So I know many of you have seen this February article from Scholastic’s Administrator titled “Meet Your New School Library Media Specialist: Not Your Grandma’s Librarian…” I’m pretty sure I saw it when someone published it on the SCASL list serv, but I had already seen it in Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog too. SC received some really good kudos in that article, particularly for our LMS ADEPT program. What I did not realize was that the AASL Blog had president Sarah Kelly Johns had posted her thoughts on the article in February as well, and best she directly expressed an intrigue with our ADEPT instrument used to evaluate South Carolina Media Specialists.
I know many who actually worked on the development of the instrument, and I’ve had the chance to sit on evaluation teams (as many of you know, ADEPT is not done by a sole administrator, but rather a team of no less than two evaluators, one an administrator and one a peer.) With many of us being “singletons” in our schools, that peer is usually another practicing LMS from a neighboring school. I’ve been involved in the evaluation of LMS’s a couple of times using the instrument, and I must say it is a fair instrument that really reflects today’s school library media program. As a matter of fact, I’ve used my presence on these teams to “educate” principals on the vernacular of a current best practice library, and gotten some of them look at their program compared to best practice, hoping to be a catalyst for change in a school (i.e. showing how a fixed schedule does not really fit the evaluation instrument–that only an open or flexible schedule fits the evaluation instrument.)
Have I been able to make changes for the schools where I served on the team–particularly ones using a fixed schedule and a librarian as a planning period? No, I cannot say I have. I did though get the last school that I served on the team with to increase the school library budget so that the LMS would not be cited in the instrument on the collection when no monies had been allocated at all. I am proud of that instrument too, and hope that our administrators will take a second look at it now–particularly now that we are getting attention from a national perspective. I am also glad to know that activists in our organizations like AASL President Sarah Kelly Johns and Doug Johnson are giving our state kudos for the evaluation program we use to assess LMS’s. Do I think it will be a catalyst for major change? No. I will continue doing my part in educating administrators when I serve on evaluation teams, I promise. But we all know some things look good on paper, and that ometimes the reality bites. I wonder how many LMS’s in our state that have been required to do ADEPT have passed with flying colors, even though they have pathetic budgets, outdated collections, and no time for true collaboration (b/c they are the planning time for teachers)? I would wager many. Also let’s not forget the only LMS’s who have to go through the evaluation program are LMS’s who enter the profession as a first year educator, experienced LMS’s who move into South Carolina (and that is not every district or school, even), or LMS’s who work under progressive administrators who see the program and want to strive for change (and hope that the evaluation will be either a cure-all or cause a vacancy to fill.) Either way it is viewed, I still think the LMS Adept program deserves the merit and attention it is getting, and it makes me proud to work as a teacher librarian in the state of South Carolina.
One more note–for those of you who are using blogs for personal professional development, please note that the AASL Blog has relocated and renovated. Update your feeds to this address. Check out the new and improved AASL Weblog at http://aasl.ala.org/aaslblog or http://aaslblog.org
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