ERIC Number: EJ851700
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 21
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1523-4320
EISSN: N/A
Collection and Collaboration: Science in Michigan Middle School Media Centers
Mardis, Marcia; Hoffman, Ellen
School Library Media Research, v10 2007
In many ways, science classrooms and school library media centers are parallel universes struggling with their own reform issues and with documenting their own positive impacts. As the trend toward data-driven decisions grows in the school setting, it is increasingly important for every component of the learning environment to have demonstrable effect and to be mutually reinforcing. Yet, science reformers do not seem to recognize the potential for school library media specialists (SLMSs) to support their efforts (Lanahan, 2002), nor do school library media practitioners and researchers seem to be building relationships with science educators (Abilock, 2003). In The Impact of Michigan School Librarians on Academic Achievement: Kids Who Have Libraries Succeed (Rodney, Lance, and Hamilton-Pennell, 2003), the Michigan School Library Study (MSLS), researchers investigated variables from the Colorado study (Lance, 1993). The researchers concluded that Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test reading scores for seventh graders tended to improve with access to many specific features of middle school library programs. In response to MSLS, Mardis (2005) addressed the question, "If strong school library media programs positively relate to middle school student MEAP reading achievement, are they also positively related to middle school MEAP science achievement?" The findings of the study indicated that when major predictive factors of student achievement, such as district minority enrollment, socioeconomic status, and per-pupil expenditure, were taken into account, only the variable reflecting the number of videos per one hundred students had a significant correlation with middle school student achievement in science. In 2004, just prior to the Mardis (2005) study, the researchers of the present study sought to determine the degree to which Michigan school library media specialists who worked with seventh and eighth graders were able to support science education in their schools. The researchers used a survey that asked questions aimed at uncovering the collection and collaborative support of a school library media center (SLMC) program that could potentially have acted as barriers to working with science teachers and students or that could be used as leverage points to expand the coordination between school library resources and science learning. The results of the survey data suggest that nonbook resources and frequent collaboration are the aspects of the school library media program that have the most compelling relationship with middle school student achievement in science. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Science Achievement, Program Effectiveness, School Libraries, Learning Resources Centers, Media Specialists, Science Teachers, Middle Schools, Librarian Teacher Cooperation, Library Services, Library Research, Use Studies, Barriers, Librarian Attitudes, Scientific and Technical Information
American Association of School Librarians. Available from: American Library Association. 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 800-545-2433; Web site: http://www.ala.org/aasl/slmr
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Michigan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A