Action Research: How to advocate for your students’ library needs Rebecca Marcum Parker Border Star Montessori Librarian Kansas City Public Schools

Issues:. library programs are losing traction due to budget cuts Issues: library programs are losing traction due to budget cuts data is crucial to administrators we support all instruction many stakeholders don’t understand what we do Path to solution: learn how to pinpoint needs OR examine an effective program to create an action research project When actions research is complete: effectively communication your program’s needs with all stakeholders Action research worked for me; library services increased due to my action research.

Begin at the beginning…. Work with a partner for support Begin at the beginning… Work with a partner for support? Start a study group? Work under endorsement of an organization? Work with teachers from other disciplines. Plan to present your findings and share them with administration, and stakeholders.

Brainstorm! What are your biggest roadblocks to running a great library program? What would you love to start (program? policy?) that you need administrative support to do? Record every idea- big, little, seemingly impossible. You might want to choose something you can tie to MAP scores, reading levels, or other data your administrators are invested in. Choose your best 3, and discuss them with your group or a knowledgeable colleague. Choose the best and go!

Action Research Organizer Topic Question (thesis statement) Methods of data collection Relevant articles and sources Relevant policies

Collect data: Paper vs. e-collection: Paper data: 30+ hours to analyze. E-collection: instant and provides graphs of your findings. Google forms: simple and collates. Survey Monkey: may need to upgrade enter max amount of data and to analyze data.

Consider using: Anecdotal records Observations Student work samples Interviews Conversations Surveys and polls (post on social media and ask friends to repost)

Connect data to studies and policy: search.more.net: ERIC. Utilize Google Scholar. Choose terms carefully; consider matching terms in research. Consider 7 to 8 sources, though your topic may not require so many. Look for any policies and standards (district through national or international) to support your action research.

Crucial resources! Library Research Service https://www.lrs.org/ Provides research about libraries, statistics and analyses (including all state studies). Promotes using data more effectively and persuasively.

Crucial resources! OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) TALIS (Teaching and learning international survey): http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/data/oecd-education-statistics/talis-teaching-and-learning-international-survey-indicators-edition-2014_271fd86a-en asked a representative sample of teachers and schools internationally about working conditions and the learning environments. provides valid, timely and comparable information on education resources to help countries review and define policies for developing a high-quality teaching profession. Provides opportunity for teachers and school leaders to give input into educational policy analysis and development in key areas. Lower secondary teachers and leaders of schools in 200 schools per country/economy were randomly selected (20 teachers and 1 school leader per school). Some 107 000 lower secondary teachers responded to the survey, representing more than 4 million teachers in over 30 participating countries and economies.

Write abstract: 1-3 pages APA Rationale   Literature Review Data/ Tools/ Process Analysis and Findings Recommendations References

Language choices: written and oral Make assertive statements such as “Students need” or “Data shows” (avoid “I think” or “maybe we might think about possibly…”). Ask WHEN you can implement changes, not IF you can implement changes. Answer negative responses with the same types of statements.

Focus Focus needs on students (instead of stating that librarians need to be full-time at one school, state that students need full-time library services). Focus needs on administration focuses (MAP scores, reading scores, etc.). Be a future-ready librarian: speak “principal,” “superintendent,” and, most importantly, speak “stakeholder.”

Create a great presentation: Tell a story. Contain lots of powerful visuals. Guy Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule: "A PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points." No matter what, your presence, your topic and your audience are paramount.

Present: create event or ask to be on agenda Ask your team to present. Invite stakeholders, other educators, family, friends, community members. Advertise event. Distribute your abstracts to any and all interested parties.

My action research year 1: Do students benefit from having full-time library services? Rebecca Marcum Parker, American Federation of Teachers (Kansas City Federation of Teachers) Teacher Leader Program, 2014-2015 Utilized paper sign in sheets. circulation data. MAP scores All data compared my years at my building full-time, year I was 3 days per week, and years prior to my assignment at building Presented at KCFT event and distributed to KCPS board members. Result? School board president and parent was “shocked” and vowed change would occur. Next year? 4 days per week instead of 3.

My action research year 2: Do students benefit from extra library access and checking out multiple library books? Rebecca Marcum Parker, American Federation of Teachers (Kansas City Federation of Teachers) Teacher Leader Program, 2015-2016 Used google form sign in data. Compared students who use library most (extra visits to library to research and check out) and check out most to students who make no extra visits. Utilized MAP data and reading scores. Result? KCPS administrators want to move to full-time library services in each building.

Questions? Need help or resources? Rebecca Parker rparker@kcpublicschools.org rivyparker@gmail.com @rivyparker Questions? Need help or resources?