Chapter 2; parts 1 and 2

I would like to start by saying, I am very glad we broke this chapter into two parts! Wow...where to begin.

Part 1. The quote on page 23 really resonated with me, and got me questioning,
"A central part of the discipline of improvement is the belief that if the
teaching is good and powerful, if the conditions of work enable and support
that practice, then we should be able to see immediate evidence that students
are learning. If we can't then we should ask whether the teaching was really
as good as we thought it was."
Coming from a school in need of improvement, with many students on an ineligible list, I ask myself what could I be doing differently? How do we teach the students that don't want to learn? And they are out there...those that don't do homework, don't bother taking notes, don't do the research papers...what do we do differently? Is the onus on us completely? I wanted to know how to "teach them better!" I am not sure I agree with this premise. What do you think? Definitely food for discussion.

I appreciated the pages devoted to defining what, exactly, a learning specialist is. We banter around that phrase, not quite sure what it means. I appreciated the definition and description on pages 24 and 25. I was pleased to see that librarians are listed as examples of learning specialists. And, according to Table 2.1,there is much overlap in our job descriptions. But I have to ask, where do we fit in, in the scheme of our district?

Part 2: Challenges
What struck me in this section of the chapter were the statistics that demonstrate how principals learn about school libraries. I know we tried working on this, but it feels like a never ending battle...only 7% learn about school libraries through undergraduate or graduate course work. Talk about the need for advocacy.

Once again I was given pause when the authors state that, "...the degree of busyness, the number of collaborations, and the strength of interpersonal connections, none of which are inextricably linked to improved performance of students or increased expertise of staff" (27). It keeps coming back to this...as much as we collect this other data, it comes back to achievement! What are your thoughts as to how we can move beyond this typical data?

I think one of the most significant sections of the chapter was the section titled, "School-Level Factors that Impact Effectiveness." (And as an aside, I loved the Teacher/Librarian Job Discription on pg 28!) This first factor, collective accountabilty, was especially significant to me. I liked the concept that we are NOT a "loose confederation of independent learning environments..."

The bottom line on page 31 was very powerfully stated, once again, bringing the focus back to student achievement, "The goal is not to increase collaboration but to improve student performance. The goal is not to force staff to attend professional development; the goal is for them to improve their practice in order to improve student performance...." Anxious to see what everyone thought.

Welcome!

Our first discussion will start on February 16th. This online discussion will cover chapter 2, parts 1 and 2. Starter post will be posted soon!