BFTP: A trick question
Saturday, July 2, 2011 at 08:21AM A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post, June 26, 2006. See also: Demonstrating Our Impact - Putting Numbers in Context Part 1 Dec/Jan 2006/07, Demonstrating Our Impact - Putting Numbers in Context Part 2 March 2007
The stumper, it seemed, during yesterday's interviews for our new high school library media specialist was:
How will you demonstrate that the library media program is having a positive impact on student achievement in the school?
How did that evil question get in there with "Tell us a little about yourself" and "Describe a successful lesson you've taught"? - those are questions most of us could answer with one frontal lobe tied behind our backs.
Given the increased emphasis on accountability and data-driven practices, it's question all of us, librarians and technologists alike, need to be ready to answer - even if we are not looking for a new job. (Of the four candidates we interviewed yesterday, three were looking for a job because their previous positions had been cut.)
While I would never be quick enough to have said this without knowing the question was coming, I believe the best response to the question would be another question: "How does your school measure student achievement?"
If the answer was simply, "Our school measures student achievement by standardized or state test scores," I would have had to have replied, "There is an empirical way of determining whether the library program has an impact on such scores, but I don't think you'd really want to run the study. Are you willing to have a significant portion of your students (and teachers) go without library services and resources as part of a control group? Are you willing to wait 3-4 years for reliable longitudinal data? Are willing to measure only those students who are here their entire educational career? Are you willing to change nothing else in the school to eliminate all other factors that might influence test scores? Will the groups we analyze be large enough to be considered statistically significant?" No school I know of has the will to run such as study. Nor do many of us have the statistical or research expertise to conduct it any who.
If the answer to the question "How does your school measure student achievement?" was more complex - though successful completion of rigorous course work, through authentically assessed mastery of problem-solving skills, through reports of post-secondary success by graduates, through successful participation in extra-curricular activities, though high graduation rates, through alumni or employer satisfaction surveys, etc.., then my response could not be so flip.
How can we hold ourselves accountable/answerable in an education environment in which a empirical means to demonstrate our value is impractical if not impossible?
Joyce Valenza's exemplary "End of Year" report is one example of demonstrating a program's (and the program director's) impact on student and school success. Why do I think Joyce's position will probably never be cut so long as she is in it?
OK, Joyce is probably among the half dozen smartest and hardest working people person in all library-land. Nobody should be expected to create a report as good as Joyce's. But we can all steal really good stuff from the report. Replicate a mini-OHIO study. David Loertcher has been on the bandwagon for use to compile lists of units we work with teachers on and the skills being taught in them. Jennifer LaGuarde (LibraryGirl) creates dynamic infographics as a part of her Annual Report and Buffy Hamilton's video report using Animoto is very powerful.
And I would still advocate creating and then reporting on the successful completion of annual goals that are owned by not just the librarian, but the staff and administration too. That's how my department remains "answerable."
How will you demonstrate that the library media (or technology) program is having a positive impact on student achievement in the school?
Think about it. I bet you'll be asked in the near future. How will you answer?
Reader Comments (4)
As a recent graduate from library school and a current job-seeker, I was just asked this question last week on an interview. I have to say that it really took me by surprise and I had NO idea how to answer. I fumbled around and didn't feel very comfortable with my "non-answer". I was so glad to see this post as I have a 2nd interview coming up with that school next week. (I must have said something they liked.) I love the examples you gave regarding reports and I will be suggesting to the interview team that I would make use of such reports as a part of my routine. Thanks!!!
Thanks, Shelly. Always nice to know one has been helpful.
Good luck with your interviews!
Doug
As part of the Georgia Exemplary Library Media Center nomination our MC has then been required to write a 6 page narrative about how we have met the goals of their rubric and the school improvement goals. I've written this document the last two years and used the rubric as part of my program development plan and mc goals, so it's been a good reflective process. :). Although, I do think I need to work on an annual report before the school year starts again.
Hi Shawn,
I like how your narrative ties your library program to your school goals. This is something we all need to do more of.
Doug