Libraries: essential to basic education June 13, 2008
Posted by jfreeman in : Spokane Moms , add a commentWashington State’s Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance is examining public education funding, an issue not addressed satisfactorily in over 30 years. The essential but difficult question: “What should be included in the state funding of basic education?”
The latest advocacy effort of the Spokane Moms, Fund Our Future Washington, and our teacher-librarians is to inform the Task Force about the need for adequate and sustained funding in the funding formula for school libraries and certified teacher-librarians.
A draft proposal presented this past week at a public meeting of the Task Force by Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, includes these elements:
- Libraries provide critical support for the state’s academic learning goals by improving student access to information to solve problems and use technology applications to improve their learning.
- State funding should include
- a teacher-librarian allocation of 1:500 students
- a library aide allocation of 1:500 elementary students, 1:750 middle school students, 1:1,000 high school students
- $25 per student for library collections and equipment
- Libraries should not always be a way to provide teachers with planning time. This proposal will encourage more frequent interaction between the teacher, librarian, and students, ensuring that libraries are an extension of classroom learning and linked to learning standards.
Support from the Superintendent is very important, but there are other groups hoping to get funding and this process is far from over. They are still collecting information to make a decision by early 2009. We are encouraged that libraries are part of the discussion, thanks to the tireless advocacy of the Spokane Moms.
If you are coming to ALA in Anaheim, consider attending the Advocacy Institute on Friday, June 27th, featuring the Spokane Moms:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issues/advocacyinstitute.cfm
Deadline near for comments on AASL Standards in Action May 26, 2008
Posted by Kathy Lowe in : Check this out!, Standards , add a commentDear Colleagues,
June 6th is the deadline for submitting your comments on the first draft of the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action. This document provides support for school library media specialists and other educators in teaching the essential learning skills defined in Standards for the 21st Century Learner. It presents Action Examples for putting Standard 1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge, into practice in Benchmark Grades 2, 5, 8, 10 and 12+.
Visit http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/standardsinaction/standardsinaction.cfm to view the draft.
We have had very few comments submitted so far, but hope that many of you will take the time in the next two weeks to scrutinize this draft and offer your input before our task force resumes its work on the remaining Standards. Please don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to what will become the new “handbook” for our profession and make it the best it can be.
We look forward to receiving your commnets soon at StandardsInAction@ala.org
AASL Learning Standards Indicators & Assessment Task Force:
Katherine Lowe, Chair, Massachusetts School Library Association
Cassandra G. Barnett, Fayetteville High School Library, AR
Melissa P. Johnston, Silver City Elementary, Cumming, GA
Barbara K. Stripling, New York City Department of Education
Dr. Violet H. Harada, University of Hawaii
Frances Glick, Baltimore County Public Schools, MD
Trademark and Fair Use May 25, 2008
Posted by Debbie Stafford in : Copyright , 1 comment so farLM_NET often has reoccurring topics on issues of Copyright. These posts are focused either on our role as school library media in teaching and informing students and teachers or questions about fair use, as we try to be role models.
Concerning copyright we all know the 4 rules of fair use and attempt to educate students and teachers about fair use, even when they are reluctant to hear that what they want to do is a copyright violation.
A recent LM_NET thread concerned use of trademarks specifically the use of the ALA READ logo in making posters to encourage reading. Many expressed amazement that a word could be trademarked. After following the debate I decided to do a little research. A disclaimer, my research is certainly not exhaustive and I have no legal training.
First, in considering what a trademark is and what can be trademarked I found the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web site to be very helpful. There I found a definition - ‘A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” There were also pages about what trademarks do and why someone would need a trademark. This site also proved useful - Registering a Trademark.com
Basically, I believe that ALA registered the READ celebrity poster in order to protect that service both for ALA and for the celebrities who volunteer to pose.
In further searching I found reference to “fair use” of trademarks since we all use the word read daily, but I did not find a set of neat rules. Wikipedia lists these two rules From my admittedly limited research it would be my understanding that if I wanted to put something in the school’s parent newsletter encouraging students to READ over the summer that would be fair use. But putting a graphic in the newsletter mimicking an ALA READ poster without “license” from ALA would not.
Fortunately ALA does give librarians a way to use the READ trademark. You can buy the READ CD set and use any of the images, or you can go to the ALA store and order individual READ logo images. Then you can create your own READ celebrity posters and bookmarks.
21st Century standards and Blooms May 12, 2008
Posted by Debbie Stafford in : Standards , 1 comment so farI was reading this article from techlearning Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally. The article covers the original Bloom’s Taxonomy and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy then goes on to discuss a Bloom’s digital taxonomy map looking at many web2.0 applications and where they would fit.
Then I was reading through the Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action also mentioned elsewhere on the blog.
It then occurred to me to see if the two documents would match up. In a fast review it seems to me that creating, the top of the taxonomy isn’t there while remembering and Understanding are well represented.
Any other thoughts?
Invitation for public comment: Standards for the 21st-Century in Action May 2, 2008
Posted by Kathy Lowe in : Hot Topics, Standards , add a commentThe AASL Learning Standards Indicators and Assessment Task Force invites you to review and critique the first draft of Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action at
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/standardsinaction/standardsinaction.cfm
After releasing Standards for the 21st Century Learner in October 2007, AASL charged the task force “to develop a document to expand and support the new learning standards” with “indicators, benchmarks, model examples, and assessments.” Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action provides support for school library media specialists and other educators in teaching the essential learning skills defined in Standards for the 21st Century Learner. It presents Action Examples for putting Standard 1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge, into practice in Benchmark Grades 2, 5, 8, 10 and 12+.
This is the first draft of Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action. It will be revised based on input from AASL members. A second draft, expected to be posted for comment in September 2008, will include Benchmarks and Action Examples for Standards 2, 3 and 4. You are encouraged to thoroughly examine and critique the contents of this document. Please email your comments to StandardsInAction@ala.org with “Comments” in the subject line, before June 6, 2008.
If you are attending the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, plan to attend the Open Forum on Saturday, June 28 at 9am to provide your input to the task force members in person.
You are also invited to contribute to Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action by completing the blank template included in the draft with your own sample tasks and assessments. Examples you provide will be considered for inclusion in the final publication of Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action. Please email your completed template(s) to StandardsInAction@ala.org with “Sample Tasks” in the subject line.
We encourage you to forward this invitation to your school library colleagues and to distribute it widely through your state and local school library listservs and blogs.
We look forward to reading your comments!
AASL Learning Standards Indicators & Assessment Task Force:
Katherine Lowe, Chair, Massachusetts School Library Association
Cassandra G. Barnett, Fayetteville High School Library, AR
Melissa P. Johnston, Silver City Elementary, Cumming, GA
Barbara K. Stripling, New York City Department of Education
Dr. Violet H. Harada, University of Hawaii
Frances Glick, Baltimore County Public Schools, MD