A while back, we talked about the many questions facing librarians as they assume responsibility for assessment.

Here, we probe the second question from the scenario — how do we look at our students’ level of achievement and turn the mirror on ourselves? How can we learn about our strengths and weaknesses as teachers and guides by looking at how well our students did? What can we learn and improve upon?

Our scenario pal Mike is back again … what advice can you give him? We hope to be able to publish your perspective in School Library Monthly. Wouldn’t it be fun to see your name in print and share it with administrators as their parting idea about the power of librarianship in your building?

Thanks!

You may have noticed that SLM is spending quite a bit of time on assessment lately, especially on the “Nudging” pages. With the twin reforms of accountability and, for most states, Common Core Standards, librarians are no longer exempt from measuring the impact of their learning.

The scenario below may be familiar to many librarians. How do librarians fit into the end-of-project ecosystem? What should they be assessing when they look at student work? In what balance?

Should students know in advance how they will be graded? Should rubrics and checklists be used to guide students into understanding teacher expectations, or does that backfire, accidentally setting minimum expectations? Should feedback be quantitative or qualitative? Measured in the project itself or reflected in students’ scores on standardized test questions regarding library skills or information literacy?

Today is the last day to submit your ideas to the “Nudging Toward Inquiry” column on Formative Assessment. Poor fictional Julie below could use your help!

Thanks!