ed passthetexes school librarian - pass the texes, pass

A test prep manual for Texas

School Librarians for exam #150.

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Pass the TExES School Librarian - Ed Publishing Steps for Successxi

Steps for Success, cont’dSTEP THREE (ASSESSMENT):Answer the practice test questions provided in this manual in Appendix III, and any practice test ques-tions, using our PRACTICE TEST METHOD (see Appendix I). The seven italicized questions you seein our sample test represent a very methodical thought process we recommend. Our practice test methodis a critical part of this program and your success. By following this method carefully while working eachquestion, you will better connect the test question to the Competencies which is key to choosing the bestanswer. This process will give you legitimate reasons for choosing answers, which will guide you on theactual test. Choosing correct answers based on incorrect reasoning only sets you up for failure. In theseventh step of this process, you are analyzing for yourself why the test writers chose the answers theydid, and that is KEY, especially on the more subjective questions. Doing this important analysis will helpyou understand the point of view of the test writers, as well as strengthen your analysis skills...skills thatyou will need on the actual test.

THE OVERALL APPROACH

The overall approach you are following when using the Pass theTExES study program of study is in two parts:

Part One: Knowledge and Comprehension

Part Two: Critical Thinking Skill Development

According to Bloom’s Taxonomy knowledge and comprehension material must be mastered before onecan apply these concepts in the test questions. The Pass the TExES program encourages the developmentof higher level thought processes such as application, evaluation, analysis and synthesis...processesBloom’s Taxonomy categorizes at the top end of learning. The exercises we employ are designed to exer-cise and increase these higher-level thought processes, thus allowing for greater success on the exam. Thatis why this method includes both lower level memorization activities and then moves into exercises usingthe higher level thought processes. The goal, of course, is to know this material well and be able to ana-lyze test questions and choose correct answers on the test.

This program has made all the difference for many teachers since 1999. Read testimonialsand purchase additional copies of this book and other books at www.passthetexes.com.Seminars may be available to the general public and they are always available for Texas uni-versities, school districts, Alternative Certification Programs, and Education ServiceCenters.

NOTE: By carefully following this program of study we feel that you will be well-prepared for yourTExES exam. However, we do not guarantee a passing grade on the exam. We encourage you to contact usduring your study time should you have any questions. Should you attend one of our seminars and failyour exam, you may contact us for a free tutoring session by phone with our staff. If you purchase a bookand decide you cannot use it, please contact us within one week of receipt to request a full refund.

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13 Domain I: Competencies 1-2Pass the TExES School Librarian - Ed Publishing

Domain I:

Teaching, Learning, and the SchoolLibrary Environment

Competencies 1-2(25% of the test)

School Librarian Standards I and IV:

Learner-Centered Teaching and Learning: The school librarian is an educationalleader who promotes the integration of curriculum, resources, and teaching strategies

to ensure the success of all students as the effective creators and users of ideas andinformation, enabling them to become lifelong learners.

Learner-Centered Library Environment: The school librarian is an educational leaderwho promotes the success of all students by establishing a climate in the library thatenables and encourages all members of the learning community to explore and meet

their information needs.

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14 Domain I: Competencies 1-2Pass the TExES School Librarian - Ed Publishing

1. Teaching, Learning, and the Library Program

• Participates as educational leader, equal partner, and change agent.

• Understands curriculum design and planning.• Uses collaborative planning and teaching.• Teaches information literacy strategies.• Instructs and models ethical use of information.• Collaborates with faculty to design independent

learning activities.

• Addresses diverse learning needs and varied cultural backgrounds.

• Provides and promotes ongoing staff development.

• Provides and promotes ongoing learning activities for students.

• Directs and encourages students to read forpleasure and information.

D E S C R I P T O R H I G H L I G H T S

Key Words:CollaborationAcceptable UseCopyrightInformation LiteracyInformation TechnologyIntegrationIndependent LearningLearner-centered

Lifelong Learner

Key Descriptors:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________NOTE: Refer to the bullet points under each Competencyin the ETS/SBEC study guide.Analyze each bulletpoint, and synthesize it down to a paraphrase that ismeaningful to you, using 2-5 words. List those phrases inorder on the lines above. When complete, record themagain on Worksheet 4 in Appendix I.

A. Librarian as Educational Leader, EqualPartner, and Change Agent1. Just as other campus teachers are educa-

tional leaders, so is the school librarian.The librarian is indeed a teacher, and asan instructor of students, the schoollibrarian is equally aware of currentresearch on learning and effective teachingpractices. The school librarian must: • Be aware of the current research in

learner-centered educational environ-ments.

• Recognize that in learner-centered edu-cation, the student is at the heart of thelearning process; the student’s needs arethe focus of the educational program;and the student must take ownershipand control of the learning process.

• Know that the bottom line is studentsuccess and academic achievement.

• Be aware of teaching strategies thatbring about success for the learner/stu-dent and implements those best prac-tices.

2. The school librarian is a partner in theeducational process, along with the stu-dents, teachers, staff, community, andadministration.• Is but one of many stakeholders in the

library program. • Does not own the library, but openly

shares knowledge, resources, and infor-mation seeking strategies with studentsand staff in the learning community.

