As an SLM graduate student and a member of the American Library Association, I periodically check the ALA Website just to see what’s new. So, when I was recently assigned a school library media research paper, it seemed the logical place to start. The ASLA “Issues and Advocacy” Web page identified student achievement as one of the key issues facing school media specialists today. Since this also happens to be a topic of personal interest, I chose to research it.
The vast majority of available research, much of which is modeled after the 1990 hallmark Colorado Study conducted by Keith Curry Lance and his colleagues, indicates that effective school library media programs have a positive impact on student achievement. While this came as no surprise, the USDE’s unwillingness to recognize these studies was a real eye opener. No less than fourteen states have conducted large scale studies and determined that school libraries are linked to student achievement. However, in order to be considered “scientifically based research” by the USDE, a study must be a large scale controlled randomized trial or use another experimental or observational design. The aforementioned studies do not meet this criterion. Thus, the federal government has summarily discounted a great deal of significant school library research.
It is up to us, as media specialists, to spread the word; the school media program can make a difference! I will be sharing the results of these and other studies with my principal and colleagues as a way of advocating for and promoting my media program. School libraries definitely have an impact on student achievement. After all, fourteen statewide studies can’t be wrong!