ters effective partnering with teachers and administrators,and provides a forum where teacher-librarians can shareexperience and expertise.

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THE TEACHING LIBRARIAN BOARD

Dianne Clipsham Retired, Ottawa Carleton District School BoardBrenda Dillon Philip Pocock Secondary, Dufferin-Peel Catholic

District School BoardCheryl Dinnin Parkview/Caradoc Central Schools, Thames Valley

District School BoardKaren Smulevitch Leaside High School, Toronto District School BoardEsther Rosenfeld OSLA President / Toronto District School BoardMarilyn Willis Peel District School BoardSya Van Geest Retired, Peel District School Board

To contact a Board member: <[email protected]>

THE TEACHING LIBRARIAN EDITOR

Bobbie Henley Brantford Collegiate, Grand Erie District School Board / OSLA Vice-President

To contact the Editor: <[email protected]> or <[email protected]>

responsibilityTL

V. 11, no. 1 Coping with the Crisis Release: December 2003.Deadline: October 15.

V. 11, no. 2 ICT @ your library Release: March 2004.Deadline: December 5.

V. 11, no. 3 Ethics @ your library Release: June 2004Deadline: March 12.

Articles of 1000-1300 words in length are welcome. Articles, whenapproved, should be accompanied by good quality illustrationsand/or pictures. Text must be sent electronically. Pictures can beprinted or digital (minimum size and quality are 4”x4” and 300dpi). With photos which contain a recognized individual, pleasesecure the individual’s permission in writing for use of the photo.Photos taken at public events, or crowd shots taken in a public placedo not require permission from the subjects. All submissions are sub-ject to editing for consistency, length and style. If significant changesresult in the text of an article as a result of editing decisions, theEditor will contact the writer before printing. Any questions aboutsubmissions should be directed to the Editor of Teaching Librarian at:

[email protected]

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subscriptionsTL

Student Projects is directed at stu-dents in grades 8-12. In an age oftechnological acceleration andinformation overload, studentsneed clearly defined pathways tochart their way through theirassignments.

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with the fundamental research skills

H Allows for the assessment of both process and final product.

H Provides helpful advice for teachersassigned to classes outside their area ofexpertise.

Student Projects presents a comprehensivecross-curricular program for developing asolid base on which to build moreadvanced research, writing and publicspeaking skills.

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THE EVIDENCE @ your library™

This issue on evidence sets out, through a wide range of articles, toadd to the proof of the incredible value of teacher-librarians andstrong library programs. Over and over again we are presented

with the facts: school library programs staffed with qualified teacher-librarians make a difference in the success of our students.

Studies conducted by professionals such as Keith Curry Lance, DavidLoertscher and Ken Haycock confirm what we have known all along. AsHaycock says in The Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries: The Case for Reform

and Re-Investment: “In fact, no fewer than 40 years of research – conducted in differentlocations, at different levels of schooling, in different socioeconomic areas, sponsored bydifferent agencies and conducted by different, credible researchers – provides an abun-dance of evidence about the positive impact of qualified teacher-librarians and schoollibraries on children and adolescents.”

Examine Information Studies, Kindergarten to Grade 12 to see how school library pro-grams have, for years now, been on the cutting edge of addressing student learning duringthe information age. See students researching with interest as they build invaluable skillsthat transfer to other subjects and the real world. Step into a school library to watch a stu-dent giving her first multimedia presentation or capture the magic during storytelling time.Take a look at the reading programs, from Blue Spruce to White Pine, which enthuse thou-sands of students yearly, contributing greatly to improved reading abilities and a lifelonglove of learning. Check out our Super Conference to get inspired by colleagues who raisethe bar with innovative and exciting programs for students of all ages and abilities. Sign upfor the Summer Institutes to see how teacher-librarians continue to build a culture of liter-acy and integrate information technologies into the curriculum.

Unfortunately, as Haycock says, “even where there are outstanding programs, there isno requirement for school districts to engage qualified teacher-librarians.” In fact, “In oneyear (1998-1999) in Ontario, more schools reported losing teacher-librarians (22%) thanany other specialist teacher.” (People for Education) We know we make a difference, butwe need to build more evidence. Organizations such as the Canadian Coalition for SchoolLibraries (CCSL); events such as the Ontario School Library Association Summit on SchoolLibraries in May 2002; reports such as Haycock’s The Crisis in School Libraries: The Case forReform and Re-Investment; dynamic leadership teams such as TALCO and the OSLAExecutive; and those of you who run solid programs and spread the word to our teachingcolleagues, parents and the media — all help to create the evidence needed to makechange.

In this issue, Carol Koechlin has challenged us with a checklist of strategies we canemploy to make a difference. Sya Van Geest inspires us with her article on literacy. SusanMoroz writes excitedly about the Elementary Library Resource Initiative’s (ELRI), booklist. Brenda Dillon once again provides us with a list of Web sites related to our theme andreviews of books to add to our professional library. All are visible evidence of the value ofthe teacher-librarian.

Thanks once again to all contributors, past and present. z

Bobbie Henley

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AA ssiimmppllee iiddeeaa ttoo pprroommoottee lliitteerraaccyySHARON ARMSTRONGTeacher-Librarian, Waterford District HighSchool, Grand Erie Board of Education

On our bulletin board we hangChristmas stockings on a poin-settia paper background with a

slogan which reads: “The stockings arehung by the chimney with care, in hopethat new books soon would be there...Be an angel, give a book this holiday.”The last stocking has a book peeking outof the top.

WWhhaatt wwoorrkkeedd ffoorr yyoouu??

This is a fun place to share ideas thatwork for you. E-mail your idea ortip to Teaching Librarian editor,

Bobbie Henley <[email protected]>. z

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TLAAnn AAuuccttiioonn iinn tthhee LLiibbrraarryyBOBBIE HENLEY

Idoubt this would work for everyteacher-librarian, but it worked for us.You might be able to modify the idea.

We were getting together our yearlyweeded books for our annual used booksale, when one of our library pages asked ifwe could have an auction instead. He rea-soned that we’d make quite a bit moremoney and that it would be “kind of neat.”It turned out that Luke had recently discov-ered he had the gift and was going to bespending the summer apprenticing to be anauctioneer! Well, why not? How often dowe get a request like this one?

By the end of the week, we had madeseveral announcements and distributed fly-ers around the school. Each staff memberwas pre-registered and given a paddle.Students and staff were intrigued to say theleast. Word of mouth spread and studentsbegan to sign up as well. We set up chairs inone of the teaching areas, borrowed a podi-um from the drama department, and bundled many of ourused books by genre. Sara, our library technician, who alsohas a very green thumb, had been coaxing little plants alongall year to sell as an add-on to the book sale. These were nowincluded in the auction. So too were several large plants thatwould be too heavy to lug home for the summer.

By 12 o’clock on Friday we had quite a few bidders in theaudience. Some took the time to browse our sale table as well.Not everything could be auctioned off over a lunch hour. Sure,we were nervous. Luke was pacing. Other students, who werein the library to finish up summatives, were drawn to theother side.

Well, our auction was a roaring success. Luke was magnifi-cent! I guess you either have it or you don’t, and he has it inspades. Staff and students got right into the spirit. One copyof The Deerslayer sold for $17.75! We netted well over $250over a single lunch hour and had far more fun than we wouldhave with a simple sale.

As I said, this probably wouldn’t work for everyone. Whoelse is lucky enough to have an auctioneer at their school?People are already planning to attend next year’s. Luke ismuch in demand. z


Letters t

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TLDear Editor,

The Globe and Mail, March 28, 2003, stated,"seniors get $450-million in tax credits to reim-burse them for the education portion of theirproperty taxes." As a new senior, my immediateresponse surprised me. It was visceral. Why didI feel so insulted and abused – this mixture ofanger, sadness and alarm?

What is so disturbing about this tax credit? 1. It's the ungenerous view of seniors embedded

in this policy. Do I really want a tax credit linked toa withdrawal of my support for public education,personified in my four precious grandchildren?How dare the government make that assumption?