• Realizes that as a member of an educa-tional team, they must work to collabo-rate with other team members.

3. As a change agent, the school librarianmust:• Be creative, visionary, and confident • Able to set goals and implement change

when necessary to ensure or increasestudent success.

B. Curriculum Design and IntegratedPlanning1. Aware of school district and campus cur-

riculum mandates2. Works with principals, curriculum coor-

dinators, department chairpersons, andteachers to incorporate information litera-cy skills into the prescribed school cur-riculum.

3. A leader who designs curriculum to meeteducational objectives and shares in thecampus vision that should include a focuson:• Reading• Teaching• Learning

C. Collaborative Planning, CooperativeTeacher, and Direct Instruction 1. Works with teachers, and plans lessons for

library instruction that combine theteacher’s lessons with information literacystrategies.

2. Is a team teacher; a partner. What thelibrarian teaches is based on student needsand curriculum standards.

3. Is prepared to teach groups that comeinto the media center, and additionallyinstruct individual students as they seekinformation.

15Pass the TExES School Librarian - Ed Publishing Domain I: Competencies 1-2

1. Teaching, Learning, and the Library Program

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Competency 1:The school librarian understands teaching and learning processes and promotes theintegration of curriculum, resources, and teaching strategies to ensure all students’success as creators and users of ideas and information.


1. Teaching, Learning, and the Library Program, cont’d.

D. Information Literacy Strategies1. The school librarian teaches effective strate-

gies to:• locate• gather • select• synthesize • evaluate information

2. According to Information Power: BuildingPartnerships for Learning, there are nineinformation literacy standards, broken downinto three broad areas: • Information literacy, which is “the ability

to find and use information...and is thekey for lifelong learning.” (InformationPower, American Library Association,1998)

• Independent learning and appreciation ofliterature.

• Social responsibility and contribution to thelearning community in an ethical manner.

3. Information literacy is basically information problem solving. • Teach students that knowledge is power,

and teach them to be aware or to recognizewhen they have a need for information.

• Know that students and educators alikemust be reflective or think about theirthinking and knowing, called metacogni-tion. This includes knowing how peopleneed and use information.

• Gain insight into the way students useinformation and their research strategies.

• Have them keep records of their informa-tion searches, and observe how they inter-act and use the information.

4. There are many models of information litera-cy teaching according to research. Onemethod or model that can be used in schoollibraries is called the Big6(tm). There are sixsteps that the student or researcher must do.THE BIG6(tm) excerpted fromhttp://www.big6.com/index.php • Task Definition - Define the information

problem and identify information needed • Information Seeking Strategies -

Determine all possible sources and selectthe best sources

• Location and Access - Locate sources(intellectually and physically) and findinformation within sources

• Use of Information - Engage (e.g., read,hear, view, touch) and extract relevantinformation

• Synthesis - Organize from multiple sourcesand present the information

• Evaluation -Judge the product (effective-ness) and judge the process (efficiency)

E. Ethical Use of Information Resources1. Plagiarism is never acceptable and the school

librarian must teach students, faculty andstaff against it. It is considered theft of intel-lectual property. Currently with the Internet,it is increasingly easy for students to copy,cut, and paste online documents into theirown and pass them off as their own. Usingsomeone else’s ideas and words without prop-er citation as in endnotes or bibliography isnot acceptable.

2. Copyright is basically the right to copy oruse someone else’s creative work. The personwho created the work has the right to saywho may or may not copy their work. Thelibrarian must be aware of issues such asburning of music CDs, using pictures fromthe Internet, using songs and video clipsfrom the Internet. Even the showing of com-mercial movies at school can violate copy-right. The librarian should be aware of pub-lic domain items such as clip art and photoswhich can be freely used without violation ofcopyright.

3. The librarian should instruct students aboutcopyright as part of the information skillscurriculum. But they must also, as an educa-tional leader, instruct teachers how much ofcreative works can be duplicated or photo-


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copied. In educational settings, certain por-tions of creative works may “fairly” becopied, such a poem for each student in aclass (but a whole book of poetry may notbe copied). Copyright should be taught as astaff development presented by the librarian.

4. See acceptable (fair) use in the definitionbelow. The librarian should place visiblecopyright notices on current copy equip-ment at the school and on new equipmentthat comes into the school.

Copyright is a form of protection provided bythe laws of the United States (title 17, U.S.Code) to the authors of “original works ofauthorship,” including literary, dramatic,musical, artistic, and certain other intellectualworks. This protection is available to bothpublished and unpublished works. Section106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generallygives the owner of copyright the exclusiveright to do and to authorize others to do thefollowing:

• To reproduce the work in copies orphonorecords;

• To prepare derivative works based uponthe work;

• To distribute copies or phonorecords ofthe work to the public by sale or othertransfer of ownership, or by rental, lease,or lending;

• To perform the work publicly, in the caseof literary, musical, dramatic, and chore-ographic works, pantomimes, andmotion pictures and other audiovisualworks;

• To display the copyrighted work publicly,in the case of literary, musical, dramatic,and choreographic works, pantomimes,and pictorial, graphic, or sculpturalworks, including the individual images ofa motion picture or other audiovisualwork; and

• In the case of sound recordings, to per-form the work publicly by means of a

digital audio transmission.• In addition, certain authors of works of

visual art have the rights of attributionand integrity as described in section106A of the 1976 Copyright Act. Forfurther information, request Circular 40,“Copyright Registration for Works of theVisual Arts.”

