In the November issue of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians newsletter, Media Center Messenger, one of the cover stories is the announcement that they have contracted with my RSL Research Group colleagues and me to conduct the next school library impact study. We look forward to working with them on this project during the balance of the 2013-14 school year. Quoting from the page 6 article:
“The South Carolina Association of School Librarians has contracted with RSL Research Group to conduct a two phase project to study school library programs, staffing and collections in South Carolina. Dr. Keith Curry Lance, well known for his research in several other states, will be the principal investigator.
During Phase 1, the study will assess the impact of staffing and other aspects of school library programs on student achievement using the results of the 2012-2013 South Carolina Library Media Survey and test results from the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) and the High School Assessment Program (HSAP). Phase 2 will investigate educator assessments (school librarians, administrators and classroom teachers) to determine the relationship between school library programming and student test scores. The two phases will be conducted concurrently.
SCASL President Anne Lemieux said, “the SCASL Board of Directors is very excited to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Lance and to provide our school librarians and other stakeholders with empirical evidence of the important role of school librarians and library programming on student achievement.”
Dr. Lance, who has conducted similar studies in several other states, is expected to begin work immediately, and he said, “Bill Schwarz, Marcia Rodney, and I (the RSL Research Group) are looking forward to conducting the 2014 South Carolina school library impact study. This study will explore in greater depth than ever the relationships between student success at meeting selected state standards, the resources and services available to students via their school libraries, and educators’ perceptions of what and how well librarians teach. Also, for the first time, this study will assess the relative impact of the presence of school librarians and selected other types of specialists and instructional coaches.”
The study will be conducted during the 2013-2014 school year with the final report expected in October 2014. An advisory committee composed of Ms. Ida Thompson, Dr. Donna Shannon, Ms. Karen Gavigan, Ms. Betsy Long, Ms. Kitt Lisenby, Ms. Martha Taylor and Ms. Cindy Symonds will assist the RSL Research Group. Ms. Kathy Sutusky will serve as liaison between SCASL and the RSL Research Group.”