2. There's the transparent ploy to buy me withthe condescending statement, "The governmentwants to reward the years of contributions madeby our seniors." I say, "Balderdash!" It representsnothing more than a ploy to buy votes.

3. There are principles involved, core valuesembedded in our belief systems with rich histori-cal background. This credit is a symbolic erosionof societal obligations, and public, universal educa-tion is one of those core values cherished sinceRyerson established it in the mid-1800s.

4. Is this a slippery slope, a precedent otherswill hang their hats on when they want to with-draw support from public education?

5. It is an insult against our intelligence. Weseniors have accumulated enough wisdom fromlife to know that as a society one of our greatestobligations is to educate our children and youth.To do otherwise is folly on many fronts.

Consider tax credits for those seniors in need,but don't disenfranchise them from theirresponsibility to educate the new generation.

As a volunteer in my grandchildren’s schoollibraries, I’m alarmed about the continuing evi-dence of cutbacks. I do not want to add to this. Igave the $200 tax credit we received three yearsago to my granddaughter’s school library tobuy books for the Silver Birch reading program.But random inserts of money across theprovince is no solution.

Each reader knows people in the ranks ofsenior. Discuss this with them. Get their ideas inaddition to your own. Share your ideas here oron the OSLA listserv. The Liberal platform doespromise a reversal of this policy but it doeshave to be monitored, as do all of their promis-es that fill us with such hope.

Sya Van GeestSenior, grandmother, member. z

Dear Editor,

Thanks so much for sending the complimentarycopies of the Teaching Librarian magazine to us.The candidates of the York-Durham-Simcoe Co-Op Teacher Librarianship Part I AQ course haveread several articles and are thoroughlyimpressed with the quality and timeliness of thearticles. In fact, some are using the well-writtenarticles as starting points for their action-basedresearch assignments.

Keep up the great work.

Linda Girardo,St. Agnes and St. Stephen SchoolsYork Catholic District School Board. z

Dear Editor,

Wow! The article and photos are terrific!Everybody wants copies - the administrators,the kids in the photos, the Home & School, ourvolunteers, my family, Cliff's family, etc., etc.We're famous! Way cool! Any chance for 20copies? We'll gladly take whatever you can send.Thank you for providing me this opportunity; ithas been an exciting experience both profession-ally and personally. I think more of us need to tellthe world about what we do, because we are pro-viding very important programs in our librariesand media centres. We work hard and we need toremind each other and the communities weserve that our jobs are crucial to the success ofall students in schools. And you just helped thathappen!

Celia NicholsTeacher-LibrarianPrince Charles Public SchoolLondon, Ontario. z

DDoo yyoouu hhaavvee aann ooppiinniioonn??

Do you disagree with an article in thisissue? Do you have a reaction to discus-sion on the OSLA listserv? Do you have

an experience worth sharing? Something we canall learn from. These are your pages. You do notalways have to write an entire article to sharewhat is important to you. Send your ideas to: <[email protected]> or

<[email protected]> We would love to hear from you. z


It simply can’t be said toooften: school librarieshave a positive impact on

student learning and achieve-ment. And there’s an incredi-ble amount of research thatsays so.

Keeping up with the researchcan be a challenge. Whybother? Because we owe itto our students to fight ashard as we can for the schoollibraries they need. We havea responsibility to ensurethat those who make policyand budget decisions areaware of the research andunderstand the impact ofcuts to school libraries. Thismeans we have to be awareof the research and its impli-cations, know where to findthe various studies andreports, and be willing toshare them with others.

As I said, this can be a chal-lenge. However, theresources noted in this col-umn should give you a goodstart on this vital work.

LITERATUREREVIEWS

The Crisis in Canada’sSchool Libraries:The Case for Reformand ReinvestmentIn this report, released inJune 2003, Dr. Ken Haycockexamines the nation-wideschool library crisis and pro-vides a thorough literaturereview. He concludes withthirteen recommendations,all addressed to Ministries ofEducation, that outline waysand means of rebuildingCanadian school libraries.

A copy of Haycock's report isenclosed with this issue ofThe Teaching Librarian toensure you have an opportu-nity to become familiar withit. OSLA members are askedto support and reinforce theadvocacy efforts of the OLABoard by reading the reportand discussing it with keypersons at both the schooland district levels.

The OLA Board of Directors issending a copy of this reportto every Director, principal,and supervisory officer in theprovince. You might want toprovide copies of the reportto key persons - such as fed-eration representatives andSchool Council Chairs - notincluded in the OLA mailing.Professionally printed copiescan be purchased for $6.00from the Association ofCanadian Publishers (whosegrant paid for the research).Thereport is also availableon-line as a PDF file and canbe downloaded from<www.publishers.ca/pages/HaycockACP2_w2.pdf>or from the OLA web site,Issues section under SchoolLibraries.

Impact of School Librarieson Student Achievement:A Review of the ResearchMichele Lonsdale preparedthis report in March 2003 forthe Australian SchoolLibraries Association. Thefocus is on research conduct-ed since 1990, including all ofthe major studies by Lanceand his colleagues. TheAustralian perspective isinteresting. www.asla.org.au/research/index.htm

DDeemmoonnssttrraattiinngg IImmppaacctt::by Brenda Dillon

THE RESEARCHESSAY

Research in the humanitiesis not simply

a gathering of facts.

It is a process involving both criticalthought and creative imagination.

From launching the essay and locatingsources, to organizing material and com-posing a thesis, the academic essay isthe basis of much professional writing.Robertson’s The Research Essay givesstudents the terminology and frameworkthey need to build a well-written essay.Providing a detailed index as well as a

glossary of terms and examples ofvarious types of citations, this text is

especially relevant for students learningresearch skills in this age of technology.

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SCHOOL LIBRARYRESEARCH:STUDIES ANDRESOURCES

The Ontario School LibraryAssociation Check out the Links section.www.accessola.com/osla

The Ontario Library Association Check out The Issues –School Libraries. See espe-cially School Libraries inOntario. Facts, Links andReferences, which takes youto the School LibrariesToolkit. This toolkit containsa wealth of links to every-thing from articles about thecrisis in Ontario’s schoollibraries to Lance’s researchstudies.www.accessola.com

SLiP, School Library InformationPortal: The Canadian connectionto School Library documentsCheck out SLiP’s Researchsection for links to interest-ing Canadian documents.slip.cla.ca/research.htm

American Association of School LibrariansCheck out the links to studiesand articles in the “StudentAchievement” section of the“Issues and Advocacy” page.If you’re interested in build-ing a professional collectionon the topic of libraries andstudent achievement, go tothe “Professional Tools” pageof the AASL site, scroll downto “AASL Resource Guides forSchool Library MediaProgram Development” andselect the “StudentAchievement” guide. http://www.ala.org/aaslhomeTemplate.cfm

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LMC SourceCheck out the “SchoolLibrary Media Programs andAcademic Achievement: aBibliography and AvailabilityList”, which goes well beyondthe Colorado studies, as wellas the “Book Extensions” forPowering Achievement (avail-able for both editions, includ-ing the actual PowerPointslides used in the book). www.lmcsource.com/tech/reviews.html

International Association ofSchool LibrarianshipThe IASL site is always worthchecking, no matter what it isyou’re looking for. The“Research in SchoolLibrarianship”, “SchoolLibrary Resources on theInternet”, and “SchoolLibrarianship Documents”sections will be of particularinterest.www.iasl-slo.org

Library Research ServiceKeith Curry Lance is theDirector of Library ResearchService, so it should come asno surprise that the LRS siteis an excellent starting pointfor anyone looking for thestate studies on the impact ofschool libraries. This URLwill take you directly to theSchool Library section of theLRS site. Check out both“Impact Studies” and“Research Projects”. http://www.lrs.org/School_lib.html

There’s an incredibleamount of schoollibrary research. And

all of the research on theimpact of school libraries onstudent achievement con-cludes that school librariesdo, in fact, have a positiveimpact on student achieve-ment and learning. We knowthis. The research proves it.It’s our job to make sure thisresearch comes to the atten-tion of educators, administra-tors, politicians, civilservants, parents, and stu-dents. We must make it clearthat our advocacy is focusedon the needs of our studentsand this research is helpingus do that. Our studentsneed and deserve goodschool libraries and theyneed and deserve to have uswork to make those schoollibraries a reality. z


An old tale by Leo Tolstoy explores threequestions that seem relevant to theneeds of our profession today.

