Leadership in School Library Administration

According to an Education Department report, America's Public School Libraries 1953–2000
< http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005324.pdf >, school libraries fared well nationwide until recent budget cuts began to take their toll. In 1953–1954, 36 percent of all public schools had library media centers. By 1999–2000, nearly all (92 percent) of public schools employed a school library. Only 40 percent of public schools had a librarian in 1953–1954. By 1999–2000, 86 percent of public schools had a librarian on their staff.But many of these advances were halted beginning in the 1990s, according to the American Library Association, which points to a decline in the number of school libraries between 1993–1994 (77,218) and 1999–2000 (76,807). This was the first decline in 40 years, the group says.

Schools facing state and local funding emergencies include the Rochester School District in New York, which must reduce spending by $13.6 million as well as the number of librarians. The North Sacramento School District in Sacramento, CA, eliminated the school library program as part of a $940,000 cut in next year's budget.

As a graduate student matriculating for a degree in instructional technology and school library media, your learning experiences focus on "empowering you with the knowledge, vision, and leadership to steer the library media program creatively and energetically into the 21st century." NCATE, 2003. On the other hand, the reality is that you will face educational decision makers who are not convinced that school libraries or librarians have anything to do with student achievment. Consequently, competing for school library funding, staffing, presence, and equal footing as teachers require convincing justifications and advocacy - a critical role of school library media leadership. The alarming trend as reported by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics report American Public School Libraries requires your thoughtful investigation of:

educational issues, laws, accountability, curriculum, assessment
21st century skills that prepare students to compete in a global workforce
misunderstandings and tensions



Assignment: Leadership in School Library Media Administration
	As kids get ready to go back to school, many of our nation's children will attend schools without libraries. (National Center for Education Statistics, September 2005) According to an Education Department report, America's Public School Libraries 1953–2000 < http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005324.pdf >, school libraries fared well nationwide until recent budget cuts began to take their toll. In 1953–1954, 36 percent of all public schools had library media centers. By 1999–2000, nearly all (92 percent) of public schools employed a school library. Only 40 percent of public schools had a librarian in 1953–1954. By 1999–2000, 86 percent of public schools had a librarian on their staff.But many of these advances were halted beginning in the 1990s, according to the American Library Association, which points to a decline in the number of school libraries between 1993–1994 (77,218) and 1999–2000 (76,807). This was the first decline in 40 years, the group says. Schools facing state and local funding emergencies include the Rochester School District in New York, which must reduce spending by $13.6 million as well as the number of librarians. The North Sacramento School District in Sacramento, CA, eliminated the school library program as part of a $940,000 cut in next year's budget. As a graduate student matriculating for a degree in instructional technology and school library media, your learning experiences focus on "empowering you with the knowledge, vision, and leadership to steer the library media program creatively and energetically into the 21st century." NCATE, 2003. On the other hand, the reality is that you will face educational decision makers who are not convinced that school libraries or librarians have anything to do with student achievment. Consequently, competing for school library funding, staffing, presence, and equal footing as teachers require convincing justifications and advocacy - a critical role of school library media leadership. The alarming trend as reported by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics report American Public School Libraries requires your thoughtful investigation of: educational issues, laws, accountability, curriculum, assessment 21st century skills that prepare students to compete in a global workforce misunderstandings and tensions
Question	Which justification is the most convincing in order to reverse this alarming trend?
Product/Task	Research and write an editorial to justifiy your response to the above question. Prepare to share with colleagues at our class Leadership Roundtable Discussion.
Directions	Assess your knowledge of the content required to perform the task. Do you have a firm grasp of the content in order to achieve the goal of this assignment. Access and study pertinent resources cited on course website and this assignment webpage. Apply persuasive writing techniques to compose a 2-page editorial. Provide copies of your editorial to your colleagues. Cite sources used using the APA Style Manual. Prepare to share you justification at our class "Leadership Roundtable Discussion." At the conclusion of the Leadership Roundtable Discussion, students will select editorials for publication in local newpapers, professional journals, organizations, etc.
Rubric	Persuasive Essay Rubric Benchmarks for an Outstanding Editorial are: This editorial is written with an interesting lead to bring the reader into the story. This story contains an abundant amount of background information about the issue. This article has a clearly stated opinion toward the beginning of the article. This article contains at least 3 different, but logical reasons for the stated opinion. All of the reasons are written to convince the appropriate audience. Each reason is written in a topic sentence of separate paragraphs. The writer uses effective words throughout the article to make transitions between ideas. The ending of the story restates all the reasons in one sentence. The writer ends the article giving at least 3 specific recommendations for the reader to take action. The writer uses all correct grammar and spelling.
Resources	American Library Association and American Association of School Librarians Issues and Advocacy \| AASL Professional Tools Library Research Service - School Library Impact Studies Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries U.S. Department of Education Maryland State Department of Education 21st Century Skills - Partnership for 21st Century Learning and enGauge Chesapeake High School website
Date Due	10/24