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Report on the Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement
6. Strengths and gaps in the research
As has been suggested already, a substantial body of research, much of it derived from studies in the United States, shows that a strong library program, with a full-time library professional, support staff and a strong computer network that connects the library's resources to the classroom, leads to higher student achievement regardless of the socioeconomic or educational levels of the adults in the community (Rodney 2002; Lance 2002, 2001a, 2001b, 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 1993; Hamilton-Pennell 2000; Smith 2001; Baughman 2000; Tariff 2002). 'Where library media programs are better staffed, better stocked, and better funded, academic achievement tends to be higher' (Lance 2001a, p. 4). The work of Krashen and others has shown the contribution that school libraries can make to improving the literacy of students: a print-rich environment leads to more reading, and free voluntary reading has in turn been found to be the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling and grammatical ability and writing style (Krashen 1993, 1995, 1998; Elley 1992; Novljan 1998; Masters and Forster 1997; Froese 1997). There is evidence to show that libraries have an impact not only on student achievement in standardised tests but also on learning more broadly (Kinnell 1994; Williams and Wavell 2001). The work of Todd and others (1993, 1995) shows that integrating information skills into the curriculum can improve students' mastery of both content and information literacy. Studies of the impact of the Library Power initiative have shown that libraries can make a difference, particularly when a collaborative approach between teachers and library professionals is adopted, in the areas of reading scores and students' selection of reading material. (Philadelphia Education Fund 1997a and 1997b; Oberg 1999; Zweizig 1999). There is evidence to show that libraries can make a difference to students' self-esteem, confidence, independence and sense of responsibility in regard to their own learning (Murray 1999, Dyer 2001, Woodle 1995).
Taken together, these studies offer a significant body of evidence to suggest that school libraries have a positive impact on student achievement. They also suggest that this impact is the result of a complex interaction of variables and that there is a need for further investigation into how school libraries help students learning more broadly. The collection of studies that investigate the relationship between reading scores on state tests and school library variables, while yielding valuable insights, are also limited by their reliance on statistical analysis. Much of the most useful evidence on this topic, such as the Library Power initiative studies or Williams and Wavell's Scottish study (2001a), has been derived using qualitative methodologies. One of the studies referred to by Williams, Wavell and Coles in their literature review is Vallender's (2000) unpublished research dissertation. Vallender concludes that statistical analysis of examination achievement is insufficient to show effectively the contribution that school libraries can make, and that for the library to truly make a difference its contribution needs to be fully integrated into the teaching and learning of the school (Williams, Wavell and Coles 2001, p. 11).
There is also a concern that much of the research undertaken so far has focused more on the primary than the secondary school setting. Some research suggests that the impact of the school library diminishes as students move through high school (Burks 1999; Lance 2001b). If this is true, is this because students have already acquired the information seeking skills they need to pursue a research topic, or because they have less time and/or inclination to read for leisure, or are other factors at work? If, as Smith's 2001 Texas study suggests, the most influential library variables at junior/middle school level are identifying materials for instructional units developed by teachers and providing information skills instruction to individuals or groups, then this has implications for the delivery of information skills instruction at upper primary and lower secondary school levels (Williams, Wavell and Coles 2001, p. 11). If it is true that the potential for school libraries to make an impact on student achievement is more likely to be present at the primary school level and diminishes as students move through high school, then, for example, there is an even greater need to ensure that information-seeking skills are covered early in a student's academic career.
Williams, Wavell and Coles (2001) examine the evidence for two other aspects of school libraries that have been shown to have an impact on student learning: service provision and professional expertise. Their conclusions in relation to the impact of service provision support the findings of Lance et al. In the case of service provision, there is evidence to show that the quality and quantity of the collection is a significant factor in student learning; that collaboration with the classroom teacher increases teacher awareness of resources, which in turn serves to encourage greater student use of resources; that flexible scheduling encourages student use of the library; and that 'the quality and frequency of librarian instructional input' also has an impact on learning (p. 22). One gap in the research related to service provision, however, is the lack of information about how the different models of school library service provision work.
In terms of professional expertise, Williams, Wavell and Coles (2001) conclude that more research is needed to determine the extent to which the success of a program is due to the librarian's personal attributes or training and experience. Also missing from the research is evidence about the relative roles of teachers and school librarians and their effectiveness in providing information literacy. There have been anecdotal reports of principals seeing the Internet as a potential substitute for human assistance in the library. However, further investigation is needed to determine the current views of principals in a cross-section of Australian schools on the role and potential contribution of the teacher librarian to student learning, particularly in regard to the teaching of information literacy skills.
