Evidence-based Practice: Making the Case for Coteaching For LS5443: Librarians as Instructional Partners Department of Library and Information Studies Texas Woman’s University Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D.

Core Concept Leadership involves  developing expertise in literacy  applying evidence-based practice  taking a global view  making connections between and among classroom teachers and specialists and across disciplines and curricula.

“Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives.” Richard Vacca (quoted in Schmoker 51)

Coteaching Strategies Reading Comprehension (Info Literacy) Strategies Research-based Instructional Strategies Evidence-based Practice

Objectives: At the end of this presentation, you will be able to:  Synthesize the research related to classroom- library collaboration, teaching and coteaching reading comprehension strategies, and effective instructional practices.  Develop strategies for incorporating evidence- based practice into coteaching with each other and with classroom teacher colleagues.

The Case for Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies… Throughout this presentation, we will refer to Collaborative Strategies for Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies: Maximizing You Impact. Please have it handy for reference.

What is Evidence-based Practice? Conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current research to inform instructional practices (Todd, SLJ Summit, Phoenix, 2007)  Evidence FOR practice – synthesize research, the information base for our profession  Evidence IN practice – locally-produced data-generated practice – formative assessments  Evidence OF practice – outcomes, subsequent instructional decisions

Evidence FOR Practice  Where do we find evidence?  What evidence matters to us? To our administrators and colleagues?

Evidence FOR Practice  Well-funded, professionally-staffed school library programs based on classroom-library collaboration correlate with student achievement, particularly in reading (Library Research Service; Smith; Moreillon).

Evidence FOR Practice Coplanning, coteaching, teaching ICTs, and providing inservice workshops  Planning with teachers, coteaching, teaching ICT (information and communication technologies), and providing in-services to teachers are among the library predictors of students’ academic achievement on standardized tests, particularly in reading and language arts (Achterman 62-65).

Evidence FOR Practice  Administrators correlate a successful educational program with an active, collaborative, and resourceful library program (Lance et al ). Principals who support collaborative efforts amongst the teacher and teacher-librarian acknowledge the results of the efforts to be demonstrated in academic achievement and standardized tests (Lance et al. 16).

Evidence FOR Practice  Job-embedded Professional Development  Professional Learning Communities “The single most effective way in which principals can function as staff development leaders is providing a school context that fosters job- embedded professional development” (DuFour 14–15).

Evidence FOR Practice  Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction  Multiple Researchers, including:  Biancarosa, Gina, and Catherine E. Snow.  Blachowicz, Camille, and Donna Ogle.  Fisher, Douglas, and Nancy Frey  Pressley, Michael  RAND Reading Study Group  Sweet, Anne

 Research indicates that reading comprehension strategies should be explicitly taught and modeled at all grade levels (Biancarosa and Snow; Blachowicz and Ogle; Pressley; RAND; Sweet and Snow).  These strategies can be effectively taught through modeling in which adults and more proficient peers share the metacognitive processes involved in comprehending text.

 Specific strategies can be taught one at a time, over time, so that readers can begin to self-regulate their use and apply these strategies in their independent reading (Biancarosa and Snow; Blachowicz and Ogle; Pressley; RAND; Sweet and Snow).  However, there is little evidence that this type of direct instruction is actually occurring in classrooms (Pressley).

Summative Assessments  “State reading assessments are increasingly dominated by skills such as the ability to infer; to identify an author’s bias or persuasive techniques; to support interpretations or main ideas with evidence from the text; and to summarize, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate” (Schmoker 40). Note: These skills align with indicators from AASL’s Standards for the 21 st -Century Learner :

Research-based Instructional Strategies Three Areas of Expertise for Specialists from Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension

Evidence FOR Practice  Research-based Instructional Strategies  Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2001)  Summary in CS4TRC (13) and CRCSSSL (16).  Identifying Similarities and Differences (45)  Summarizing and Note Taking (34)  Non-linguistic representations (27)  Cooperative learning (27)  Setting objectives and providing feedback (23)  Questions, cues, and advance organizers (22)

Evidence IN Practice  How do we gain access to students’ prior understandings? Test scores?  How do we generate locally-produced data?  Why it is important for librarians to engage in this level of instruction?

Evidence IN Practice  Through collaborative planning, classroom teachers and librarians share students’ background or prior knowledge and applicable summative assessment data.  By administering pre-and post-tests or formative assessments and by collecting artifacts, coteachers document evidence of student learning.

Evidence IN Practice  Formative Assessment Tools:  Rubrics;  Checklists;  Learning artifacts;  Reflections;  Educator observation;  Self-reports and self-assessments. Formative assessments are used by educators to guide, monitor, and modify instruction.

Evidence IN Practice  School librarians’ effectiveness as educators may hinge on being considered a peer by classroom teacher colleagues and equals with classroom teachers by administrators. As Zmuda and Harada attest, “Effective partnerships help teachers to meet their existing priorities, which include the implementation of a standards-based curriculum” (38).

