Have a look at Stargazer's Guided Reading Kit for K-3. We have a British Version. Samples are at www.stargazerpress.com . This CD is very affordable and a good way to bulk up available resources for reading.

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I know how you feel. I had a principal who did not see how the library could enhance education... by her own admission she was 'not a reader'.

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I agree. This definitely affects my vote.

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I am so impressed that the Greens see the need for Professionally trained librarians be available for Co-operative teaching that they do not need to do RFF that I will strongly consider changing my vote.
Chris Vandine

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NSW DET outlines the role of teaching staff in the library (1987).

Principals play a vital role in establishing cooperation between teachers and TL for successful educational programs.

Because teachers have immediate responsibility for meeting educational needs of students, they must be involved in planning, implementing and evaluating library services. Active involvement of the teacher in the library extends classroom programs.

The TL as a member of the school's teaching staff must be actively involved in teaching/learning. Teaching is integral to TL work. Awareness of classroom teaching activities enables TLs to be more effective teachers. The TL is involved in provision of resources integral to curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation.

For best student learning outcomes, teachers and TLs ensure appropriate resources for student and teacher use, and collaboratively teach the skills needed by students to use them.

This isn’t always easy with limited time, funds and staffing. However, many principals find strategies to overcome obstacles. Other teachers or community members with specialties, such as music, computer or language, take RFF to free TLs to consult on planning and implementing units. In high schools, TLs regularly rotate around all faculty meetings, esp when curriculum implementation is being planned.

Many units are ideally suited to collaborative planning. Teachers and TLs can formally or informally talk about planning units and activities. Eg, when a teacher needs resources on convict life, the TL can also be advised of the “nature of the activity, including its purpose and relationship to broader curriculum objectives”. She/he might suggest incorporation of information skills into the unit and even assist with assessment of these, including students’ own evaluation of the process. A well qualified TL is an “instructional consultant,” there to support all teachers and their students in creating a successful learning community.

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I was pleased to see you were interested in further information.

Part 1: WHAT THE RESEARCH TELLS US

The Australian School Library Association (ASLA) has commissionied The Impact of school libraries on student achievement: a review of the research. Its author noted the 'range of variables that need to be taken into account' and that 'the concept of "student achievement" itself was variable' (Lonsdale, 2003:4). Yet she was able to conclude that 'there is a substantial body of research... which 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 socio-economic or educational levels of the adults in the community' (Nimon, 2003:27).

There is evidence to show that:

∑ collaborative relationships between classroom teachers and school librarians have a significant impact on learning, particularly in relation to the planning of instructional units, resource collection development, and the provision of professional development for teachers;

∑ test scores are higher when there is higher usage of the school library;

∑ a print-rich environment leads to more reading, and free voluntary reading is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling and grammatical ability and writing style;

∑ the extent to which books are borrowed from school libraries shows a strong relationship with reading achievement whereas borrowing from classroom libraries does not;

∑ integrating information literacy into the curriculum can improve students’ mastery of both content and information-seeking skills;

∑ libraries can make a positive difference to students’ self-esteem, confidence, independence and sense of responsibility in regard to their own learning;

So if your teaching objectives are to improve the learning and literacy skills of your students, your teacher librarian is there to help.

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I am a virtual beginner teacher with my first career as a Librarian. Because of the shortage of Teacher Librarians, I have been able to secure a permanent position within three years of qualifying as a teacher. However, I am required to do most classes RFF and teaching RFF has proved to be rather challenging for me, with most of my energy going into organising routines and strategies for managing students' behaviour. Consequently, information skills teaching is at a bare minimum during my library RFF lessons and there is hardly any CPPT of information skills. Some of the teachers cover some basic information skills, such as using an index to a book, during reading groups activities. Nonetheless, many of our weaker Stage 3 students (and not so weak students) lack the most basic information locating skills. I think that there is a great need for these children to go to high school equipped with adequate information skills, but to survive in my position, I keep library RFF lessons simple with silent reading time (DEAR), listening to a story, completing a worksheet related to that story, borrowing books.

Barbara

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