Advocacy Tools

Success for Students through TUSD School Library Programs
A Position Paper Prepared by the TUSD Teacher-Librarians Advocacy Group

TUSD Vision:
Tucson Unified School District is a professional learning community that ensures every student learns, exceeds all expected performance standards, graduates, and is able to compete and succeed in a global economy.

TUSD Teacher-Librarians are integral to this TUSD Vision.
School library programs are the heart of TUSD's learning community and the hub of its schools. TUSD teacher-librarians:
* Ensure universal access to literature (Krashen, 2004) and information in a variety of formats, including technology (AASL & AECT, 1998).
* Coteach with every teacher to address site-based achievement goals and standards-based curricula.

TUSD Mission:
The mission of the Tucson Unified School District, in partnership with parents and the greater community, is to assure that each pre-K through 12th grade student receives an engaging, rigorous and comprehensive education.

TUSD Teacher-Librarians are integral to this TUSD Mission.
Teacher-librarians:
* Collaborate with all teachers to develop curricula and integrate resources into teaching and learning in order to increase student achievement.
* Build bridges among students, parents, and community to connect curricula with relevant issues in the local and global communities.

Selected TUSD Strategic Priority:
Student achievement is our primary focus.

TUSD Teacher-Librarians are integral to increasing Student Achievement.
The library is a unique classroom where professional teacher-librarians:
*Teach students to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information and ideas to construct knowledge
(TUSD, 2005).
*Develop library resources that meet the instructional needs of each individual school learning community.
*Foster lifelong learning and prepare students to compete in the global economy.

Note: Nineteen separate research studies conducted over the past fifteen years have demonstrated that there is a positive correlation between increased student achievement, particularly in reading, and the work of professional teacher-librarians who collaborate for instruction with classroom teachers (Library Research Service, 2008; Scholastic Research and Results, 2008).

Selected TUSD Strategic Priority:
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) exist and are supported at all levels.

TUSD Teacher-Librarians are integral to effective PLCs.
As key members of PLCs who work with all teachers to improve student achievement, teacher-librarians:
* Have a unique overview of the school environment, curriculum, and culture.
* Practice collaborative planning and coteaching to promote the integration of research-based instructional practices essential for school reform (Hord, 1997; Todd, 2007).

In order to achieve this level of service to the TUSD learning community, at least one full-time professional teacher-librarian is required at each school site (SKILLs Act, 2007).

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References

American Association of School Librarians (AASL) & Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). (1998). Information power: Building partnerships for learning. Chicago: American Library Association.

Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: What are they and why are they important? Issues… about Change, 6(1). Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Available online at: http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues61.html

Krashen, S. (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research. 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Library Research Service. (2008). Impact studies. Available online at: http://lrs.org/impact.php

Scholastic Research & Results. (2008). Research foundation paper: School libraries work! 3rd ed. New York: Scholastic. Available online at: http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf

SKILLs Act. (2007). Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act: S. 1699 and H.R. 2864. Pending Federal Legislation Sponsored by Senators Jack Reed and Representative Raúl Grijalva. Available online at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01699: and http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02864:

Todd, R. (2007). Evidence based practice and school libraries: From advocacy to action. In S. Hughes-Hassell & V.H. Harada (eds.), School Reform and the School Library Media Specialist. pp. 57-78. Westport, CN: Libraries Unlimited.

Tucson Unified School District. (2005). Integrated elementary library curriculum K-5. Available online at: http://instech.tusd.k12.az.us/Core/k5library.html