When is the best time to do things?Who is the most important one?What is the right thing to do?

Schools in Ontario need some answers tothese questions today as they go about thedaily business of teaching and learning.Presently everyone is caught up in planning forschool improvement to increase studentachievement. According to Tolstoy’s story,"There is only one important time and that isnow." Don’t look back at what was; now is thetime. This is the only time that you can reallyinfluence.

Tolstoy answers the second question byreminding us that, “The most important one isalways the one you are with.” In the context ofyour school community, the students, parents,teachers and administrators are sovery important to your success as theteacher-librarian in your school.

“The most important thing is to dogood for the one who is standing by yourside,” is the answer to Tolstoy’s last ques-tion. Of course, this is why we entered theteaching profession in the first place. Wewant to assist teachers in the classroomand we want to help students become life-long readers and improve their achieve-ment levels.

CCHHAANNGGIINNGG TTHHEE TTIIDDEE

A year ago this May the Ontario LibraryAssociation (OLA) held a very importantSummit on School Libraries. The overall con-

clusion of the work done at that summit wasthat schools without properly staffed schoollibraries disadvantage Ontario students.Although committed supporters of schoollibraries have kept the issue in the forefront ofeducational discussions, we still have not beenable to raise enough support to change thetide. School library programs in Ontario arestill fighting the waves of budget cuts andrestructuring. A year ago when I attended theSummit, I left with a personal commitment tohelp teacher-librarians empower themselves.

The research says that teacher-librarianscan and do exert a positive and significanteffect on academic achievement. (Lance 2001)A large body of international research backsup this finding, yet still we have to fight to holdon to staffing, program time and budgets.

The problem is we do not have local evi-dence. We can turn that perceived void into an

opportunity. What we need todo is turn the tide. Start gath-

Advocating the Evidence How Tolstoy’s age-old solutions work

THE

EVID

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by Carol

Ken Haycock

Stephen Krashen

MaryGaver


ering and documenting our own evidence atthe local school and district level. DianneOberg reminds us that research done closer tohome is more likely to be considered and per-haps to be viewed as trustworthy.

To make your school library programcount and be accountable we need to take ahard look at the research findings, assesswhere we are and decide what we need todo…set some achievable goals and develop anaction plan. (Koechlin and Zwaan 2003) It isthe responsibility of every teacher-librarian tobecome very familiar with the history ofresearch in our program area.

Investigate the work of these keyresearchers in North America:

l Mary Gaverl Keith Curry Lancel Stephen Krashenl Jeff McQuillanl Ken Haycockl Dianne Oberg

SSEELLEECCTT RREESSEEAARRCCHH FFIINNDDIINNGGSS

Information empowered: The school librarianas an agent of academic achievement

in Alaska (1999)

How school librarians help kids achieve stan-dards: The second Colorado study. (2000)

Measuring up to Standards: The impact ofschool library programs and informationliteracy in Pennsylvania schools. (2000)

l Academic achievement is higher in schools where the teacher-librarianengages with classroom teachers to col-laboratively plan and teach curriculumprograms, which integrate information lit-eracy skills.

l Flexible scheduling is a strong indicator ofhigher test scores

l Where networked computers link school libraries with classrooms and otherinstructional sites, students earn highertest scores.

l Better test results are also achieved where there is a quality collection ofresources which supports curriculumneeds and which is accessible to studentsand teachers all day.

l Leadership involvement on the part of theteacher-librarian has a strong impact oncollaboration, which in turn is an indica-tor of student success.

l Library program development (staffing, collections, expenditures) and technologyare strong predictors of student achieve-ment regardless of other factors includingsocio-economic.

The Power of Reading by Stephen Krashen.(1993)

l Voluntary reading is the best predictor of reading comprehension, vocabularygrowth, spelling ability, grammaticalusage and writing style.

l Access to school libraries result in more voluntary reading by students.

for today’s teacher-librarians

Koechlin

Keith Curry Lance

Dianne Oberg


l Having a teacher-librarian makes a difference in the amount of voluntaryreading done.

l Larger school library collections and longer hours increase both circulationand the amount read.

l When the reading environment is rich more voluntary reading occurs.

Take the research findings and translate theminto action. Select a few of the key researchfindings and start gathering evidence of yoursuccess in these areas. Develop a personalaction plan to bring about changes in your pro-gram and facilities so you too can documentevidence of the impact you have on studentachievement. This process will take some timebut you can start it today. Turn your libraryprogram into your own research project.

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In keeping with Dr David Loertscher’sTriangulation of Data - Driven Practice, you maywant to consider the effectiveness of your pro-gram from three perspectives:

Learner Level - Develop criteria for measuringstudent success. These criteria can be used fordeveloping rubrics, checklist, and ratingscales. Gather samples of student work andtheir reflections on the learning experience.Gather statistics about student reading habits.Take pictures of book celebrations and studentresearch activities.

Learning Unit Level - Develop criteria forassessing the success of the teaching experi-ence. Collect comments, stories, and scenar-ios. Record reflections about what works andwhat doesn’t. Keep a journal.

Learning Environment Level - Assess the effec-tiveness of the learning environment. Considerthe physical space, resources, equipment andambience. Take pictures. Gather statistics.Collect student and teacher comments.

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Let's look back at our three questions. Thetime to act is now. To help students and teach-ers function to their potential in this ever-

Key ResourcesHaycock, Ken. (2000). “Applying Research in InformationLiteracy.” Teacher Librarian Online. Retrieved September 2,2002, from the World Wide Web at http://www.teacher-librarian.com/pages/what works27_3.html

Haycock, Ken. (1992). What Works: Research About Teachingand Learning Through the School's Library Resource Centre.Vancouver BC: Rockland Press.

Koechlin, Carol and Sandi Zwaan. (2002) “Making LibraryPrograms Count: Where's the Evidence?” School Libraries inCanada Volume 22, Number 2, 21-23.

Krashen, Dr. Stephen. (1993). The Power of Reading: Insightsfrom the Research. Englewood, Colorado: LibrariesUnlimited, Inc.

Lance, Dr. Keith Curry. (2000). How School Librarians HelpKids Achieve Standards: The Second Colorado Study. SanJose, CA: Hi Willow Research and Publishing.

Lance, Dr. Keith Curry. (1999). Information Empowered: TheSchool Librarian as an Agent of Academic Achievement inAlaska Schools. Juneau: Alaska State Library.

Lance, Dr. Keith Curry. (1999). Measuring Up to Standards:The Role of School Libraries & Information Literacy.Retrieved September 2, 2002, from the World Wide Web athttp://www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/lib/libraries/measuring up.pdf

Lance, Dr. Keith Curry and Dr. David V. Loertscher. (2002).Powering Achievement. School Library Programs Make aDifference, The Evidence. San Jose, CA: Hi Willow Researchand Publishing.

Loertscher, D. and C. Champlin. (2002). Indiana Learns:Increasing Indiana Student Academic Achievement throughSchool Library Media and Technology Programs. San Jose,CA: Hi Willow Research and Publishing.

Loertscher, D. (2002). Reinvent Your School's Library in theAge of Technology: A Guide for Principals andSuperintendents. San Jose, CA: Hi Willow Research andPublishing.

Loertscher, D. and B. Woolls. (1999). Information Literacy: AReview of the Research. San Jose, CA: Hi Willow Researchand Publishing.

Muth, Jon.(2002).The Three Questions: Based on a Story byLeo Tolstoy. New York: Scholastic Press.

Oberg, Dianne. (2002). “Looking for the Evidence: DoSchool Libraries Improve Student Achievement?” SchoolLibraries in Canada Volume 22, Number 2, 21-23.


changing world, we need to ensure that we arethere with excellent facilities and strongschool library programs. The most importantthing you can do right now is start collectingsite-based evidence of the impact you make inyour school.

l Take the existing research findings and translate them into action.

l Reflect on what you are doing now in viewof the research findings.

l Rethink, rework, redesign.l Collect tangible evidence in your school.l Consider gathering evidence from three

perspectives - learner, learning unit, andlearning environment

l Create reports, advertise and celebrate your success.

l Tell the world how your school library program makes a difference.

l Use your evidence to advocate for more support.

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Use the chart below by Keith Curry Lance andDavid Loertscher to help you get started withyour action plan. z

Collaborate with teachers tobuild solid learning experiences

Teach integrated information literacy

Motivate learners to read more

Push information beyond thelibrary into the classroom andinto the homework on the lead-ership agenda

Work on the leadership agenda

5 KEY THINGS TO DO EVERY DAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCEKeith Curry Lance and David Loertscher, 2003

Strategy based on research Action Evidence of Success

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It was dur-ing a guid-ed reading

workshop for primary students when theinstructor Gail Gibbons told us to make sureour primary students knew the differencebetween information and storybooks. Ithought: “Well, sure they do. After we tell themone is true and the other imaginary, that’s allthere is to know!”

She went on to say that, in order to under-stand what’s going on in an information bookwe do not have to read it from front to back,which is not the case for a storybook. We canread the table of contents and pick and choosewhich chapter we want to read, and, it doesn’thave to be in order.

Wow! Heavy stuff! I just assumed our stu-dents would know that.

I have assumed over the years that whenour students come to the library to completeresearch assignments, they bring basic, logicalsearching and comprehension skills. This issimply not the case.

I have assumed that students will knowthat when they come to the bottom of a col-umn in an index they will know the next step is

to look to the top of the next column. I haveassumed that students know what a column is.I have assumed that when students are able tolocate an article in an encyclopedia, they willknow where that article begins and ends. Ihave assumed that when students discover aninteresting picture in a book, they will read thecaption to find out more. I have assumed thatstudents know what a caption is. I haveassumed that students know what a title is.Subtitles? Don’t even think about it.

In the past few years a smarter teacher-librarian with different expectations hasemerged. I find myself asking direct, concretequestions first before students of any age useinformation resources. The most useful phrasefor me is, “How do the publishers help you findthe caption, title, insert, subtitle, etc. on eachpage? Do they use the same font, colour, etc.?Why?” When students are guided to take thetime to find out how information books work,they can skim more quickly and effectively tofind the information they need. After decodingjust one page, their eyes know where to look toskim the titles on each page.

Indexes were the most frustrating to teachbecause I felt that the students and I werespeaking in different languages and I was say-ing the same thing over again—louder wasn’t

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always making us smarter. Information doesnot equal knowledge. In many ways this tech-nology is making us more ignorant. It is diffi-cult to slow down a student who is using theinternet as a research tool. Just as you are for-mulating the “How does?” question on yourlips, they have already selected (randomly) asite, glanced at the title and printed off theentire 20 pages. Reading before they print? Iwish. Will they analyze, transform and inter-nalize information? Judging from the piles ofprinted pages of web sites which are found inthe recycling bins, I know the answer is oftenno.

What is the best way to decode the inter-net search sites and results? The jury is outand the verdict will be changing constantly.The answer definitely lies in teaching informa-tion literacy skills. If students can discuss thesearch and if guided questioning can lead themto the best choice, information from the inter-net can be invaluable. If “…children are to beprepared for a future characterized by change,they must learn to think rationally and cre-atively, to solve problems, to manage andretrieve information, and to communicateeffectively. As a consequence, current andfuture curriculum development at all grade lev-els will stress the teaching of core componentsand skills, which are transferable across disci-plines and applicable to any learning situation,regardless of content.” z

helping! The three most useful concepts tounderstand are column, indent and margin. Istart with a small test by asking, “How manycolumns are on this page?” Then, “What wouldyou do if you get to the bottom of the columnand you run out of room? Where do you looknext?” If they know the answers then we’re onour way to tackling the margin and indent con-cept. A computer helps here.

For junior and intermediate students,assumptions can make a research period acolossal waste of time. Reference books,almanacs and encyclopedias are resourceswhich definitely need to be decoded first. Ifstudents are not able to answer “How is thisbook organized?” after a quick browsethrough, it’s time to back up. The longerwords like alphabetical, chronological, andnumerical become important here.

A dictionary or thesaurus or atlas must bea muddle of foggy small print for a student whodoesn’t understand about guide words, titles,subtitles, indenting, bolding etc. It is impor-tant that we take time to introduce and let thestudents practice mastering the jargon ofsome of these resources. Therein lies one lim-iting factor. Time.

It takes time. Maybe our best response toteachers asking if their class can come downfor a period to research is to plead with themto book in more periods. One would be forteaching the appropriate information skills todevelop independence. Another would allowthem time to locate and understand. We haveall heard that in spite of the volume of curricu-lum demands, it is in the best interest of ourstudents to go slower, and to cover less butcover it better. In the long run the informationskills we teach, review and master with stu-dents will be the ones which they will be ableto apply again and again.

Perhaps the other battle is technology. Ihave assumed that students look at the wordsbefore they select an internet site. While themiracle of search engines gives us thousandsof hits instantaneously, it is becoming evidentthat having access to more information is not

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Resources

American Association of School Librariansand Association for EducationalCommunications and Technology.Information Power: Guidelines for SchoolLibrary Media Programs. Chicago:American Library Association, 1988.

Pennell, Vicki. “Information = Knowledge:Are We Assuming Too Much?”Newfoundland and Labrador LearningResources Council Newsletter. Winter 1996.

Information Literacy: An Advocacy Kit forTeacher-Librarians. North Vancouver, BritishColumbia: The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada, 1997.



Critical thinking involvesthinking through problemat-ic situations about what to

believe or how to act where thethinker makes reasoned judgmentsthat embody the qualities of a com-petent thinker. Critical thinking haslong been espoused by educatorsas a key goal for student learning.However, misunderstandings sur-rounding the concept of criticalthinking and how it can be taughtand learned have impeded wide-spread implementation of thisimportant objective.

The conception outlined in thisarticle has been developed over thepast 10 years by The CriticalThinking Consortium (TC2), an asso-ciation of 30 school districts, facul-ties of education and othereducational groups in BritishColumbia and more recently, inOntario and Alberta. Their approachis to infuse critical thinking into thecurriculum and to systematicallyteach the intellectual “tools” that stu-dents require to make reasoned judg-ments with and about the subjectmatter they are studying. In the TC2

approach, critical thinking ceases tobe an add-on to the teaching of con-tent, but rather an integral part of allteaching and learning.

Critical ThinkingThe Conceptionby Rose Dotten based on material developed by The Critical Thinking Consortium

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As Dr. Richard Paul, one of the preeminentAmerican leaders in the field of critical think-ing, has suggested, there is much to recom-mend this approach:

“In a world of pseudo-critical thinking, this approach stands out as remarkable, refreshing and exciting. It is a well thought through, substantive approach. Anyone seriously using it will be encouraging critical thinking in deep and important ways.”

Paul, R. (1997) “Using Minds to Command the Logic of Things:

A Response to Case and Wright”. Canadian Social Studies, 32(1), 20.

Teacher-librarians, with their emphasis onselection, evaluation, assessment and use ofinformation, can play a major role in support-ing critical thinking. In this role, the TC2 modelprovides a powerful framework for teacher–librarians and teachers to collaboratively inte-grate critical thinking, subject matter andresource-based learning.

