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In July, 2011, the AASL Board approved the Position Statement on Labeling Books with Reading Levels. The AASL position statement defines standard directional spine labels and compares them to reading level labels (associated with computerized reading programs) as they are often applied in school libraries. The statement also offers suggestions for concerned librarians to be aware not only of the possible negative effects of these  labels on children as they browse, but also offers suggestions for voicing those concerns. There are proponents and opponents to how computerized reading programs are implemented in schools and their effects on school library collections and students' free access to books of their choice.  A school librarian (name withheld) shares this story of how labels affect students' choices in her school. "Recently I helped a student who came to me while his class was in the library browsing. As the librarian of a middle school library, I often see situations such as this one. The boy had been most recently reading about George Washington and Ben Franklin. His class assignment that day was to checkout two computerized reading program books within his tested reading level and thus was "allowed" only one free choice book. "But I'd rather not have to check out labeled books and there are some books I'd like today that don't have the dots or reading level labels on the backs of the books. Does that mean Ican't check them out?" he asks me. The boy went on to say that he'd rather be allowed to check out three books on his favorite non-fiction topics, regardless of reading level. As he expresses his frustration, he lowers his voice and moves toward a corner of the library where there are no other students. "I'm a pretty good reader," he said quietly, "and I really like reading about the American Revolution. But I have to stay within a certain range. I can't find many books in my reading level that are really interest

"It was the best times, it was the worst of times…." This famous observation by Charles Dickens is certainly applicable to the current status of school library programs and school librarians. On the one hand, some programs are valued and receive ongoing support from their communities. Led by competent, effective school librarians, programs such as those recognized as meeting the criteria of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National School Library Program of the Year Award, provide solid evidence of the positive impact of best practice on teaching and learning. On the other hand, the economic downturn, often combined with a lack of understanding or value for how school librarians and library programs contribute to student achievement, has led other communities to eliminate positions and to cut back, curtail, or get rid of once thriving programs.

"The positions of the Australian negotiators have been mixed. In relation to some provisions they are acting in accordance with domestic developments, including the recommendations of the IT pricing report on parallel importation and the abusive assertion of IP rights; on other issues, such as the extension of the term of copyright and the omission of "fair use," their position is not so strong. On these matters, and on the proposed cooperation between ISPs and copyright holders - which is controversial domestically and represents a significant change - the treaty terms ought to be open to public debate. *"

2010 Position Statement against charter schools

"An eye tracking experiment revealed that college student users have substantial trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query. When the participants selected a link to follow from Google's result pages, their decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position even if the abstracts themselves were less relevant. While the participants reacted to artificially reduced retrieval quality by greater scrutiny, they failed to achieve the same success rate. This demonstrated trust in Google has implications for the search engine's tremendous potential influence on culture, society, and user traffic on the Web."

next time you ponder what to do with technology, consider the following essential questions: What information can my students communicate with technology?  What information can I embed into this project?   Can my students access information to synthesize, critically?  Are my students information literate as well as tech-savvy?  Am I asking my students to JUST find information? Or, have I asked them to do anything with that information?  Synthesize?  Create? Debate? Transform that information into a position, problem solve,  etc,?  

26 free posters inspired by a NY street artist who put positive messages on trains.

"In order to make this program grow, students will have to take a role in terms of creating and managing their badges. Of course, we will be there to guide the students, but it will require students to be a little more creative with their time in the library. We feel this will be a positive program to help student learn time management skills, as well as increase their reading throughout the school year."

Play USA TODAY's Candidate Match Game II to find out which candidate -- Barack Obama or Mitt Romney -- you agree with most on the key issues of the day. And as you take the quiz, learn more about their positions on the issues.

When you need little extra cash to cover some unexpected expenses, you can simply trust upon popular same day payday Loans proposed by some of the online lenders. These services help employed people to avail the small cash advance in urgency and that without going through the trauma of traditional lending. It provides the effortless and quick way to arrange the loan facility to tackle any financial problem.As the name says, these are instant short term loans that help to get the desired cash in the shortest time possible simply by proving your repaying ability with the upcoming salary. The online market is a hub of lenders that offer such credit to the loan seekers based on their need and repaying ability. But before making the final decision, you must consider the following details that will assist you to make the favorable decision.

It has been firmly established that more reading leads to better reading (and writing, spelling, vocabulary and grammar), and that more access to books results in more reading (Krashen, 2004). It is thus reasonable to hypothesize that more access to books is related to better reading. This prediction has been confirmed by a number of studies showing a positive relationship between library quality and reading achievement (McQuillan, 1998; Lance, 2004, and studies reviewed in Krashen, 2004).

Nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting both sides of issues, candidates, etc, Biographies, voting records, issue positions, ratings, speeches, campaign finance information.

When support for school libraries rises, reading scores go up and learning by other measures increases also. That's what researchers at Mansfield University in Mansfield, PA found when they examined and summarized the results of 23 studies done around the United States and Canada.

YouTube clip pitched to real estate agents. Hang on! They're only referred to a few times! The material is highly relevant to TLs. Both content creation and content curation can help you position yourself as a trusted resource online. But before acting on either, consider formulating a content strategy. This way, whether you are creating or curating you can be sure that the content you share is valuable and useful to your intended audience. So what's the difference [...]

significant difference in attitude and behavior among the three groups, with 70 percent of media specialists, 62 percent of teachers, and 54 percent of administrators saying they've joined a social network. The survey also says school librarians are most positive about the value of social networking in education, but they're frustrated with their school districts blocking access to Web sites like YouTube and Facebook.

"Reading is a foundational skill for 21st-century learners. Guiding learners to become engaged and effective users of ideas and information and to appreciate literature requires that they develop as strategic readers who can comprehend, analyze, and evaluate text in both print and digital formats. Learners must also have opportunities to read for enjoyment as well as for information. School library media specialists are in a critical and unique position to partner with other educators to elevate the reading development of our nation's youth."