• It is illegal for anyone to violate any ofthe rights provided by the copyright lawto the owner of copyright. These rights,however, are not unlimited in scope.Sections 107 through 121 of the 1976Copyright Act establish limitations onthese rights. In some cases, these limita-tions are specified exemptions fromcopyright liability. One major limitationis the doctrine of “fair use,” which isgiven a statutory basis in section 107 ofthe 1976 Copyright Act. In otherinstances, the limitation takes the formof a “compulsory license” under whichcertain limited uses of copyrighted worksare permitted upon payment of specifiedroyalties and compliance with statutoryconditions. For further informationabout the limitations of any of theserights, consult the copyright law or writeto the Copyright Office.

- from the copyright web site: http://www.copyright.gov/

F. Collaboration with Faculty in InstructionalDesign1. Independent learning is the key. Activities

that promote independent learning shouldbe planned by both the librarian and theteacher as partners.

2. It is essential that the librarian includeadministration and faculty in planninglibrary collections that support the curricu-lum. Not only does the librarian collaboratein developing the library collection and theformat of various library media, but theymust also collaborate in the lesson design.



3. Often, it is the librarian who must initiatecollaboration with the other teaching staff.The school librarian, then, must have agood relationship with the teachers and theadministration.

4. Collaboration must be done regularly sothat the school library media program con-tinues to show that teaching informationliteracy skills helps students in masteringsubject area content as they begin to useinformation in an independent manner.

5. The librarian must be aware of the subjectarea Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills(TEKS) as they collaborate with teachers inall subject areas to integrate state-mandatedcurriculum into the majority of lessons pre-sented in the library.

6. In collaboration with teachers, the lessonsshould be planned so that assignments goalong with available materials. The schoollibrarian would make sure that there areenough resources to go along with the top-ics for research, or plan with the teacher tomake sure topics correspond with availablelibrary materials.

7. For future collection development of mate-rials that meet curricular goals, the librarianwill seek input from teachers and students.

G. Teaching Strategies that Adress Diversitylearning Needs and Cultural Backgrounds1. An educational leader who is aware of dif-

ferences in learning styles such as:• visual learners• auditory learners• kinesthetic learners

2. Aware of differentiation practices and usethose to meet different needs. • Individual instruction• Small groups• Whole groups• Multimedia

All of the above can be used to meet a vari-ety of needs in library instruction.

3. The librarian will also be aware of:• Special education students and their

learning needs• Gifted and talented students and their

learning needsNecessary to ensure all students’ success asusers of information.

4. America’s society is quite diverse ethnically,racially, and in other social arenas such asfamily composition. Additionally, particu-larly in Texas, there is a growing wave ofimmigrants from Asia and the LatinAmerican countries. The school librarianmust respect those differences while doingwhat is necessary as a teacher to meet theinformational needs of non-native Englishspeakers.

H. Ongoing Staff Development andProfessional Development1. Provides and promotes staff development

in the areas of:• Technology integration• Information literacy• Literature appreciation for the learning

community. 2. Stays abreast of current library and educa-

tional practices, attending conferences, andreading research journals.

3. Provides regular trainings to the learningcommunity with the goal of all trainings toensure all student’s success as creators andusers of ideas and information.

I. Ongoing Learning Opportunities forStudents• Integration of information technology,

information literacy, and literature appreci-ation for the students should be providedby and promoted by the school librarian.

• In this information age, there is a wealth oftechnology that can be used for learningpurposes. Information literacy is vitalityimportant for an informed citizenry.



• The appreciation of literature in its variousformats promotes a learned society. The les-sons cannot just be a one time presentation,but must be reinforced with ongoing learn-ing opportunities.

J. Appreciation of Library Resources• The school librarian directs and encourages

students to read for pleasure. Students havea varied of reading and hobby interests.These will be reflected in the books theychoose to read. Some may want to readnonfiction to gain information for anassignment or personal needs, or read abouta famous sports figure, for example. Otherswant to escape to a far away place by select-ing a fiction book.

• Books on cassette or CD can be listened to,and video adaptations of literature is avail-able so that students can experience library

resources in many ways. The school librari-an should be excited about reading and canpromote it with “READ” posters displayedin the library, incentives and learning initia-tives such as “Accelerated Reader.”

• The librarian can also find community part-ners to provide prizes for increasing thenumber of books read by students.Students should be encouraged to read dur-ing spare moments.

• The goal is for students to become lifelonglearners; to see that learning never ends,that there is value in seeking new informa-tion as it becomes available. By allowingstudents to select topics of interest and rele-vance to them in a research project, forexample, they will be encouraged tobecome lifelong learners.

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