Keeping Up With the Research Linking School Library Media Center Programs to Achievement - 7/28/05 - download the pdf.

School Library Media Programs
and Academic Achievement:
A Bibliography and Availability List

by David V. Loertscher, March, 2005

The Gaver Study, 1963

  • Gaver, Mary V. Effectiveness of Centralized Library Service in Elementary Schools. 2nd ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1963 (out of print, find in many academic libraries or school district professional libraries).

The First Colorado Study, 1993:

  • Lance, Keith C, Linda Welborn, and Christine Hamilton-Pennell. The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement. Castle Rock, CO: Hi Willow Research and Publishing, 1993 (available from LMC Source at http://www.lmcsource.com under research)

The Second Colorado Study, 2000

  • Lance, Keith C., Marcia J. Rodney and Christine Hamilton-Pennell. How School Librarians Help Kids Achieve Standards: The Second Colorado Study. San Jose, CA: Hi Willow Research and Publishing, 2000 (available from LMC Source online at http://www.lmcsource.com under research).

The Alaska Study, 2000:

  • Lance, Keith C., Christine Hamilton-Pennell, Marcia J. Rodney, with Lois Peterson and Clara Sitter. Information Empowered: The School Librarian as an Agent of Academic Achievement in Alaska Schools. Revised ed. Juneau, AK: Alaska State Library, 2000 (available for $10 from The Alaska State Library, PO Box 110571, Juneau, AK 98811). Executive summary and order information at: http://www.library.state.ak.us/dev/infoemp.html
    Download

The Pennsylvania Study, 2000:

The Massachusetts Study, 2000:

The Texas Study, 2001:

The Oregon Study, 2001:

The Scotland Study, 2001

  • Williams, Dorothy and Caroline Wavell. The Impact of the School Library Resource Centre on Learning. Library and Information Commission Research Report 112: Report on Research Conducted for Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. Aberdeen, Scotland: The Robert Gordon University for The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, 2001. Available at:
    http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/~sim/research/SLRCreport.pdf

The Iowa Study, 2002:

  • Rodney, Marcia J., Keith Curry Lance and Christine Hamilton-Pennell. Make the Connection: Quality school Library Media Programs Impact Academic achievement in Iowa. A Research Project by Iowa Area Education Agencies, published by the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, 2002. Available at:
    http://www.aea9.k12.ia.us/statewidelibrarystudy.html

    Download

The New Mexico Study, 2002:

  • Lance, Keith Curry, Marcia J. Rodney, and Christine Hamilton-Pennell. How School Libraries Improve Outcomes for Children: The New Mexico Study. Sante Fe: NM: New Mexico State Library, 2002. Available for purchase from LMC source at http://www.lmcsource.com under Research.

The Minnesota Study, 2003

The Missouri Study, 2003

The Michigan Study, 2003

The North Carolina Study, 2003

  • The North Carolina study, An Essential Connection: How Quality School Library Media Programs Improve Student Achievement in North Carolina done by Robert Burgin and Pauletta Brown Bracy is available at: http://www.rburgin.com/NCschools2003/
  • Download
  • An enhanced printed version with presentations will be available from Hi Willow Research & Publishing Feb. 2004 at http://www.lmcsource.com

The Florida Study, 2003

  • A print verson just for the state of Florida was published for the FAME conference in Nov. 2003 and no other copies are available. A printed verstion is available from Hi Willow Research & Publishing http://www.lmcsource.com

The Rhode Island Study, 2003

  • On its way.

The Ohio Study (Todd and Kuhlthau), 2003

  • On its way.- preliminaries on the web mid October; findings presented at TM11 and AASL conference. Other publications are pending.

The New York City Study (Fordham University) (2003)

The Cabrillo College (CA) Study 2004

  • Topsy Smalley, author of this study says: I have just recently completed a study that I think you might be interested in. Since Cabrillo College's students flow in from 3 county school districts, only one of which has librarians, and since the library teaches an /Information Research/ course that is a co-requisite to English 1A (and is therefore taken by /many/ students) I wanted to see whether students in /Information Research/ who came from the school district that has LMTs did appreciably better in the course than students coming from high schools without LMTs and library programs. Well, of course: they did. But, now we can say "the data show..." The study was accepted for publication in the May 2004 issue of _Journal of Academic Librarianship.

Other Research Reviews of Interest

Krashen, 1993

  • Krashen, Stephen. The Power of Reading. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1993 (available for sale online at http://www.lu.com).


McQuillan, 1998

  • McQuillan, Jeff. The Literacy Crisis. Portsmith NH: Heinemann, 1998 (available for sale online at http://www.heinemann.com).

Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998

  • Cunningham, Ann E. and Keith E. Stanovich. "What Reading Does for the Mind." American Educator, Spring/Summer, 1998, p. 1-8.

Summaries/Presentations of the Studies

At a number of the websites listed above, fast fact sheets, executive summaries, and PowerPoint presentations are available. The studies have also been summarized with presentation materials in:

  • Lance, Keith Curry and David V. Loertscher. Powering Achievement. 2nd Edition. Salt Lake City UT: Hi Willow Research and Publishing, 2003. Available at: http://www.lmcsource.com under research.

Other Helpful Publications to Link Achievement and School Library Media Programs

  • Loertscher, David V. with Ross Todd. We Boost Achievement: Evidence-Based Practice for School Library Media Specialists. Hi Willow Research & Publishing, 2003. Available at www.lmcsource.com. Dr. Todd first provides a theoretical overview of the need for local research and data gathering. Then David Loertscher provides a wealth of measures probing the impact of theLMC program on reading, collaboration, technology, and information literacy.
  • Miller, Nancy A.S. Impact! Documentint the LMC Program for Accountability. This spreadsheet for use with Excel can be used to document what the school library media specialist does with their day. If the specialist will spend 10-15 minutes at the conclusion of a collaborative learning experience with teachers, the spreadsheet produces a major analysis of who is being worked iwth, time spent, state standards addressed, information literacy taught, and a host of other amazing analyses. Graphs can be used at a moment's notice to report to administrators, faculties, and boards. Available from www.lmcsource.com
  • Farmer, Leslie. How to Conduct Action Research: A Guide for Library Media Specialists. AASL, 2003. (available at www.ala.org)
  • Also check out the Action Research web site at: http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/arphome.html It is an australian website that has a great deal of helpful information about conducting action research in schools.