Ashanti Mayes-Alvidrez

LIS 550

27 January 2017

Standard I Evaluation

Standard I of the standards and guidelines for Texas school librarians focuses on learner-

centered teaching and learning. The most difficult aspect of evaluating the program at my

practicum library is that I must self-reflect and evaluate the program at my place of employment.

Principal 1: The librarian models and promotes collaborative instruction with

teachers, as determined by the independent and diverse needs of all learners, and within

the context of state curriculum standards.

The rating that I’m giving to Adams Elementary Library is below standard for principle 1. The

librarian is knowledgeable of the TEKS and collaborates with teachers in all subject areas to

integrate state mandated curriculum into less than 55% of the lesson plans presented in the

library.

Not all of the library lesson plans at Adams Elementary are tied to TEKS in the various subject

areas. The library is often closed due to meetings, writing academies, trainings, testing, and

various other events that take place on campus. On average, the library is open a week and a half

to two weeks during a six week period. During those closures, the librarian is often pulled for

other duties.

Due to the many cancellations that take place, it is difficult to collaborative effectively with

teachers to create learner centered lessons that align with what’s being learned in the subject area

classrooms.
In order to improve this rating, the librarian can request copies of weekly lesson plans from the

teachers in order to develop lessons that reinforce TEKS learned in the classroom and to provide

resources to the students that will assist in strengthening their knowledge on a specific topic.

Principal 2: The librarian works collaboratively with students, teachers, and the

community to promote local, state, and national reading initiatives that encourage learners

to read, write, view, speak, and listen for understanding and enjoyment.

The rating I’m giving to Adams Elementary Library is acceptable for principal 2. Although the

library does experience many closures throughout the year, there has been a push this year to

promote reading. This is the first year that an Accelerated Reader incentive program has been

heavily promoted to the student population.

In the fall, the librarian organized Adams Elementary’s first literacy night since the school has

been open. During literacy night, local members of the community and a local author came in to

speak with parents and students about the importance of literacy and daily reading. There is also

a spring literacy night scheduled at the end of February/beginning of March (during Dr. Seuss’

birthday).

Also, the librarian organizes two book fairs each year through Scholastic. During this time, book

talks occur daily over the morning announcements and story time is encouraged in the

classrooms as well. Outside of book fair week, the librarian promotes story time and often

utilizes stories that have rhyme and repetition.

Principle 3: The librarian collaborates, designs and provides ongoing instruction for

staff and students in the integration of information technology and information literacy,

emphasizing and modeling the ethical use of resources.

The rating I’m giving to Adams Elementary Library is acceptable in principal 3. The majority of

the time when training is provided, it is upon request throughout the year.

I feel that the library is not flexibly scheduled. Each class has a 30 minute time period in which

they come to the library, and there is no room in the schedule for open check out. Therefore, if a

student misses his/her library time, that student must wait another week before he/she can return

(but there is no guarantee because of all of the library closures).

The librarian utilizes reading assessment instruments and is responsible for testing the 3rd-5th

grade reading levels four times throughout the year to help teachers track their reading progress

and growth.

The librarian is currently working on implementing online training modules in order to assist

teachers who have requested a more efficient method of training. The training modules will be a

combination of modules created by the librarian to address the specific needs of the staff and

links to modules that already exist.