Class 4: Learning to Assess + Petitions

After reading through a proposed instructional lesson plan for first graders, our in-class task was to determine how to assess students' learning. The lesson plan was an interesting one for sure, complete with paper doll-cutouts, digital cameras, and mini-movies. Of course, this level of sophistication requires a similarly well-thought-out plan for assessment. What struck me as most challenging was how educators can meaningfully assess students' work when it  encompasses so many different aspects at so many different levels of learning.  How do you assess students on their ability to create paper dolls vs. their ability to take digital photos of their work?  How do you apply standards and hold students up to certain expectations without stifling creativity?


We also discussed in class the recent online petitions to bolster support for school libraries. Having read the first such petition, I can understand why it failed to meet the threshold of 25,000 signatures. The language in the original petition seemed more like a last-minute plea to save the jobs of librarians who were being cut left and right. And while preserving jobs can be a noble endeavor, it seems unlikely that thousands of people outside of the library/education sphere would want to sign on to such an initiative--after all, what's in it for them? I don't think the first petition employed the far-reaching language necessary to drum up a lot of support.


The current petition, however, is a bit more guarded in its words, never explicitly calling for extra funding to go to certified school librarians. Instead, the petition argues for "effective" school libraries that provide the "opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to learn, to participate, and to compete in today’s world." By focusing (albeit somewhat vaguely) on how closely students' success is tied to school library programs, the author of the petition has allowed the message to resonate beyond the educational community (and the new petition has reached the threshold!). I also believe that pointing out the "access gap" that is being created is an important issue to call to attention. Why are students in more affluent school districts entitled to better resources and learning tools than students in under-funded districts? Especially when students in poor, inner-city or rural districts may be more disadvantaged from the start?


It will be interesting to see how the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is reauthorized and what repercussions it will have in the school library community.