Literacy in a digital world

This booklet is one of a series presenting research findings from the revcent Pennsylvania study on the imapct of school libraries on student learning.

Using data collected in the Spring of 2011 for the Pennsylvania State Board of Education Study of the state’s public school libraries and examining standardized Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Reading and Writing test scores for the same year, a team of researchers studied five components of school library infrastructure: Staffing, Collections, Digital Resources and Technology Infrastructure, Library Access, and Funding.

According to the research findings, students who have access to a quality school library program developed with these building blocks have an academic advantage over students who did not have such access. These differences are not explained away by the socio-economic, racial/ethnic, or disability status of the students. Here are a few highlights:

* Investments in library staff benefit all students. Full-time, certified librarians are associated with better PSSA Reading and Writing scores.
* For several student groups that tend to experience achievement gaps—economically disadvantaged, Hispanic, Black, and those with IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) —Reading and Writing results are markedly better when those students attend a school with a librarian with library support staff. In fact, they benefit more proportionally than the general school population.
* The impact of quality school library programs with these components is even stronger on Writing scores than Reading scores.
* All students—both high-achievers and low-achievers—benefit and schools that leverage school library programs can narrow achievement gaps among their students.
* Generally, the combined impact of these components—staffing, resources, technology, access to the library, and funding—has a steady and consistent effect on student learning and achievement regardless of demographic and economic differences among students.

For more information see the project website http://paschoollibraryproject.org/home

Infographic about the pros and cons of digital research

The results of this Pew Internet study clearly show the need for digital citizenship programs to be conducted in schools.

The report states: "Search engines remain popular—and users are more satisfied than ever with the quality of search results—but many are anxious about the collection of personal information by search engines and other websites...

Most internet users say they do not know how to limit the information that is collected about them by a website...

These findings are a backdrop for the ongoing policy debates about privacy, collection of personal information online, and the enthusiasm for targeted search and targeted advertising among companies. They also arise as Google implements a new privacy policy in which information about users’ online behavior when they are signed into Google’s programs can be collected and combined into a cohesive user profile. This includes material from Google’s search engine, the Google+ social networking site, YouTube video-sharing site, and Gmail."

These findings can be used by teacher librarians to raise their school community's awareness of the importance of explicit instruction in the use of online databases, search engines, and websites and social media sites that require users to create an account.