Resourcesfor

Evidence-based Practice

For LS5443: Librarians as Instructional PartnersDepartment of Library and Information Studies

Texas Woman’s University

Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D.

Objectives:At the end of this presentation, you will be able to:

Define evidence-based practice.

Identify sources for scholarly articles and resources that provide research evidence.

Address the scholarly references and citations and data requirements for A.1.4 Case Study.

What isEvidence-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

Scholarly articles have been peer-reviewed by scholars in the same field as the author/researcher who wrote the article.

What is a scholarly article? See the eight questions to ask at: http://www.library.wisc.edu/research-tips/article-scholarly-popular.html

Evidence FOR PracticeShort list of four key questions:

Did the author or authors conduct research?Does the article include an abstract that

summarizes the research findings?Is the article of sufficient length to suggest a

significant study is being reported on by the researcher(s)?

Does the article include a list of references?

Where can you find scholarly articles that report on peer-reviewed research that supports the instructional partner role of school librarians?

School Library Research (SLR) online is the premiere journal for scholarly research articles related to studies conducted in the field of librarianship.

View the Jing video screencast in Module 1.2 to learn how to search SLR online.

School Library Research (SLR) and School Libraries Worldwide are also available through the TWU library – Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database.

View the Jing video screencast in BB Module 1.2 for how to search the TWU databases for scholarly articles related to school librarianship.

Note: School Library Research was formerly known as School Library Media Research and School Library Media Research Quarterly.

Evidence FOR Practice

Journals such as Knowledge Quest, School Library Monthly, and Teacher Librarian occasionally publish peer-reviewed articles. Such articles will be noted as “peer-reviewed.” Most of the articles in these journals are NOT peer-reviewed.

Evidence FOR Practice

Are scholarly articles/resources based on research ONLY found in peer-reviewed journals?

The following examples are not found in peer-reviewed journals yet they are based on research and are considered scholarly.

Example: Evidence FOR Practice

Classroom-Library Collaboration for Instruction Kachel et al. (2011) summarized the research findings of

the School Library Impact Studies (Library Research Service 2012) and identified a positive correlation between classroom-library collaboration for instruction and increased student achievement in fifteen out of the twenty-one studies they reviewed.

Works Cited 

Kachel, Debra E. et al. School Library Research Summarized: A Graduate Class Project. Mansfield, PA: School of Library & Information Technologies Department, Mansfield University, 2011.

Web. 31 Aug. 2012. <http://libweb.mansfield.edu/upload/kachel/ImpactStudy.pdf>.

 

Library Research Service. School Library Impact Studies, 2012. Web. 31 Aug. 2012. <http://www.lrs.org/impact.php>.

Example: Evidence FOR Practice

Classroom-Library Collaboration for Instruction According to the results of Phase Two of the New Jersey

Study, in collaborative culture schools the instructional partner role of the school librarian is highly respected and prized by administrators and fellow educators because of the school librarian’s positive impact on student learning outcomes (Todd, Gordon, and Lu 26).

Work Cited

Todd, Ross J., Carol A. Gordon, and Ya-Ling Lu. One Common Goal: Student Learning. Report of Findings and Recommendations of the New Jersey Library Survey, Phase 2. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries. Web. 31 Aug. 2012 <http://cissl.rutgers.edu/images/stories/docs/njasl_phase%20_2_final.pdf>.

Evidence FOR Practice

Peer-reviewed scholarly articles are NEVER published in School Library Journal. Sometimes a researcher will preview an upcoming research article in SLJ but a two-page SLJ article in not considered scholarly.

Evidence FOR Practice

What kinds of evidence matters to us? To our colleagues? To our administrators?

Does this vary depending on the question we are asking?

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, p. 9).

Evidence IN Practice

For A.1.4, our evidence IN practice is the evidence we gather that illuminates the impact of classroom-library collaboration on students’ learning and teachers’ professional development.

For the purposes of A.1.4, that evidence is a principal’s and teachers’ perspectives on the benefits of classroom-library collaboration for instruction.

Evidence IN Practice

For the purposes of A.1.4 Case Study, you will use educator interviews as evidence; this is qualitative data.

These data illuminate benefits to students, teachers, and administrators.

The evidence you will cite will bekey concepts, paraphrases, and quotes from the video testimonials.

Evidence OF Practice

To whom does this evidence (data) matter?

How should we share this evidence?

How does this evidence address effectiveness and professionalism for classroom teachers, specialists, school librarians, and administrators?

Evidence OF PracticeYou will interpret this qualitative data in light of the scholarly articles and resources you locate, read, summarize, and cite.

Your partner and instructor are the audiences for this work for this particular assignment. You will use this work again later in the course when you synthesize your learning in A.4.3 – Marketing and Advocacy.

Evidence OF Practice

Continue to be alert to evidence in the articles you read for this course, in your other courses, and in your personal learning.

Look for evidence in other types of resources.

Be prepared to cite evidence as a best practice in school librarianship.

Test Yourself

Is an article that does not include a Works Cited or list of references scholarly?

Is a brief article that focuses on a practitioner’s first-hand experience a research article?

If the article appears in a magazine that is not peer-reviewed (such as School Library Journal or Library Media Connection) and does not state that it went through a peer-review process, is it scholarly?

The Answers Please

And the answers are…. NO to all three questions…Please review the criteria listed on the University of Wisconsin Web page.As well as the four key questions listed in this PowerPoint.Thank you.

Works Cited

"Is My Article Scholarly?" Is My Article Scholarly? N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Sept. 2012. <http://www.library.wisc.edu/research-tips/article-scholarly-popular.html>.

Kachel, Debra E. et al. School Library Research Summarized: A Graduate Class Project. Mansfield, PA: School of Library & Information Technologies Department, Mansfield University, 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2012. <http://libweb.mansfield.edu/upload/kachel/ImpactStudy.pdf>. Library Research Service. School Library Impact Studies. 2012. Web. 01 Sept. 2012.<http://www.lrs.org/impact.php>.

Moreillon, Judi. Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2007. Print.

Todd, Ross. Evidence-based Practice. School Library Journal Summit. Phoenix, Arizona, 2007.

Todd, Ross J., Carol A. Gordon, and Ya-Ling Lu. One Common Goal: Student Learning. Report of Findings and Recommendations of the New Jersey Library Survey, Phase 2. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries. Web. 31 Aug. 2012 . <http://cissl.rutgers.edu/images/stories/docs/njasl_phase%20_2_final.pdf>.