Part of being a librarian is finding ways to improve and enhance student learning. In order to do so librarians must gather information pertaining to their school population, interpret the information, and then share that knowledge with administration and/or stakeholders. In compliance with AASL Standard 3.4, I created a Prezi presentation to share the results of my action research project, which focused on ninth grade students who are struggling with reading. The purpose of the project was to create an afterschool program for struggling ninth grade students to encourage and engage them in an activity that would help them to become better independent readers.
I created this action research with the guidance of my mentor who helped me focus my outcomes on our ninth grade English class. As a result, activities like sustained silent reading in the library, reading logs, and book talks were included with the intent to encourage students to participate in discussions. This would give purpose to their reading while providing the opportunity for improvement of their reading skills. In addition, allowing the students to use self-selected books, they were able to read what they wanted and further develop an appreciation for reading. These activities were intended to encourage students to participate and to put a purpose with their reading, all the while getting the much-needed practice they needed to improve their reading skills. I used teacher and student surveys to gather initial information on the use of the library as well as reading skills known and taught. In addition, SRI scores revealed reading skills that had been taught and retained by students. The intended result of this action research was to show that integrating a program where students have time to read for pleasure and write and talk about the books they are reading will not only improve their reading levels, but also their overall achievement.
Completing the course in the second semester of the school year made it a difficult assignment to implement; however, I was able to get all of the information I needed for the initial observation of the project. What essentially became a weakness was also strength; the actual data from students’ SRI scores were available for the start of the project but the final scores were not. Testing and other afterschool activities also interfered with the implementation. What I learned from this experience is in order to organize an afterschool program, I will need to involve transportation, administration, the testing coordinator, and facilities operations, so that all appropriate accommodations can be provided for all students. If I were to implement this in the future, I would certainly plan it starting early in the school year to better prepare and organize the time and space needed for it.
As an educator, I have a strong affirmation for the drive to guide students to be successful, lifelong learners and independent readers. With this action research project, I feel as though this could be a way to reach some struggling and reluctant readers and then utilize the data to show their improvements. My action research project would allow me to see the direct correlation between reading on a regular basis and discussion. AASL Standard 3.4 requires librarian media specialists to “use evidence-based, action research to collect, interpret, create, and share new data to improve the practice of school libraries.” While the main focus was on students improving their reading levels; by incorporating the library into this research allows for the library to be used as more than just the book room, but where students can improve their skills. I would like to use this information to provide teachers and administration with useful information as a way to help improve student achievement.