Students in Mr. Shaw's classes used to be free to discover the joy of reading books of their own choosing. But that kind of spontaneity is vanishing under No Child Left Behind. This article describes the classroom library Mr. Shaw has built throughout the years and the joy it has brought to his students and their learning.

Teacher-librarians are awash in data. Studies on the impact of school library programs on student achievement have now been replicated in 12 states (more are in the works) with amazingly consistent results, these are added to studies dating from the early 1960s that support the importance of school library programs to student achievement and the…

Kim Charlson believes everyone should live life to the fullest no matter what their handicaps. Blind since early childhood, she chose librarianship because, as a braille reader and avid user of talking books, she wanted to be "in a decision-making capacity in the library field and influence the direction of library services for people with…

Designing curricula around the standards, with clearly delineated strategies, expectations, and evaluative procedures, is thought to assure that growth in student achievement may be tracked. While this process can sometimes be nebulous, one thing is certain: clearly understanding what is involved in reaching a degree of excellence and determining…

In March 2003, a total of 394 media specialists throughout the state of Kentucky completed an online survey regarding the professional development needs. The public relations subcommittee of the Kentucky School Media Association Board of directors generated the questions and collected data from the three parts of the survey-demographics,…

Georgia's Choice/America's Choice (GC/AC) is a school reform model, which was adopted in approximately 160 schools across the state to focus on student work and achievement, to align the instructional process and to place emphasis on results. Library Media Specialists (LMSs) are important to school community's spirit of acceptance and should serve…

Book folders are an effective way of assessing and encouraging student reading of the high school level. The use of book folders, and how teachers utilize them, and how both reading and information literacy skills are promoted when teachers and library media specialists collaborate on this project are described.

Calls for proper assessment of students' abilities are on the rise in the U.S. and the No Child Left Behind Act is one example of the efforts undertaken at the state and national level. The role of library media specialists in the authentic assessment of students where they perform tasks that demonstrate their grasp of essential knowledge and…

Students need much assistance if they are to successfully use the Location and Access procedure of problem-solving. Guidelines are presented on how classroom teachers and library media specialists can help elementary students manage this Big6 stage.

Reading literacy and reading interest was examined in four primary schools in Papua New Guinea: in an international, suburban, settlement and village school. In this paper we present a summary of findings located within a local context and examine the implications as viewed through two lenses. From an 'educational for equality' perspective, the…

One of the many responsibilities teacher-librarians have recently assumed is the development of their school library's web site. Such site provide an organic "window" to the library's programs, services and resources that can be accessed by students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members. As such, they represent another vital…

Discusses the lack of communication between school principals and school library media specialists, the lack of information principals have regarding media specialists' roles and responsibilities, and the use of the executive briefing to open up effective channels of communication. Explains correlations between "Information Power"…

Describes advantages for school library media specialists to be school board members. Highlights include budget allocations for media centers in new schools; meeting with various lawmakers to advocate for school library interests; explaining the rationale for new technology; working with administrators; and being a change agent. (LRW)

In this age of overwhelming information, a good school library program is more important than ever. Students must be taught how to evaluate the information they find on the Internet. Collaboration between teachers and teacher-librarians is the key, and studies prove that this collaboration improves student test scores. However, the principal's…

An interesting and effective way to showcase the wide variety of fields to which differential equations can be applied is to have students give short oral presentations on a specific application. These talks, which have been presented by 30-40 students per year in our differential equations classes, provide exposure to a diverse array of topics…