The literature review has uncovered several other gaps in the research on school libraries and student achievement. Burks (1999) notes that there is a lack of data about actual student use of the school library, but that such information is needed because of budget cutbacks and a focus on accountability. It is possible that this kind of research could also assist school librarians in deciding how they can maximise student use of the library and thus increase the opportunities to make positive interventions designed to enhance student learning. Burks' own study of student use of school libraries in selected high schools in Greater Dallas-Fort Worth looked at why students use the school library and how frequently. Burks found limited use of the library by these high school students mainly because of a lack of time and motivation. The study shows that 'the school with the highest teacher usage had more students who read books for pleasure, who used the library media centre to study or complete assignments, and who had the highest percentage of use during the sample week as well as in general' (p. 14). According to Burks, assignments were the single greatest influence on use and non-use of the school library for these high school students. It would be useful to conduct a similar study of student usage patterns in Australian school libraries. Knowing why students come to the library-for example, to what extent are they motivated by a need to find information for a project, a desire for leisure reading material, a desire to use computer games or gain access to the Internet, a desire to gain work-related skills by assisting staff; a need for a sanctuary from the rigours of the schoolyard-could in turn help school library staff to cater better for student needs and, as existing research suggests, potentially make a difference in terms of information skills acquisition, reading literacy skills, computer literacy or improved self-esteem.
Welch and Braybrook (2002) contend that in Australia, although there is a body of research about measurement of input, there is little material that examines these inputs in terms of student educational outcomes. 'While there are also serious questions about the applicability of these survey techniques for Australian purposes, and the availability of comparable data on scores etc, the ideas behind this research demonstrate a large scale approach to measuring educational outcomes that could ultimately be useful' (p. 7). Although measurement of input (as the survey by Welch and Braybrook shows) allows the use of benchmarks and standards, the inherent problems with this method in an outcomes-based system are also revealed. Global approaches to evaluation and measurement, although useful, might also be only one of a number of approaches used. Welch and Braybrook suggest that 'local level evaluation of outcomes may prove to be one of the most valuable measurements' (p. 7). On the basis of their extensive literature review, Williams, Wavell and Coles (2001) recommend that the large-scale model used by Lance and in the Texas study (Smith 2001) be adapted for use in a pilot study to see whether the methodology is transferable to an English setting. Although this kind of model has yielded important findings in the United States, it is underpinned by a rather narrow conception of student learning, and it is not clear how useful such large-scale studies would be in an Australian context. There is already a substantial body of this kind of quantitative evidence indicating some of the library variables that affect student performance on state reading tests, and it is not clear how much additional insightful information could be obtained from a similar large-scale research undertaking in Australia. This is not to say that such studies could not be usefully conducted in an Australian context, rather that in terms of evaluating the impact of the school library on broader aspects of learning, it might be that a series of focused, small-scale, qualitative studies are a more useful option.
Like Welch and Braybrook, Todd (2002c) considers that the most useful evidence of the contribution of school libraries to student learning is likely to come from local studies or micro-research rather than from macro-research reports. Macro-research consists of large-scale studies, such as those by Lance and colleagues, which are generally statewide studies that draw on quantitative data and are aimed at identifying those aspects of school library services that are important predictors of student achievement. Micro-research studies, on the other hand, 'tend to be small scale, local, and employ a range of methodologies such as case studies, action research, survey questionnaires, interviews, quasi experiments, observational approaches, process tracking, document analysis, and group comparisons' (Todd, p. 3). Such methods would be ideally suited to studies that attempt to measure the difference that school libraries and librarians can make in an Australian setting, particularly on more intangible outcomes such as autonomy, confidence and self-esteem, or on particular subgroups, such as non-English-speaking students, indigenous students, low-achieving students or those at risk. Williams and Wavell (2001a) offer a useful starting point for measuring the impact on learning in general, with sets of indicators to show evidence of motivation, progression, independence and interaction. Williams, Wavell and Coles (2002) suggest that a longitudinal approach might also be useful so that students' skills development could be tracked over time.
One gap in the research that needs to be addressed is the lack of specific evidence linking the role of school librarians to student acquisition of information literacy skills. There is a substantial body of literature that urges the importance of the librarian's role in this regard, provides information skills models and instructional strategies for the development of information literacy skills, and provides information literacy standards, but the literature search yielded few studies that explicitly look at students' skills before undertaking and on completion of some form of information skills education as part of an integrated curriculum. Todd (2002c) and Garland (1995), among others, refer to Kuhlthau's body of work in which the information search process (ISP) is conceptualised as a seven-stage process of Initiation, Selection, Exploration, Formulation, Collection, Presentation and Assessment. These stages could form a useful starting point for further research. For example, Garland's (1995) study of six research tasks undertaken by students at Holt High School in 1992-93 uses Kuhlthau's model as the basis for constructing questions for the interviews and written surveys. Thus in the Process stage students were asked whether their feelings about the task had changed, and in the Planning stage teachers were asked how they thought the student research project would contribute to student outcomes. The emphasis is on encouraging reflection about the process of teaching and learning in an information literacy context and not simply on mastery of content. Todd (2002c) calls for practitioners to ensure that both 'the articulation of the information literacy framework, and the pedagogy of its integration into the curriculum actually reflect the current research-based understanding of information searching and use' (p. 6). It could also be said that rather than simply describing the crucial role of school librarians in the acquisition of information literacy skills today, there is a need for a strong base of evidence that shows clearly and unequivocally the nature of this powerful contribution. In his 1995 report on the impact of integrated information skills instruction on a group of secondary science students, Todd points out that there is 'an urgent need' to test the conclusions of his study in different school settings and 'to develop additional measures of students' ability to master and use a range of information skills to meet their needs' (p. 12).
The Big6 approach to teaching information literacy skills is based on the six steps of task definition, information-seeking strategies, location and access, use of information, synthesis and evaluation. Eisenberg and Berkowitz (2002) have published online twenty-two exemplary implementations of the Big6 program, several of which provide 'evidence', ranging from anecdotal or observational to pre and post surveys, of the impact of this approach to student learning. Although some examples are given of collaborative teaching between school librarians and classroom teachers, the focus of the case studies is more on the impact of this particular information literacy approach than on the specific role of the school librarian in enhancing students' skills. More evidence is needed in order to determine precisely how the school librarian contributes to the information skills acquisition of students and the relationship between information literacy and learning. For example, what does it mean to be information literate today? Which information skills is it important for students to have? How do we know that students have acquired these skills? What indicators will tell us this? How can we measure the contribution that school librarians have made to the information skills acquisition of students and teachers? Research could perhaps be undertaken using Kuhlthau's process model as adapted by Garland (1995), or using the information and ICT literacy matrix of student learning developed by the Australian School Library Association (ASLA 2001, pp. 14-19) as a starting point for measuring student learning outcomes after an instructional unit. The Council of Australian University Librarians (2001) provides a set of information literacy standards that could also be used as the basis for evaluating what is being done in the school library.
Todd (2001b) argues that there is a need for local evidence-based practice: 'Sustaining the future is about action, not position; it is about evidence, not advocacy, and at the heart of this is inquiry-based learning for knowledge construction' (p. 15). Other research, he points out, has shown that students experience a range of learning difficulties in using the Internet, which provides an opportunity for teacher librarians to intervene and 'through collaborative, inquiry-centred approaches, to demonstrate that their practice makes a real difference to student learning' (p. 17). Such evidence could be in the form of statistics, stories or documented case studies, for example.
Todd (2002a, 2002b, 2002c) makes a strong case for librarians to undertake action research of their own, focusing on the key question of how the quality of student learning in their particular schools could be improved. There is a wide range of data available, ranging from library data relating to Internet usage, class bookings, and circulation of resources to looking at the results of tests and exams for classes engaged in collaborative projects. Todd (2001) suggests that school librarians still think mainly in terms of 'collections, position and advocacy' and that 'our mindset needs to shift to evidence-based learning practice that has as its heart the central concepts of knowledge construction and human understanding' (Todd p. 4).
There is no shortage of documents urging school librarians to become more proactive or offering advice regarding action research. Oberg (2001B), for example, suggests five possible approaches to showing that school libraries can make a difference: using research findings from the school library field; analysing the results of national, state or regional testing programs; using locally available library and test data; carrying out action research or teacher-researcher project; and using easily available statistical data, such as census or systems data. She also makes the point that it is important to use stories, case studies and brief scenarios, not simply statistical data. Sykes (2001) provides some guidelines for demonstrating that the school library is making a significant contribution to the aims of the school.
Perhaps a useful starting point for Australian library professionals would be to gain a more accurate picture nationally of the current state of school librarianship, particularly in relation to numbers of teacher librarians and how they are being used in schools. Before embarking on a sustained and systematic program of research, or even a promotional campaign to highlight the positive contribution that school librarians can make to student learning, it would be useful to have an accurate snapshot of what is currently happening around the country in regard to school library staffing. It makes sense to know how grim the reality is before setting out to confront and transform this reality.