Library Funding

Library Funding and ELA Scores

Word Cloud

Using 1 or 2 words, describe the role of a school librarian.

--American Association of School Librarians

"The school library is a vital connection between school and home” and the librarian should “ensure the school library environment provides all members of the community access to information and technology, connecting learning to real-world events”.

--Dr. Melanie Lewis, University of West Georgia

Librarians can “support the school’s instructional goals, regularly engage with the instructional program, [help coordinate] cur riculum, promote professional learning… [and enact] a role similar to an instructional coach”

1. Do school systems that provide more library funding show stronger proficiency rates on the ELA portion of the TNREADY examination?

Research Question

Poll

What do you think: does more library funding equate to better ELA achievement scores?

• Yes

• No

The Process

• I looked at three local systems:

  • Carter County; Johnson City Schools; and Sullivan County Schools

• I reviewed the overall library budgets for each systems, these included:

  • Salaries

  • Books/Media

  • Salary Equity--Carter County only

  • Software Destiny Maintenance--Johnson City only

• I then compared these numbers to ELA achievement results via TDOE

Multiple Choice

Which district do you think allotted the most for school libraries?

• Carter County

• Johnson City

• Sullivan County

Multiple Choice

Which district do you think allotted the most for school libraries per school?

• Carter County

• Johnson City

• Sullivan County

District Library Funding

• ​Carter County

  • $611,343.06

    • $38,208.94/school

• Johnson City (JCS)

  • $907,794

    • $69,830.31/school

• Sullivan County (SCS)

  • $969,250

    • $57,014.71/school

District ELA Scores

Deeper Dive

• Elementary Students

  • CC: 62% approaching or below; SCS: 61% approaching or below; JCS: 37% approaching or below

• Middle School Students

  • CC: 73% approaching or below; SCS: 69% approaching or below; JCS: 48% approaching or below

• High School Students

  • CC: 61% approaching or below; SCS: 65% approaching or below; JCS: 42% approaching or below

Discussion

• SCS provided $20,000 more per schools than Carter County, but...

  • Overall proficiency rate only 1.7% higher

• SCS allocated the most overall, but...

  • Did not outshine JCS; AND

    • Broken down by minorities: only 28% students identifying as Black or African American scored proficient

      • JCS: 44.3%; Carter County: 44.3%

• SCS spent the most on salaries; JCS and Carter County spent more on books/media, over $40,000

Recommendations...

• How are we using librarians?

• Invest more time to research and writing.

-Andrew Snyder, hopeful doctoral degree recipient, Milligan University

"...there is not a significant amount of TNREADY results to conclusively argue that the more money distributed to each school’s libraries will significantly improve proficiency numbers on the ELA portion of the exams."

​In conclusion..