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A key element in any directed learning environment is the assessment of competence in that knowledge.

The first step — “knows” — is knowledge about a subject, such as recalling facts. The second is to “know how” to use the knowledge, such as in analysing a problem. The third step is to demonstrate proficiency in applying the knowledge — “shows how”.

The fourth step is to see how the knowledge is integrated into the real world.

The final step, “mastery”, refers to the competence of an expert who teaches the next generation.

by 2005, the Colorado study model had been replicated and elaborated upon to a greater or lesser extent in Colorado and more than a dozen other states by five different researchers or research teams. Collectively, they have studied the impact of school libraries in approximately 8,700 schools with enrollments totaling more than 2.6 million students.

using this research to advocate for school library programs has affected the relationships of school librarians with both principals and teachers. Four out of five respondents (81 percent) reported that they shared the research with their principals. (Between one-third and half also reported sharing this research with their superintendents, other administrators, technology staff, and/or parents.) Almost two out of three respondents (66 percent) reported sharing the research with teachers. As a result, approximately two-thirds of respondents report that sharing the research improved their relationships with their principals (69 percent) or teachers (66 percent).

Krashen suggests quite the reverse. Reading and library use are not direct consequences of students being from more prosperous homes, but rather from the fact that more prosperous homes tend to offer more books and other reading materials, and, thereby, to encourage reading and library use. Thus, he hypothesizes, libraries—both public and school—have an important role to play in equalizing access to books and other reading materials for disadvantaged students.

Overall, students and teachers confirmed that the school libraries studied helped students by making them more information- and computer-literate generally, but especially in their school work, and by encouraging them to read for pleasure and information—and, in the latter case, to read critically—beyond what they are required to do for school.

their core results were remarkably consistent. Across states and grade levels, test scores correlated positively and statistically significantly with staff and collection size; library staff activities related to learning and teaching, information access and delivery, and program administration; and the availability of networked computers, both in the library and elsewhere in the school, that provide access to library catalogs, licensed databases, and the World Wide Web. The cause-and-effect claim associated with these correlations was strengthened by the reliability of the relationships between key library variables (i.e., staffing levels, collection size, spending) and test scores when other school and community conditions were taken into account.

A series of studies that have had a great deal of influence on the research and decision-making discussions concerning school library media programs have grown from the work of a team in Colorado—Keith Curry Lance, Marcia J. Rodney, and Christine Hamilton-Pennell (2000).

Recent school library impact studies have also identified, and generated some evidence about, potential "interventions" that could be studied. The questions might at first appear rather familiar: How much, and how, are achievement and learning improved when . . . librarians collaborate more fully with other educators? libraries are more flexibly scheduled? administrators choose to support stronger library programs (in a specific way)? library spending (for something specific) increases?

high priority should be given to reaching teachers, administrators, and public officials as well as school librarians and school library advocates.

Perhaps the most strategic option, albeit a long-term one, is to infiltrate schools and colleges of education. Most school administrators and teachers never had to take a course, or even part of a course, that introduced them to what constitutes a high-quality school library program.

Three factors are working against successful advocacy for school libraries: (1) the age demographic of librarians, (2) the lack of institutionalization of librarianship in K–12 schools, and (3) the lack of support from educators due to their lack of education or training about libraries and good experiences with libraries and librarians.

These vacant positions are highly vulnerable to being downgraded or eliminated in these times of tight budgets, not merely because there is less money to go around, but because superintendents, principals, teachers, and other education decision-makers do not understand the role a school librarian can and should play.

If we want the school library to be regarded as a central player in fostering academic success, we must do whatever we can to ensure that school library research is not marginalized by other interests.