This article focuses on the conception andframework of critical thinking; the design ofcritical challenges infused into curriculum;assessing the use of the intellectual tools; inte-gration/use of critical thinking in the Four-Stage Research and Inquiry process andexamples of critical thinking and informationliteracy.

UUNNDDEERRSSTTAANNDDIINNGG CCRRIITTIICCAALL TTHHIINNKKIINNGGAccording to the TC2 model, systematic

implementation requires attention to fourareas or dimensions of teaching and learning.These four dimensions are:

l building a community of thinkers l providing and infusing critical challengesl developing the required intellectual toolsl assessing students’ competent use of the

intellectual tools

BBUUIILLDDIINNGG AA CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYY OOFF TTHHIINNKKEERRSSDeveloping supportive school and class-

room communities where reflective inquiry isvalued may be the most important factor innurturing critical thinking. Many of the intel-

lectual resources or tools of critical thinkingwill not be mastered by students unless theiruse is reinforced on an ongoing basis. As well,the image of the thinker as a solitary figure ismisleading. No one person can perfectlyembody all the desired attributes—we mustlearn to rely on others to complement ourown thoughts. There are many routines andnorms that teachers can adopt to create acommunity of thinkers:

l regularly pose questions and assign-ments requiring students to thinkthrough, and not merely recall, what isbeing learned. (See Designing CriticalChallenges.)

l create ongoing opportunities to engagein critical and cooperative dialogue—confer, inquire, debate and critique—thisis key to creating a community ofthinkers. (Refer to the Intellectual Tools-Critical Vocabulary, Critical Judgment,Thinking Strategies.)

l employ self and peer evaluation as waysof involving students in thinking critical-ly about their own work. (See Assessingfor the Tools.)

l model good critical thinking practices.Students are more likely to learn to act indesired ways if they see teachers makingevery effort to be open-minded, to seekclarification where needed, to avoidreaching conclusions based on inade-quate evidence, and so on. (Refer toHabits of Mind.)

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If students are to improve their ability tothink critically, they must have numerousopportunities to engage in and think throughproblematic situations—referred to as CriticalChallenges.

l Does the question or task require judg-ment? A question or task is a criticalchallenge only if it invites students toassess the reasonableness of plausibleoptions or alternative conclusions. Inshort, it must require more than retrievalof information, rote application of a strat-

Roland Case,co-founder ofTC2, did twosessions at the2003 SuperConference onthis material.He returns toOntario duringthe Links toLearningConferencein Toronto,Feb. 27-28,2004. He willpresent aplenary and aworkshop.Rose Dottenwill present aworkshop onCritical Thinkingand InformationTechnology.

http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~learning


egy, uninformed guessing or mere asser-tion of a preference. Critical thinking iscriterial thinking, hence there is a needfor students to be invited to assess orjudge among alternatives on the basis ofcriteria. Regardless of their particularposition, students demonstrate thesequalities through a critically thoughtfulresponse and sensitivity to bias, consid-eration of alternative points of view,attention to clarity of key concepts andassessment of supporting evidence.

l Will the challenge be meaningful tostudents? Trivial, decontextualizedmental exercises often alienate or borestudents. It is important to framechallenges that are likely to engagestudents in tackling questions and tasksthat they will find meaningful.

l Does the challenge address key aspects ofthe subject matter? Critical thinkingshould not be divorced from the rest ofthe curriculum. Students are more likelyto learn the content of the curriculum ifthey are invited to think critically aboutissues embedded in the subject matter.In fact, teachers must also see that it isnot an add-on to the curriculum butrather a deep and integral part.

l Do students have the tools or can they rea-sonably acquire the tools needed to com-petently address the challenge? Studentsneed support in acquiring the essentialtools required to competently meet thecritical challenge.



CRITIQUE THE PIECEStudents assess the merits/shortcomings of adesignated figure, productor performance (may beteacher provided or stu-dent produced)

l Determine the appropriate punctual-tion for this “stripped-down” version of the song Galileo

l Is My Left Foot an appropriate choice forstudy in our schools?

l Are the results of this experiment to be trusted?

l Is the information on this web site credible?

l Are our questions about WWII powerful?

l Has the author provided a fair and fullaccount of what actually happened?

PROMPTS ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS SCIENCE SOCIAL STUDIES

JUDGE THE BETTEROR BESTStudents judge from amongtwo or three options(teacher provided orstudent generated) whichone(s) best meets theidentified criteria.

l In Hamlet, who is the more noble character: Laertes or Hamlet?

l Is the Wolf in the True Story of the Three Little Pigs good or bad?

l Who has the greatest mind: da Vinci, Newton or Einstein?

l The earth is long overdue to be struck by some kind of heavenly object. Which should be most feared – beinghit by a meteor, an asteroid or a comet?

l Which is the more effective form of trans-portation in the Arctic: the dog sled or the snowmobile?

l Should your family move to Weyburn or Prince George?

l Which of the five nominees is the most impressive legacy of ancient Egypt?

REWORK THE PIECEStudents transform aproduct or performance inlight of additional informa-tion or an assigned focus,perspective, genre, etc.,

l Write two editorials – one supporting, another refuting- that the charge of the LightBrigade was “That glorious blunder of which all Englishmen are justifiably proud.”

l Given data on the behaviour of a specified object in the earth’s gravity, reconstruct the resultsif this object was on Mars.

l Rewrite an historical account using the R-A-F-T-S approach.

l Write a letter of reference for Thomas More.

DECODE THE PUZZLEStudents suggest and justifya proposed solution,explanation or interpreta-tion to a confusing orenigmatic situation.

l Deconstruct the message embedded in the ads.

l Drawing on corrobo-rating references from elsewhere in the story,explain what the author is saying in thissection.

l Based on the findings from the simulated digof dinosaur remains, write a short account explaining what occurred on this site.

l Find a powerful metaphor that richly characterizes an aspect of Canadian life.

l Identify and support with evidence the R-A-F-T-S in a fellow student’s writing.

DESIGN TO SPECSStudents develop a productthat meets a specific set ofspecifications/conditions.

l Prepare briefing notes for the premier on today’s front-page news, dealing comprehensively but succinctly with all relevant topics.

l Create an anti-smoking poster using at least four techniques of persuasion.

l Build a structure usingthe materials providedthat will achieve the specified results.

l Design a rich habitat for the assigned animal.

l Create six questions for the end-of-unit exam, that are clear, non-trivial, manage-able and require more than recall of information.

PERFORM TO SPECSStudents perform orundertake a course ofaction that meets a givenset of specifications/conditions.

l Develop and implement a realistic plan to pursue your English/Language Arts learning priorities for this term.

l Carry out an experiment with paperairplanes establishing which combination of four specified design variations(nose weight, size of paper, stiffness of paper, shape) will result in the farthest flight.

l What might you do personally to make a lasting but respectful contribution to someone else’s life?

l Implement a campaignto boycott productsby companies thatexploit their workers.

DESIGNING CRITICAL CHALLENGES

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In supporting teachers to develop their own critical challenges, the developers of the TC2 model have identifiedsix types of tasks or questions that invite students to make reasoned judgments.


DEVELOPING INTELLECTUAL TOOLS

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BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGEThe information about atopic required forthoughtful reflection

Students cannot think deeply about a topic if theyknow little about it. Two questions to ask in devel-oping this tool:

l What background information do students needfor them to make a well-informed judgment onthe matter before them?

l How can students be assisted in acquiring thisinformation in a meaningful matter?

CRITERIA FOR JUDGMENTThe considerations orground for deciding whichof the alternatives is themost sensible orappropriate

Critical thinking is essentially a matter of judgingwhich alternative is sensible or reasonable.Students need help in thinking carefully about thecriteria to use when judging various alternatives.

l Is my estimate accurate?l Is the interpretation plausible?l Is the conclusion fair to all?l Is my proposal feasible?

CRITICAL THINKINGVOCABULARYThe range of conceptsand distinctions that arehelpful when thinkingcritically

Students require the vocabulary or concepts thatpermit them to make important distinctions amongthe different issues and thinking tasks facing them.These include the following:

l inference and direct observation;l generalization and over generalization;l premise and conclusion;l bias and point of view.

THINKING STRATEGIESThe repertoire of heuris-tics, organizing devices,models and algorithmsthat may be useful whenthinking through a criticalthinking problem

Although critical thinking is never simply a matter offollowing certain procedures or steps, numerousstrategies are useful for guiding one’s performancewhen thinking critically:

l Making decisions: Are there models or proce-dures to guide students through the factors theyshould consider (e.g., a framework for issueanalysis or problem solving)?

l Organizing Information: Would a graphic organiz-er (e.g., webbing diagrams, Venn diagrams, “proand con” charts) be useful in representing what astudent knows about the issue?

l Role taking: Before deciding on an action thataffects others, should students put themselves inthe others’ positions and imagine their feelings?

HABITS OF MINDThe values and attitudesof a careful and conscien-tious thinker

Being able to apply criteria and use strategies is oflittle value unless students also have the habits ofmind of a thoughtful person. These include:

l Open-minded: Are students willing to considerevidence to warrant it?

l Fair-minded: Are students willing to give impar-tial consideration to alternative points of viewand not simply impose their preference?

l Independent-minded: Are students willing tostand up for their firmly held beliefs?

l Inquiring or “critical” attitude: Are studentsinclined to question the clarity of and supportfor claims and to seek justified beliefs and values?

The key to helping students develop as critical thinkers is to nurture competent use of five types of tools ofthinking. These categories of tools are background knowledge, criteria for judgment, critical thinking vocabulary,thinking strategies and habits of mind.


ASSESSING FOR THE INTELLECTUAL TOOLS

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EVIDENCE OF CRITICAL THINKINGIN A PERSUASIVE ESSAY

EVIDENCE OF CRITICAL THINKINGIN AN ARTISTIC WORK

TYPE OF CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT

l cited accurate information. l revealed knowledge of themechanics of the medium.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGEHas the student provided adequateand accurate information?

l provided ample evidence;l arrangement arguments in logi-

cal sequence.

l work was imaginative;l work was clear and forceful.

CRITERIA FOR JUDGMENTHas the student satisfied relevantcriteria for judgement?

l correctly distinguished “argu-ments” from “counter argu-ments.”

l represented “point of view”CRITICAL THINKING VOCABULARYHas the student revealed under-standing of important vocabulary?

l used appropriate strategies forpersuasive writing.

l employed suitable rehearsal/preparation strategies.

THINKING STRATEGIESHas the student made effective useof appropriate thinking strategies?

l demonstrated an openness toalternative perspectives;

l refrained from forming firm opin-ions where the evidence wasinconclusive.

l was open to constructive criti-cism;

l demonstrated a commitment tohigh quality;

l demonstrated a willingness to

HABITS OF MINDHas the number demonstrated thedesired habits of mind?

Assessment is an important complement to the teaching of the tools of critical thinking. As suggested by thefamiliar adages “what is counted counts” and “testing drives the curriculum,” evaluation has important implica-tions for what students consider important and ultimately what students learn. Evaluations that focus exclusive-ly on recall of information or never consider habits of mind fail to assess, and possibly discourage studentgrowth in critical reflection.

A key challenge in assessing critical thinking is deciding what to look for in a student’s answer. If there is no sin-gle correct response, we may well ask: “On what basis, then, can we reliably assess students?” In the case ofcritical thinking, we would want to see how well students exhibited the qualities of a competent thinker. Thus,the intellectual resources or tools for critical thinking become the criteria for assessing students’ work. The fol-lowing example suggests each of five types of critical tools and specific assessment criteria that might be consid-ered when evaluating critical thinking in an argumentative essay and an artistic work.

CONNECTING TC2 TO THE OSLA FOUR-STAGERESEARCH AND INQUIRY MODEL with adaptations from the British ColumbiaTeacher-Librarians’Association Research Quest

PREPAREl Understand the critical challenge completely. l Know exactly what is required given the

audience.l Decide what information should be collected in

order to make a reasoned judgment.

Example:Critical Challenge:

Taking the pulse in 1815: Assess the economic,social and political well being of each focus group

(English Canadians, French Canadians, recentimmigrants and Aboriginal peoples) at thebeginning of the 19th century in Canada.

Students research and explore the topics and sharetheir investigations through report cards and discusshow best to assess a familiar topic given a set ofcriteria.

Background Knowledge: - knowledge of the social, political, economic,

conditions at the turn of the 19th century- familiarity with the purpose and format of

report cards- analysis of history from the perspective of

various groups(from Snapshots of 19th Century Canada)

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ACCESSl Inquire about and locate different types of

resourcesl Assess the suitability of the resources

according to criteria establishedl Select those sources that are most reliable

to meet the information needsIf necessary, revise your profile of informationneeds


Rate the cultural sensitivity of selectedanthropological observations about 16th and17th century societies in New France.

Students learn about the pitfalls involved in judg-ing, interpreting and generalizing about cultures.They work with a partner to assess the cross-cul-tural sensitivity of anthropological accounts ofthe cultures of New France.

Criteria for judgment: (also part of the Process Stage)- Criteria for cross-cultural sensitivity (aware-

ness of differences, cautious about pitfalls ininter-cultural understandings, careful in reach-ing conclusions) – used in assessing resourcesaccessed

- Critical thinking vocabulary- Cultural sensitivity vs. cultural relativism- Ethnocentrism vs. radical uniqueness- Stereotyping vs. radical individualism

Thinking strategies:Rating scale

(from Early Contact and Settlement in New France)

PROCESS l Examine and evaluate each source critically

based on criteria established for informa-tion needs

l Record the relevant information in pointform notes, or other graphic organizer for-mat

l Consider the pros and cons of each optionl Decide which option is the most reasonable

given the evidence and the relevant criteria

Example:Critical Challenge: Students explore in greater depth the positions

of key stakeholders in the Brazilian rain forestthrough participation in a mock symposiumwhere five perspectives are presented. Studentsdevelop probing questions to ask at the pressconference held by other stakeholder groups.(Blackline master – Developing information vs.issue-based questions.)

Criteria for effective note taking - record ideas in point form- focus on key ideas- use an organizer for taking notes, e.g., use of

an organizer for note taking which outlines thekey points (Blackline master - Notes on stake-holder perspectives)

- background information on the speaker andgroup represented

- list of priority interests and concerns- proposed strategies or plans the group would

like to see implemented- record of reasons to support the proposal.

(from The Brazilian Rain Forest)

TRANSFER AND COMMUNICATEl Prepare your conclusionsl Present in a compelling way with support-

ing reasons for format and content to suitpurpose and audience

l Rehearse and review prior to presentation

Example:Critical Challenge: Develop an effective press release presentingyour stakeholder group’s perspective on the rainforest. Students must summarize and presentkey information in a powerful but brief manner.An organizer to develop the press release wouldconsist of the following points:- Headline - Lead – Who,What, Where, When, How, Why- Memorable quotes- Key Supporting facts

(Blackline master - The Brazilian Rain Forest)

REFLECT ON THE EXPERIENCE (THROUGHOUT)

l Reflect on the project (Critical Challenge)and ask yourself:

- What worked well?- What did I learn about the topic and about

conducting research?


Collaborative planning with teachers for student success

Implementation of learning expectations from MinistryCurriculum Guidelines and Information literacy skillsexpectations

Using a wide range of appropriate resources

Integrating a variety of teaching/learning strategies

Incorporating specific subject vocabulary and informationliteracy concepts

Evaluating student performances

Managing time, developing efficient work habits and collab-orative work skills are important aspects of the process

Planning focuses on developing students’ ability to thinkcritically, using Criteria for Judgment

Content, learning activities and performance tasks arebased on curriculum expectations with logical connectionto several of the Intellectual Tools of the TC2 model

Resources are specific to needed Background Knowledge,helping students focus research

Thinking Strategies are included in the wide range ofInformation Literacy skills taught by teacher-librarians

Subject-matter vocabulary and Critical Thinking Vocabularyare both needed for critical thinking. Many information liter-acy terms are part of the critical thinking vocabulary; oth-ers are part of content vocabulary

Using relevant Criteria for Judgment provides criteria fordevelopment of Rubrics and enables student to understandwhen they have met the expectations successfully

Emphasis on the development of Habits of Mind contributesto the long-term success of students

RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING TH2 CONNECTIONS

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- Did I complete the challenge thoroughly andcompetently?

