Assessment Tools

Concern: Assessment is an important component of teaching AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner. School librarians are challenged to play an active role in assessing students’ information gathering process, as well as the products they produce for assignments and projects, yet many have little experience in developing assessment tools.

Action: The concern was approved by the Affiliate Assembly Executive Committee and forwarded to the Assembly for review where it was combined with a data collection concern from Region 1. The Affiliate Assembly body approved sending the revised concern to the AASL Board.

Revised Concern: Assessment is an important component of teaching AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner. School librarians are challenged to play an active role in assessing students’ information gathering process, as well as the products they produce for assignments and projects, yet many have little experience in developing assessment tools.

It’s all about the DATA! The use of statistics, feedback and evaluations is critical for advocacy and is a best practice in school librarianship. While evidence-based practice should be an essential part of all school library programs, not all school librarians have been collecting or using data. The collection and use of data needs to become expected and routine.

• The 2009 Fall Forum focused on assessment
• Knowledge Quest articles
• Empowering Learners, the AASL learning standards/Common Core Crosswalk, and the AASL lesson plan database.
• TRAILS: Tools for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills