Melissa Merritt / Spring 2013 / Practicum Georgia DOE 2012 Library Media Program Self-Evaluation Memo and Action

Plan

Attention Principal Birdsong and Pleasant Ridge Elementary Site Based Management Team: A self-evaluation of the media center was conducted based upon the Georgia Department of Educations 2012 Library Media Program Self-Evaluation Rubric. The media center was evaluated based on five different categories. These categories were 1. student achievement, 2. staffing, 3. facilities, access, and resources, 4. administrative support, and 5. staff development. Out of twenty different standards, the media center scored Exemplary on ten out of twenty standards. The media center scored Proficient on eight out of ten and only two standards met the basic requirements. In terms of student achievement and instruction, the media center met either the proficient or exemplary benchmarks on all standards. By using the American Association of School Library standards and by collaborating with teachers, the library media center helps to foster critical thinking skills and independent inquiry of students and helps them choose useful, reliable information and resources. In collaboration with teachers; the media specialist creates rubrics, chooses diverse resources, and uses a variety of teaching styles and assessments in the library to accommodate diversity. The media center is a critical component of the schools reading program which meets the standards of reading and language art curriculum. The media center received exemplary marks in the staffing area. A full-time media specialist is available. The media specialist is always available to assist teachers and students. The only area where the media center fell short was lack of a full-time paraprofessional or clerk on staff in the media center. Our facilities, access, and resources received basic, proficient, and exemplary scores. The lack of true flexible scheduling due to library classes being taught in the library as a related art earned a basic score. The media center meets or exceeds the required square footage and meets the needs of the school whether students need to come into the library in small or large groups. The school does have several white boards throughout the school, but streaming video could be used on a more regular basis. Our media center provides exemplary access to resources in both print and non-print formats and students are able to use these sources for independent projects and information retrieval. The Online Public Access Catalog, or OPAC, is electronically networked and available on the internet via the media center website. Some of this content is available outside of the school. TEL, or the Tennessee Library Electronic Library, which is similar to GALILEO is organized and used on a frequent basis. Students and teachers are instructed on good and proper uses of the databases within TEL. The media center receives positive support from administration. Media specialists in the county are encouraged to maintain communication with the superintendent and district. The school principal and district administrators play an active role in encouraging teachers to use media sources in their curriculum. They set clear and comprehensive policies that are reviewed annually for updates to

be applied in school media centers in the district. There are regular meetings that take place between these different groups. A media advisory committee exists and meets to support implementation of the library program. The library media program budget exceeds the minimum state allocation and local funding serves as a supplement. The media specialist continually seeks to enhance her skills that are pertinent to the media center. This is especially true with regards to technology and professional skills. The district encourages participation in and provides opportunities for staff development in the form of In-Service Days. The media specialist also seeks knowledge independently through research, networking, and conferences. These sources are utilized to assist teachers in designing curriculum and research. A sixth component addresses other aspects of the library and how it meets standards set by the state department of education. In this area, our availability of technology was highlighted. The library has enough computers for an entire class to come into the library at one time. The library and all classrooms have Smartboards and teachers share flipcharts and other activities and information to promote the most productive learning environment.

Action Plan: Overall, our media center exceeds the standards set forth by the state. However, there are a few areas that could be improved. Basic scores were received in two areas. Under the target indicator of facilities, access and resources, the media center received a basic rating because of scheduling issues. While, students and teachers are welcome to come in at any time and use the library, this is made difficult by the fact that classes are conducted within the library for the bulk of the day. One way to address this would be to not use the library as a classroom. A more practical route might be to hire a secretary or paraprofessional to assist students and teachers while the media specialist conducts class. The other basic mark received was under the category of administrative support. While we do have a local school library committee, it rarely meets. The decisions about what to do in the media center are left largely to the media specialist. It would be useful and helpful if the committee were to meet and give input and advice. Though under student achievement and instruction, the media center received a proficient rating, steps could be taken to raise that to exemplary rating for the next evaluation. The media specialist does currently work with teachers in an effort to collaborate on various aspects of the curriculum. However, due to time constraints, collaboration between the media specialist and other teachers is limited. It would be helpful for grade level meetings to take place between teachers and the media specialist on a regular basis. This would allow the media specialist to encourage collaborative planning between teachers who are teaching units of similar content. This would also give the faculty a chance to learn more about, discuss, and implement the Common Core standards.