The 21 st Century Learning Standards and You Northern Virginia School Librarians August 27, 2008 Dr. Audrey Church Longwood University

“…curriculum content alone is not sufficient preparation for children to function effectively as learners, citizens, and workers” (Mardis and Perrault 34)

Workshop Agenda Brief look at history of national standards Examination of the nine common beliefs Examination of the four standards Dissection of the strands Connection of standards with content curriculum Discussion of Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action The challenge

An Historical Perspective 1920: Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools 1925: Elementary School Library Standards 1945: School Libraries for Today and Tomorrow

1960: Standards for School Library Programs 1969: Standards for School Media Programs 1975: Media Programs: District and School

1988: Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs 1998: Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning 2008? 2009? New national guidelines for school library media programs ?

AASL Standards for the 21 st - Century Learner Released in October 2007 at the AASL Conference in Reno, NV An “evolution” of the nine Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning

Characteristics of the New Standards Alignment to standards in other content areas Language understandable to other educators “Opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges facing today’s library media specialists in preparing students to be 21 st - century learners” (Coatney 57)

From AASL President, Sara Kelly-Johns… “The new standards focus on the learner. They outline the content and process that students need to learn now and into the future, taught through the school library program. They are not a curriculum guide or a scope-and- sequence. They provide a framework for the integration of information literacy with curricula in other subjects, taught in classrooms and libraries.” (Johns 8)

Common Beliefs 1. Reading is a window to the world. 2. Inquiry provides a framework for learning. 3. Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.

Common Beliefs 4. Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs. 5. Equitable access is a key component for education. 6. The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.

Common Beliefs 7. The continuing expansion of information demands that all individuals acquire the thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own. 8. Learning has a social context. 9. School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.

The Four Standards Learners use skills, resources, and tools to 1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. 2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

The Four Standards Learners use skills, resources, and tools to 3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society. 4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

Structure of the Standards For each standard, four strands  Skills  Dispositions in Action  Responsibilities  Self-Assessment Strategies

“…standards outline the skills students must have, ongoing beliefs and attitudes needed for those skills to be practiced, the responsibilities or common behaviors of students as they learn, and strategies for personal assessment of their learning.” (Johns 8)

Key Questions Skills  Does the student have the right proficiencies to explore a topic or subject further? Dispositions in Action  Is the student disposed to higher-level thinking and actively engaged in critical thinking to gain and share knowledge?

Key Questions Responsibilities  Is the student aware that the foundational traits for 21 st -century learning require self- accountability that extends beyond skills and dispositions? Self-Assessment Strategies  Can the student recognize personal strengths and weaknesses over time and become a stronger, more independent learner?

Connecting the new AASL Standards for the 21 st- Century Learner to Content Curriculum

An Example: A Sample SOL… CE.1The student will develop the social studies skills citizenship requires, including the ability to… c. analyze political cartoons, political advertisements, pictures, and other graphic media; d. distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information; e. review information for accuracy, separating fact from opinion;

Applicable Skills from each AASL Standard… Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format…in order to make inferences and gather meaning Use strategies to draw conclusions…and apply knowledge Use writing and speaking skills to communicate understandings effectively Connect ideas to own interests and previous knowledge and experience.

Other Applicable Strand Indicators? Dispositions in Action? Responsibilities? Self-Assessment Strategies?

Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action…

“a broad set of standards for the skills students should have, the ethical and legal responsibilities that go with those skills, the motivations that student have to apply those skills in the context of those responsibilities, and, finally, strategies for assessing their personal information use” (Dickinson 11)

The Four Standards Learners use skills, resources, and tools to 1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. 2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

The Four Standards Learners use skills, resources, and tools to 3. Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society. 4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

Skills… Multiple literacies Critical thinking and problem solving Social learning skills An inquiry-based process From low-level, fact location skills to high- level synthesis and evaluation skills In the context of content curriculum AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action 7

Dispositions in Action… “a tendency to exhibit frequently, consciously, and voluntarily a pattern of behavior that is directed to a broad goal” Neither standard-specific nor grade-level specific Developed over time by the way that we structure learning experiences AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action 15

Responsibilities “the common behaviors that must be exhibited during researching, investigating, and problem solving to develop new understanding successfully, ethically, and thoughtfully” Neither standard-specific nor grade-level specific Developed when learning experiences are structured for active engagement and sharing AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action 23

Self-Assessment Strategies… “Developing internal standards and comparing performance, behaviors, or thoughts to those standards” Three directional:  Looking backwards (summative)  Looking at the present (formative)  Looking at the future (predictive) Three strategies:  Reflection  Feedback from others  Self-questioning AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action 33-35

AASL Standards for the 21 st - Century Learner “… [focus] on the content and process of what school libraries teach students” (Dickinson 10) “standards for this century of library and information users, and they put librarians at the heart of learning” (Dickinson 11)

The Challenge… Librarians at the “heart of learning”… Your library as a learning place!

Selected Resources AASL Standards for the 21 st Century Learner. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from Standards for the 21 st Century Learner in Action. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from Coatney, S. (2008, February). Standards for the 21 st -century learner. School Library Media Activities Monthly 24(6), Dickinson, G. K. (2008, March). A place to stand. Library Media Connection 26(6), Donham, J. (2008, April). Standards! Standards! Standards! Teacher Librarian 35(4), Johns, S.K. (2008, Spring). AASL standards for the 21 st -century learner: A time to reflect and study. CSLA Journal 31(2), 8-9. Mardis, M.A., & Perrault, A.M. (2008, April). A whole new library: Six “senses” you can use to make sense of new standards and guidelines. Teacher Librarian 35(4), Midland, S. (2008, April). From stereopticon to Google: Technology and school library standards. Teacher Librarian 35(4), 30-33

For more information, Audrey Church, Ph.D. Assistant Professor/Coordinator School Library Media Program Longwood University Farmville, VA Phone: Web: