Research Finding: A certain level of investment in the LMC program is necessary to expect improved achievement. What level of investment is required to make a significant difference?

Lance Findings in Two States Pennsylvania (2000) 435 schools Colorado (2000) 200 schools

Comparison of 25 Top Scoring vs. 25 Lowest Scoring Schools Staffing in Pennsylvania Professional staff hours/week 5th grade 34.31 vs. 29.36 17% difference 8th grade 38.40 vs. 37.63 2% difference 11th grade 45.06 vs. 43.25 4% difference Support staff hours/week 5th grade 25.92 vs. 12.48 108% difference 8th grade 30.30 vs. 15.80 92% difference 11th grade 49.57 vs. 19.28 157% difference

Conclusion in Pennsylvania Support staff was the key difference between strong and weak library media programs. That is, professionals alone cannot make a major difference because of the load of clerical and technical work.

Finding in Colorado Total library media staff hours/100 students 4th grade 14.67 vs. 9.38 56% difference 7th grade 13.00 vs. 10.72 21% difference

Conclusion for Colorado: The total LMC staff size contributes to academic achievement.

Budget investment for two states Pennsylvania Colorado

25 Highest Scoring vs. 25 Lowest Scoring Schools Pennsylvania budget for LMC materials 5th grade $7,240 vs. $4,928 47% difference in scores 8th grade $14,506 vs. $8,386 73% difference in scores 11th grade $23,730 vs. 14,197 67% difference in scores

25 Highest Scoring vs. 25 Lowest Scoring Schools Colorado budget for LMC materials 4th grade $21.60/student vs. $14.00 54 % difference in scores 7th grade $22.33/student vs. $13.44 66% difference in scores

Conclusion for Colorado and Pennsylvania In both states, high achieving schools have significantly higher budgets for materials in their library media programs.

Materials available in the LMC in two states Pennsylvania Colorado

25 Highest Scoring vs. 25 Lowest Scoring Schools Pennsylvania print volumes 5th grade 10,857 vs. 8,876 22% difference in scores 8th grade 13,507 vs. 10,744 26% difference in scores 11th grade 15,474 vs. 14,499 7% difference in scores

25 Highest Scoring vs. 25 Lowest Scoring Schools Colorado print volumes/student 4th grade 20.28 vs. 14.20 43% difference in scores 7th grade 16.53 vs. 13.87 19% difference in scores

Conclusion for Two States Stronger LMCs have richer print collections and this contributes to academic achievement. They also have stronger periodical periodical and electronic collections