CER


 * CER - Curriculum Evaluation Report

1. Should our curriculum change? Why?
 * Guiding Questions**
 * The primary delivery method of many resources used in information media have changed significantly. So our teaching and access to media needs to reflect these changes.
 * The amount of information accessible to students has increased and students and teachers need strategies for finding resources and analyzing their content.
 * Teaching has changed. We are trying to teach more collaboratively as well as integrate concepts within curricular areas at a meaningful point in a student's learning. We recognize that teaching collaboratively is a recognized best practice that needs to be reflected in our curriculum so that we can best meet the needs of all students.
 * We want to provide materials that reflect our changing community and raising student awareness of the connectedness of the global community.

2. What are the most important skills? Students are good consumers and producers of information (lifelong learners) which means:
 * Identify information sources and understand that they have a predictable structure.
 * Select and critically evaluate media based on their information need or interest.
 * Appreciate literature and other creative expressions of information.
 * Demonstrate honest and ethical behavior in the information and digital community.

3. How have we designed our curriculum to ensure that ALL students acquire a desired set of competencies and skills?
 * Identify successful curriculum models existing in other schools.
 * Design a scope and sequence that includes units and learning targets that reinforce and build upon prior learning experiences.
 * Include technology as well information lessons that help students become good producers of information - as well as consumers.
 * Create opportunities for authentic learning.

4. Survey summary Elementary Secondary Issues 5. Site visit findings
 * Summarize the who, how, etc.
 * About 2/3 of students in grades 2-6 took the survey.
 * Students in grades 2-4 were given the survey during library class under the direction of the librarian.
 * Students in grades 5-6 were given the survey by their teacher in the computer lab.
 * In general, students were comfortable asking the librarian for help in the elementary libraries.
 * Students in these grades used the library to most often to participate in lessons with the librarian, check out and return books, and read.
 * While some students use the library catalog in their classrooms or at home, the majority were accessing it in the library.
 * Students were accessing both print reference books and online resources more often at school both in the library and in the classroom than at home.
 * More than half of the respondents felt as if the librarian had helped them enjoy reading. Although we'd like to see that number higher, some students may not have considered all the ways librarians help them enjoy reading (introduction to new books, etc.)
 * About a third of respondents indicated the library helped them do schoolwork better. This number might be negatively affected because students may not see the impact of the library in their learning. Teachers often bring library books into their classrooms or use online resources purchased with library funds to facilitate instruction. Another factor may be that library lessons are taught in isolation, with little connection to lessons being taught in the classroom, especially in the primary grades.
 * About X of students in grades 7-12 took the survey.
 * Students in grades 7-12 were given time during language arts classes to complete the survey.
 * Language of question - not certain that all students understood what certain questions were asking or remembered some of the resources they'd accessed in the library or classrooms.
 * Did not give an answer choice of "none" which may skew results.
 * Janesville
 * Kickapoo
 * Green Bay

Our existing curriculum dates from 1993 with a 1996 revision - when information technology as we now know it was in its infancy. At this time each media specialist is trying to meet the needs of teachers and students as needs are presented and as time to collaborate

Thoughts from Nathan Freeman as a response to a TED talk from teacher Diana Laufenberg: How to Learn from Mistakes: []

1) In our day and age, recalling information is no longer what sets apart great minds from weak ones. The computer has leveled the playing field and created a new one: __the student who can find the BEST information, and use it most effectively can now rise to the top.__ The best students, additionally, will not be doing this in standard ways, but in creative ones. Only teachers interacting directly with these minds can evaluate their potential, not a standard test.