The purpose of this observational study was to determine if significant difference existed in the quality of teacher preparation training as perceived by school district employees who have completed or were pursuing teacher certification in the area of school library media specialist from graduate programs accredited by National Council of Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) and those accredited by institutions holding the American Library Association (ALA) endorsement. The focus of this investigation was on how or if knowledge, skills, and dispositions of school library media specialists and how does initial training impact student achievement. The study was conducted in an urban school district located in the metropolitan Atlanta area and is identified as district SDA. Descriptive, student performance, and perceived competence data were collected from 95/ P-12 media specialists, working in 90 school sites for the study population. Elementary (54 sites) and middle schools (19 sites) were part of the population. Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) results for students in grades 1-8 during the spring of 2007 were used to rank adequate yearly progress (AYP) performance. High school students do not take the CRCT. High school media specialists (N=21) were included in the study population. Findings form the study indicated that the interactions between the school administration, teachers as collaborative planning partners, collection development activities, and the school library media specialists (SLMS) have a positive impact on P-12 student achievement. Graduate preparation programs (NCATE and ALA) as independent variables were not perceived by SLMS to have a significant impact on the quality of the service and support they provided to learners.

The purpose of this study is to develop a prototype instrument that may be used in conjunction with the Texas Teacher Appraisal System instrument to appraise the competencies expected of school library media specialists.

Library media specialists (LMSs) have a unique position within a school, which is the opportunity to reach out to every student, especially to gifted and talented students who can benefit from having more advocates within their learning communities. Collaborating with other education professionals is beneficial to all students and many library media specialists already make this a normal part of their job responsibilities. The LMSs who are participants of Project CATALYST (Collaboration among Teachers and Librarians Yields Successful Teaching) are required to collaborate with classroom teachers in order to provide more enriching opportunities for students when they come to the library media center. So, the purpose of this project was to introduce gifted and talented terminology and strategies that focus on differentiated instruction for gifted and talented students to LMSs participating in Project CATALYST grant through the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC). This will meet two specific needs: providing the LMSs opportunities to collaborate with classroom teachers while becoming another resource for gifted and talented students that can enhance their learning beyond the classroom. The LMSs who participate in Project CATALYST were introduced to specific gifted and talented terminology and strategies that focus on differentiated instruction for gifted and talented students through a three-hour professional development. The participants completed an online pre-survey that identified the specific needs of the group and the professional development was designed with these needs in mind. After participating in the professional development, the participants were asked to complete an online post-survey to determine if the professional development was effective in changing the awareness and instructional practices of the participants when working with gifted and talented students. The pre- and post-surveys were analyzed to validate the effectiveness of the project and found that there was positive response by library media specialists to professional development on using differentiated instruction with gifted and talented students in the library media center. The small changes in instructional practices by 70 percent of the participants validate the effectiveness of the project in enlightening educators in the needs of gifted and talented students and the need to collaborate with other educators to provide enriching and challenging learning activities for these unique students.

This descriptive, non-experimental study examines the strength of the relationship between California school library media programs and student achievement, using data from California criterion-referenced state-wide tests, publically available school and community demographic data, and a state survey of school library programs. Results indicate a substantial discrepancy in library staffing levels from the elementary grades through the high schools. Nevertheless, statistically significant correlations were found between certificated staffing levels and student achievement at each grade. Significant correlations persisted at the elementary and middle school when controlling for five of six school and community variables, and at the high school when controlling for all six of those variables. Bivariate correlations between total staffing and student achievement were significant at both the middle school and high school level when controlling for all school and community variables. Generally, the strength of the correlations between both certificated and total staffing tended to increase with grade level; at the high school level, correlations were among the strongest reported in any statewide study to date. There was a significant positive relationship between a majority of the 21 library services regularly provided and student achievement at all levels. Total library services were significantly related to student achievement at all levels when controlling for all school and community variables. In multiple regression analyses, there was an increasingly stronger relationship between total library programs and student achievement by grade level when controlling for all school and community variables. At every level, certificated and total staffing levels were associated with the strength of library program elements. The findings from this study confirm a host of prior research on the relationship between school libraries and student achievement and point to inequitable access to school library services in California. Results from this study might also provide a baseline of data for qualitative research that more deeply explores ways school library programs contribute to student achievement beyond ways measured by current standardized tests.

The purpose of this research was to study job satisfaction among public school library media specialists based on the psychological needs of social needs, security needs, esteem needs, autonomy needs, and self actualization needs, according to Maslow's Hierarchy. Subjects were requested to respond to a questionnaire of 30 items pertaining to job satisfaction. Each item required two responses: first, as to the level of importance the item held; and secondly, the satisfaction currently received from that particular item.