Evidence IN Practice  In the age of accountability, school librarians must meet the imperative to impact student achievement through effective instruction. “Until school librarians serve as full members of instructional teams, their true value as educators cannot be measured” (Moreillon 2007, 9).

Evidence OF Practice  To whom does this data matter?  How should we share this data?  How does this evidence address professionalism in the education profession?

Evidence OF Practice  With whom?  Site and district administrators,  Parents,  Colleagues  Decision-makers at all levels  How and when?  As it becomes available  Presentations  Grant applications  Annual reports  Publishing in the field

Coteaching Strategies Three Areas of Expertise for School Librarians from Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension Reading Comprehension (Info Literacy) Strategies Research-based Instructional Strategies

What is leadership? Leaders are willing to be lead as well as willing to lead. Dr. Ross Todd, SLJ Summit, Phoenix, Arizona 2007

Leadership in Literacy: Skills  Current knowledge of best practices in reading and information literacy instruction  Current knowledge of literature and electronic resources (including Web 2.0 tools)  Integration of literature, resources, and ICT into classroom curriculum

Leadership in Literacy: Skills  Alignment of classroom standards (reading across the curriculum)/AASL standards/Partnership for 21st Century Skills/ISTE NETS for Students...  Application of instructional design  Application of assessment design  Alignment of modeling, learning tasks, and assessment

Leadership in Literacy: Dispositions in Action  Interpersonal skills  Collaborator  Keywords in student standards!  Initiative  Confidence  Creativity  Risk taker  Practices follow through  Adaptability  Resilience  Persistence  Critical stance

Two Heads Are Better than One I am a teacher. I am a teacher, too. I teach in the classroom. I teach in the library. And we teach even better side by side we two.

Sometimes I approach you with a new resource or tool. Sometimes I approach you with a learning problem to solve. We take turns leading and following and always working together as equal partners.

We plan for instruction with student outcomes in mind. We brainstorm. We negotiate. We bounce ideas off each other.

I bring my knowledge of individual students. I bring my knowledge of resources. And we both bring our knowledge of curriculum standards and instructional strategies and our love of learning!

We determine the essential questions. We select the best resources. We build scaffolds and bridges to help learners succeed.

We model the tasks. We model the process. We assess our examples with checklists and rubrics that we designed together. Then we turn the students loose…

to develop questions, to make choices, to locate, analyze, and evaluate information and ideas, to develop strategies, to organize their thinking, to create new understandings.

With the guidance of two educators, with four helpful hands, we monitor, we adjust. We give twice the feedback. We are a team.

Two reflective practitioners, two avid learners, two joyful explorers who know… that two heads, yes, two heads, are better than one!

A ripple? Or a wave? It’s up to you!

Works Cited Achterman, Douglas L. Haves, Halves, and Have-nots: School Libraries and Student Achievement in California. Denton, Texas. UNT Digital Library, Web.. American Association of School Librarians. Standards for the 21 st -Century Learner Web.. _____. Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs. Chicago: American Library Association, Print. Biancarosa, Gina, and Catherine E. Snow. Reading Next—A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy: A report to the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 2 nd ed. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellence in Education, Print. Blachowicz, Camille, and Donna Ogle. Reading Comprehension: Strategies for Independent Learners. 2 nd ed. New York: Guildford Press, Print. DuFour, Rick. In the Right Context: The Effective Leader Concentrates on a Foundation of Programs, Procedures, Beliefs, Expectations, and Habits. Journal of Staff Development 22.1 (2001):

Works Cited Fisher, Douglas, and Nancy Frey. Background Knowledge: The Missing Piece of the Comprehension Puzzle. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, Print. Lance, Keith Curry, Marcia J. Rodney, and Bill Schwarz. The Impact of School Libraries on Academic Achievement: A Research Study Based on Responses from Administrators in Idaho. School Library Monthly 26.9 (2010): Library Research Service. School Library Impact Studies Web.. Marzano, Robert. J., Debra J. Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock. Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Print. Moreillon, Judi. Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact. Chicago: ALA Editions, Print. _____. Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact. Chicago: ALA Editions, Print.

Works Cited Pressley, Michael. Reading Instruction that Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching. New York: Guilford Press, Print. RAND Reading Study Group. Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, Print. Schmoker, Mike. Results Now: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Curriculum and Supervision, Print. Smith, Ester. G. Texas School Libraries: Standards, Resources, Services, and Students’ Performance. Austin, TX: Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Print. Sweet, Anne P., and Catherine E. Snow. Rethinking Reading Comprehension: Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy. New York: Guilford Press, Print. Todd, Ross. Evidence-based Practice. School Library Journal Summit. Phoenix, Arizona, 2007.