The Evidence Everyone Wants

We now live in a test-based world, thanks to a troubling trend toward the standardized test, only exacerbated by the demands of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Department of Education (DOE) officials are requiring schools to develop "scientifically-based research" to show exactly how they are spending millions in NCLB grants to make their students better readers and, of course, better "achievers." (Read: elevated test scores.)

As Rutgers University's Ross Todd aptly articulates in our cover story ("Irrefutable Evidence ," pp. 52–54), school librarians have an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate their tangible contributions to student achievement through a process called evidence-based practice. Todd introduces to school librarians ways to systematically document how their learning-centered activities and collaborative teaching initiatives boost student-learning outcomes. School librarians not only have a chance to be at the forefront of this movement, but can also position themselves for federal funding that demands such research.

However, Todd and the school library field are not alone in their efforts. The DOE is working with the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy to develop education policies that reflect "evidence-based approaches." The coalition, a nonprofit, bipartisan organization, principally recommends using "randomized, controlled trials to build a knowledge base" of projects that elevate student achievement, as well as requiring grant applicants to provide a plan for a "research-proven intervention" with goals.

This is not a pipe dream. Ohio's Department of Education has already drafted statewide, standards-based benchmarks for school libraries in its 612 school districts (see "Ohio Sets School Library Standards ," p. 18). A statewide standards-based initiative certainly lays the groundwork for ways to quantify scientifically the impact school librarians have on student learning on a local level. Plus, more data is on the way: Ohio education and state library officials have commissioned Todd to survey the state's school libraries. Todd adds Ohio to an ambitious research agenda, including a national study of Australian school libraries conducted in the summer of 2002, a statewide study of school libraries in New Jersey scheduled tentatively for this year, and a study of our nation's school libraries to be launched sometime in 2004.

Secretary of Education Rod Paige insists that states pay closer attention to research and that schools employ evidence-driven teaching methods "that really work—good solid instruction based on science."

One of Todd's primary goals is to develop a standardized model to help school librarians collect, document, and articulate the indisputable evidence that has been there all along: the evidence that shows the critical role you play in cultivating better learners.

Evan St. Lifer Editor estlifer@reedbusiness.com