To: Mrs. Jones From: Autumn Schaffer

The Effectiveness of the School Library/Media Center

I am pleased to announce to you, that after careful evaluation using the 2011 Georgia Department of Education Library Media Program Self-Evalution Rubic, our media center is proficently functioning under the state requirements. In some specific areas, our media center is even exemplary and has reached a level higher than what is expected in school media centers in Georgia. There are a few areas, however, in which we scored as “basic.” I have developed action plans, however, to boost our management and instruction in these areas into a proficient level. Within this memo I would like to explain the specific elements of the evalution as well as share our artifacts that ensure our status within each category.

The first category within the evaluation deals with “student acheivement and instruction.” In 4 out of 6 of the indicators within this domain we are proficient. Clear information literacy skills are embeded into our curriculum through our media specialist and teacher collaboration. This curriculum is based upon state standards so that the media curriculum is supportive of what is expected through the state. During planning time, the media specialist frequently collaborates with teachers within the grade levels to plan for instruction outside of the classroom. This involves using materials available within the media center as well as online. The media specialist uses her expertise in these areas to extend learning. The resources available to the

students are also diverse in ablity, interst, and style, as selected by the media specialist.

We scored “exemplary” in the area of encouragement and support in the area of reading. Due to the programs in place within the media center, reading is a critical element within our school and the media program. We provide ample opportunities for students based upon curricular as well as recreational reading. On another note, we scored “basic” in the area of assessment within the media center. At this time, the assessments are completed by the classroom teachers alone. Within the action plan section of this memo, however, I propose an idea to involve the media center within some assessments.

We scored as “exemplary” in the staffing category of the rubric. We currently employ a full-time certified media specialist as well as a full-time media clerk. This ensures that the media staff are available for students and teachers during the entire instructional day.

We also scored as “exemplary” and “proficient” in the area of facilities, access, and resources available in the media center. We are proficient in the space provided to our students and staff within the media center. This space allows for large and small groups as well as individual meetings. Video streaming and

interactive white boards are also available in the media center as well as all of the classrooms. Our instruction and use of GALILEO, a online periodical database, increases every year due to awareness and explanation made available by the media specialist. We scored “exmplary” in our online access to the media center materials. Individuals can search for media materials using our OPAC system within the media center, classrooms, as well as outside of school. This is due to our LAN that provides internet to all of the classrooms within the school. The flexible schedule that allows for students and groups of students to check out, perform research, and seek aid from the media staff before, during, and after school is considered exemplary.

When considering the administrative support to the media center, we scored proficient and exemplary. Our media specialist stays in contact and plans with the other media specialists within the district. We also have a library media advisory committee and a technology committee that reviews our current resources as well as proposed new resources. We have media policies in place that have been approved by the Board of Education as well as our advisory committees. The staff of the media center helped to establish these polices. This collaboration is also true of the media center’s budget. Finally, the administrative staff of our school is supportive and encourages collaboration among teachers and media staff for

designing instructional units. This is made evident through specific common planning time for all parties.

Lastly, our media center is proficient in the area of staff development as our media specialist seeks professional development and shares this with the other staff members of our school.

Action Plan for “Student Achievement and Instruction: Student assessment is routinely assessed.”

We scored as “basic” within this specific area because the assessments provided to the students are from the classroom teachers. At this point the media specialist has not worked with student assessment of curriculum and information literacy skills. While she helps to plan for instruction and activites, the assessments have come from only the classroom teachers. To ensure that we are proficient, we should

allow for the collaboration for the development of rubrics and self-assessments used by the studens during instructional units. During planning of the units, the media specialist could work with the teachers to create isolated information literacy skills

assessments, which ask the students to respond to the process of locating information as well as expanding on the information that they found. They may also choose to include process questions involving judging the information and organizing it as they collected the information in the first place. I would suggest an information literacy self-rubric that the students complete as they find the information related to the instructional unit. This would allow them to comment on how they go about finding the information, evaluate the information, organize the information, and use the information. This would force these students to contemplate their actions within the research process. This strategy would provide the media specialist with specific data about how students are responding to the information literacy skills within the unit.

Action Plan for “Student Achievement and Instruction: Services are provided to students who have diverse

learning abilities, styles, and needs.”

While we are currently functioning as “proficient” in this area, using our previously stated action plan, we can become exemplary within this area. After the media specialist and the classroom teachers have planned instruction units combining information literacy skills and state curriculum, they can also develop isolated assessments or assessments involved with both objectives. Using a self-rubric for students to mark their progress in the information literacy and research process, the media specialist could then provide differenciated instruction based upon the needs of the students with these skills.

The media specialist could collect the data about the learned information literacy skills and provide futher instruction on these areas. Perhaps for certain students these skills need to be taught in isolation instead of in unison with another curricular project. From this data, the media specialist can better plan activities to promote research and understanding.

I hope this memo has been beneficial to your understanding of our media center as it aligns with the state requirements.

Thank you for your time,

Autumn Schaffer