- What would I do differently?


Develop a reporter’s response log outlining:- Descriptions - Who? What? Where? When?

Why? and reflections based on each of thecategories

(from The Brazilian Rain Forest)

CONNECTING TC2 AND INFORMATION LITERACY

As demonstrated in these examples, critical thinking and the TC2 model are an integral part of the research andinquiry process, regardless of the specific model- OSLA Four stages, BCTL Research Quest, etc. However, the TC2

model with its infusion in all subject areas extends even further than the research and inquiry process in itslogical connections to the fundamental components of Information Literacy and Equitable Access:

“The ability to acquire, critically evaluate, select, use, create and communicate information in ways that lead to knowledge and wisdom.” ILEA draft, Ministry of Education, 1995.

Teacher-librarians through their role of infor-mation specialists can assist teachers and stu-dents to become better critical thinkers bystrengthening the relationship between the TC2

model of critical thinking and information litera-cy with minor changes to incorporate criticalchallenges into resource-based units. The prolif-eration of electronic sources of information andthe ability to locate competently and efficiently,select, assess and use this information is a keyfactor in student learning which can be devel-oped through critical thinking. The comparisonchart above demonstrates the connections.

Teacher-librarians and teachers will recognizethat combining critical challenges with resource-based learning, reinforcing critical thinking,especially with regard to the use of electronicinformation sources, and evaluating criticalthinking, along with curriculum and informationliteracy expectations can provide powerful newlearning opportunities for students. z

For more information about critical thinking and the many TC2 resources,contact: Rich Thinking Resources

https://public.sd38.bc.ca/RTRWeb/ProductsPage ore-mail [email protected] or phone 1-604-668-6072

A web site is under development: http://www.TC2.ca


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Schools receive a very special rate, either on a Boardlevel or at a school level. Visit the OLA at

http://www.accessola.com and follow the links to MEMBER BENEFITS and click on Paper of Record® or call 416/363-3388 and ask tospeak to Bob Kasher or e-mail Bob at [email protected].

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Paper ofRecord®

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electonic products division

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Susan Moroz

Wh e nN a t i o n a lL i b r a r i a n ,

Roch Carrier, told Quill andQuire in February, 2002, “Thestate of our nation’s school librariescan only be described as desperate in almostevery province,” it was the shot heard ‘roundthe library world. Almost immediately articlesappeared in many Canadian publicationsdecrying the dismal state of school libraries.With three articles appearing in the Globe andMail alone in less than a month, it seemed as ifthe dismal state of funding for school librarieswould finally garner the attention of the publicand politicians.

It's about time. With each successive article orradio program, the evidence that schoollibraries are in crisis mounted. The mediaquickly pointed out that funding for schoollibraries has eroded over the past decade. InOntario over the past five years there hasbeen a 45% increase in the number of schoollibraries that are open only part of the day.Now, one-third of elementary school librariesare open less than 20 hours a week. Also,there has been a drop of 26% in the number ofschools that have a teacher-librarian on staff.Add this to the fact that outdated library col-lections have dwindled to an average of only23 books per student, and you have the formu-la for a crisis.

How could this be happening to our schoollibraries when there is a growing body ofresearch in the United States that shows adirect correlation between a well stocked, wellstaffed school library and student perfor-mance on standardized tests and readingscores? A decade of funding cuts has forced



school boards into makingsome difficult choices, but

now there is hope forlibraries.

Several recent initia-tives create optimismthat the proverbialpendulum of educa-tion may be swing-ing back in supportof school libraries.In September of2001, The NationalLibrary of Canadacommissioned areport on schoollibraries to makethe case for betterfunding. This was

followed by the for-mation of the

Canadian Coalition forSchool Libraries (CCSL),

started in March of 2002.The CCSL is committed to

“fostering dynamic schoollibraries,” and is comprised of

wide range of

stakeholders—including, parents, teacher-librarians, writers, educators, publishers,library wholesalers and literacy advocates."

Recently, in May 2002, the Ontario SchoolLibrary Association held a well-attendedSummit on School Libraries, which concludedthat the crisis required urgent action. As thisschool year began, it seemed as if a lot ofimportant people were discussing and writingabout school libraries. However, that talk hadyet to turn into action, until now.

THE ELEMENTARY LIBRARY RESOURCE INITIATIVEAs of September 2002, one Ontario schoolboard has made a commitment to turn thingsaround by revitalizing the collections in itselementary school libraries. The GreaterEssex County District School Board hasembarked on an ambitious project by pur-chasing $1 million in new library resources.The first phase of the initiative, dubbed theElementary Library Resource Initiative (ELRI),involved creating an Essential Book Listwhich serves as the standard to which all theelementary library collections have beenraised. In addition, a Recommended Book Listhas been created as a purchasing guide for

schools with their own budget orother money to spend on their

library collection. (SeeCriteria for Book

Selection)

Creation ofthe booklist was atime-con-s u m i n gb u tr e w a r d -ing task

for sea-s o n e d

librarians, LizGolden, Martha

Martin and SusanMoroz, who formed

the bulk of the selectioncommittee for this project.

CRITERIA FOR BOOK SELECTION:

l Curriculum Linkedl Quality Materials (award winning,

structure, glossary, index, etc., print, illustrations, content, binding, genre)

l Copyright Datel Reading Level (reluctant reader,

emergent reader, teen issues)l Diversity (gender, disabilities, race,

religion, social issues)l Canadianl Popularity (topical, high interest)


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They responded to the many suggestions forheavy hitter book titles submitted by stu-dents, teachers, curriculum consultants, com-munity leaders and Canadian authors. Themassive amount of data collected was man-aged in an enormous database created bylibrary technician Liz Geier. The team createdcriteria by which all resources were assessedand, in the end, the team purchased morethan 67,000 of the best books available to ele-mentary children in Ontario. Based on schoolpopulation and need, each GECDSB elemen-tary school received between 500 and 1200books. (See the ELRI web sitehttp://www.gecdsb.on.ca/sub/schools/elem/southwoo/elementary_library_resourc.htm. Orvisit ELRI $1 Million Worth of Books atwww.gecdsb.on.ca.)

The Elementary Library Resource Initiative’ssecond phase is now in the planning stages.In order to address the needs of a teacher-librarian in every school, a large scale profes-sional development program will begin forthese individuals in September 2003.Administration issues such as running auto-mated circulation and cataloguing will beaddressed, as will effective methods to bestutilize the new book titles in supporting thecurriculum and classroom teachers. Sessionswill also be focused on collection weeding,feeding, protection and repair.

A third phase of the Initiative will celebratethe literacy connections between students,books, authors, reading and writing during thespring of 2004.

Project leader, Mike Budd, sees this as themost exciting and important project of hiscareer as a teacher consultant. “My hat is offto our principals who wisely identified therejuvenation of their school libraries as theirnumber one priority. The trustees and senioradministration have made some enlighteneddecisions and budgeting to make this hap-pen.”

Excitement over what the GECDSB is doingwith the ELRI project seems to be growingbeyond the borders of Essex County. As Johnand Carol Saunders of Saunders BookCompany say, "The GECDSB initiative is a rayof hope for publishers.” Recently, severalschool boards who have heard about the ini-tiative have contacted GECDSB for details. Itwould seem that the pendulum is picking upmomentum. z


We all know that a percentage of stu-dents practice academic dishon-esty by passing off the work of

others as their own, whether by plagiarizingessays, cheating on tests, breaking copyrightlaws or copying homework. We now know thatthis dishonesty is on the rise. “Cheating iswidespread in our schools today, especially atthe high school level. There is a steadyincrease in the number of students who cheatand in the seriousness and frequency of theircheating behaviors.” (Lathrop 30) But do weknow how to change this trend? What, specifi-cally, can teacher-librarians do, in our role asleaders in the schools, to help curb this prob-lem?

First of all, we need to understand whyacademic dishonesty is so prevalent. For pla-giarized essays, technology has been ourbiggest enemy. “Figures released by the uni-versity [University of Toronto] show that thenumber of plagiarism cases handled by acade-mic departments climbed from just 92 in 1996to 256 in 2002 – an increase of nearly 180%.Moreover, in arts and science faculties, nearly

all plagiarism cases now involve material pil-fered from the web, compared with only halfof cases just five years ago.” (Sorensen,Toronto Star)

Whereas students used to have to copyby hand from print sources, they can nowcopy instantly and efficiently in minutes. Theborrowing of essays is actually encouraged onmany different web sites. Essays are availableon every subject imaginable and these data-bases continue to grow daily. Students canchoose from various styles and they make nodirect contact with the writer. Many are writ-ten at the appropriate student level and there-fore make detection difficult for teachersrelying on their ‘cheat detectors.’

Let’s face it: our older students feel moreand more pressured in this day and age.Many of them work part time while attendingschool, are involved in extra-curricular eventsand face huge competition for acceptance topost secondary institutions and scholarships.The double cohort year only exacerbated this

by Bobbie Henley

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situation. Many students do not have goodtime management skills to assist them in plan-ning their workload priorities.

Other reasons for the increase in academ-ic dishonesty include poorly designed assign-ments, a lack of knowledge of citationconventions and poorly developed note-tak-ing skills. As well, there are a fair number ofstudents, I’m sure, who still do not realizethey are cheating. Borrowing completedhomework assignments, circulating test andexam questions, and reworking assignmentsfrom friends or older siblings have becomecommonplace activities, involving littlethought or reflection. Videos are copied indis-criminately and music files are downloadeddaily, with no consequences.

There are a number of ways that teacher-librarians, beginning at the elementary level,can play a critical role in significantly lower-ing the incidents of academic dishonesty.

1. Teach students the meaning of academicdishonesty

A simple part of the solution and one thatwe sometimes overlook is simply educatingstudents as to what constitutes academic dis-honesty. Students as young as grade 1 areforming research habits and should beencouraged to do their own work on tests,assignments, and homework. (This mightinclude educating parents as well.)

Elementary students know that otherforms of dishonesty such as cheating andlying are unacceptable and can be taughtwhat academic honesty involves. At the sec-ondary level, assemblies held at the beginningof the year for all grade levels is a quick andeffective way to inform and educate the stu-dent body.

Handouts can be given during library ori-entation or a class’ first library visit, and rein-forced across the curriculum in all subjects.When put in writing and distributed andexplained at the beginning of the year, mis-conceptions are cleared up and the “I didn’tknow” excuse is prevented.

2. Teach proper citation procedures,including when to cite sources.

Elementary students can follow citationconventions geared to their level of learning.Many older students still need to be taughthow to cite sources. Some know enough toreference direct quotations but do not realizethat borrowed ideas must also be cited. Manystudents paste pictures from the internet ontoposters and brochures without realizing theyalso need to be acknowledged.

This knowledge gap can easily be fixed.Many Boards have research guides, often writ-ten by teacher-librarians, that cover citationprocedures and those that don’t can havehandouts available in the library.

Once again, although teacher-librariansarethe logical staff members to provide andteach these skills, they must also work withother staff to ensure consistency across thedisciplines.

3. Imbed time management skills intomajor units and coordinate due dateswith other departments.

Major assignment deadlines are some-times given without built-in assessment of theprocess at various steps along the way tocompletion, resulting in many students com-pleting a unit’s work at the last minute.Students, especially those in the senior years,complain about due dates for major assign-ments falling at the same time. Some schoolstaffs have worked together successfully toavoid this happening, and often it is theteacher-librarian on staff who volunteers topost due dates and work with staff to coordi-nate assignments.

Teacher-librarians, when collaboratingwith staff on research units, can also volun-teer to conference with half of the studentsonce or twice during the procedure. Not onlydoes this help avoid last minute plagiarism,we have the added benefits of one on oneteaching. Sometimes we are made aware ofgaps in our collection during this process aswell.

President’sNote:The OSLA hasdeveloped apage on its website pointing toresources ofuse in combat-ting plagiarism.

www.accessola.com/osla/curriculum/ssr_plagiarism.htm


4. Teach note-making skillsStudents at all levels should be expected

to use visual organizers to record their infor-mation in stage 2 of the research process.Organizers provided and taught by theteacher-librarian can include checklists,columns, charts, and directives, come in manyshapes and sizes, and can be adapted for vari-ous grade levels.

Some senior level organizers provide sec-tions for both analytical skills, including a sec-tion for the student’s point of view and ideasexplored, and a place for the evidence gath-ered from research to support their view.Students are involved in higher level thinkingskills when note making is part of the researchprocess.

Teacher-librarians can stress the impor-tance of note-making skills when planningresearch units with other teachers, and canhelp students realize that note-making skillsresult in better understanding of the topic andreduce the likelihood of plagiarism.

5. Be clear and consistent withconsequences.

It is important that students are treatedfairly and consistently when caught practicing

academic dishonesty. Asstated above, consequencesshould be jointly deter-mined by the teacher-librar-ian and other staff at thebeginning of the year, inwriting, so there are no sur-prises, “Cheating and plagia-rism are less likely to occurif students believe thatcheaters will face conse-quences. Such measures areeffective directly, becausethey deter would-be dishon-esty, as well as indirectly,because they assure stu-dents that their peers willnot resort to dishonesty,and thereby remove a com-monly given reason forcheating and plagiarism.(Strategies, McGill)

6. Design authentic assignments.I believe this is the single most effective

way of reducing plagiarism, and that it shouldbegin in elementary school. Teacher-librariansmust collaborate with teachers to planresearch assignments which require authenticlearning rather than simple copying.

This “…involves educating teachers thatan effective research assignments require orig-inal reasoning by the student. Research whichis simply ‘about’ a topic leads to copying. Butactivities and tasks which ask for conclusions,ask for answers to interesting questions, askfor comparisons, ask for solutions to prob-lems, ask for points of view all lead to originalwriting. These kind of assignments help kidsnarrow a topic, focus effort, and call for higherlevel thinking.” (Johnson 87)

Teacher-librarians are in a key position toensure that the research process is inherent inall collaboratively designed assignments andthat staff recognize the difference between alow level assignment and those that areauthentic and require critical thinking skills.

7. Model ethical behaviour. Walk the talk. If staff copy videos illegally

or fail to acknowledge borrowed materials,how can they expect students to do other-wise? Handouts should acknowledge bor-rowed sources. We should point out tostudents that licenses have been purchasedand that copyright permission has been grant-ed. This goes a long way to setting the tone ofacademic honesty.

MAKING A DIFFERENCEThere are many methods that can be used

to detect plagiarized materials, which will alsoassist in lowering the number of incidents.These range from a search on Google to pur-chasing an anti-plagiarism product, andalthough these definitely do work, they areafter-the-fact and can be somewhat time con-suming. To teach students the real value ofpracticing ethical behaviour, the strategiesdiscussed above, although certainly notexhaustive, will make a huge difference in thequality of work done by the students at ourschools. z

REFERENCESJohnson, Doug. (1997) TheIndispensable Librarian.Worthington, Ohio: LinworthPublishing.

Lathrop, Ann and Kathleen Foss.(2000) Student Cheating andPlagiarism in the Internet Era: AWake-Upcall. Englewood, Colorado:Libraries Unlimited.

“Strategies to reduce cheating andPlagiarism.” (2003. 9 June 2003)Academic Integrity at McGillUniversity.<http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity/strategies/>
