ISCI 761 M1-2: AASL & ISTE Standards
In her introduction to her president’s column in Knowledge Quest, Kathryn Roots Lewis (2019) writes that the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) standards are vital to school libraries because they “give school librarians the path to a meaningful, learner-focused practice” (4). I appreciated the quotes included in her article for each Shared Foundation in the standards - they offered a wonderful grounding in the reason for the Shared Foundation. Her column concludes with the advice to find connections in the standards to what other school staff and supporters are engaging with because it can “elevate your school librarian status as a viable and authentic member of your school community [and] advocate for policies and resources” (5). Other articles in the 47th volume of Knowledge Quest support this, for example, “Collaborating to Communicate: Librarian Reading Groups and Understanding the Standards” by Courtney L. Lewis (2019) discussed the importance of librarian awareness of the standards and verbage other library supporters are using and make connections to standards and practices they use to the AASL standards. This point is valid because of the sections in the standards that apply to learners, the program, the librarian, and the space of the media center and how the standards of those sections can be related to the sections of other standards. Lewis’s article specifically identifies the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards that, she says, administrators will likely be familiar with and how they are aligned with supporting inquiry but leave room for the AASL standards in addressing diversity and inclusivity (2019, 42). Lewis’s article explained how she and her team broke down the standards in group conversation and hinted at a collaborative tool for virtual communication, Slack. However, another professional development opportunity was outlined in the article “Roll the Die on the New AASL Standards” by Misti B. Jenkins (2019). Lewis’s advice had been to take time exploring and implementing the standards; Jenkin’s article described a professional development to do that. In Jenkin’s article, participants were presented with scenarios and then rolled a die to apply a specific standard to the scenario. These two professional development examples demonstrated the versatility of the AASL standards and the importance of collaboration and communication in regard to their planning and implementation. I would be very likely to use the dice and small group examples in professional developments I would lead with my own faculty in exploring the standards. I am a fan of gamification and it is worth noting that there is also a card game available to explore the AASL standards and personas available from the AASL. However, beyond the professional development and collaboration angles, the standards can also be applied to library materials. Mary Lou Caron O’Conner’s (2019) article, “Now Serving An Appealing Menu of Digital Literacy Tools and Resources,” describes the menu she creates for students and how the menu reflects different sections of the AASL standards. I think this was one of the most outstanding resources I identified for my toolbox and I added it to my school library website project for another class.
The president’s letter and the three articles previously discussed had common themes of collaboration between library users and leaders, communication with library and school management, and awareness of what concerns school staff - teachers and administration. The AASL standards are applicable to many - librarian, school officials and staff, as well as students and their families. An important aspect of increasing their relevance is by linking them to what teachers and school administrators are already doing and communicating that through the library’s materials and actions. In order to do this, the librarian will need to be familiar with the AASL standards and the state or national education standards, such as Common Core or the South Carolina College and Career-Readiness standards or even, as one of the articles addressed, the ISTE standards. The AASL has published crosswalks that match across the AASL standards with other standards. The crosswalk for the ISTE standards shows similarities for each shared foundation of the AASL standards and how they break down into the domain categories. This document is really useful for identifying how an AASL standard or group of standards relates to a standard or set of standards from the ISTE. For example, the Collaborate shared foundation in the Thing domain shares three standards for learners, librarians, and school libraries with the ISTE standards but there is a gap in the ISTE standards for the librarian and library under the Grow domain for the Include shared foundation. Where there are differences in the ISTE standards, the AASL standards can fill them demonstrating how they can work together. Another benefit is that in the same way the AASL standards are divided by learner, librarian, and library, the ISTE standards are divided by Educator or Student with other categories like Designer, Analyst, Global Collaborator, etc. A good thing about the organization of both these standards and having a crosswalk means the advice of Lewis in addressing the standards individually and taking time with their implementation so every step is done with purpose, full understanding, and intention.
References
Caron O’Connor, M. (2019). “Now Serving: An Appealing Menu of Digital Literacy Tools & Resources.” Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 17-21.
Jenkins, M.B. (2019). “Roll the Die on the New AASL Standards.” Knowledge Quest, 47(5), E1-E3.
Lewis, C.L. (2019). “Collaborating to communicate: Librarian Reading Groups and Understanding Standards.” Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 36-43.
Lewis, K. “What’s in a Quote? Building Connections Using the National School Library Standards!” Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 4-5.
“National School Library Standards Card Game.” (2022). American Association of School Librarians. standards.aasl.org/project/card-game/
“National School Library Standards crosswalk with ISTE Standards for Students and Educators.” (2018). American Association of School Librarians. standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf.gif)
Hi Carson, I enjoyed reading your post! I absolutely agree that collaboration and discussion are essential for fully understanding and effectively implementing the AASL standards. Getting ideas from other libraries on how they incorporate the standards and discussing what each standard means are necessary parts of the process. It was interesting to read about how librarians have been practicing this in the Knowledge Quest issue we read this week. I love that there is a card game that explores the AASL standards! I’ll have to check that out. While the standards are useful, they are very overwhelming so a game approach seems like the best way to tackle understanding them. I also like your comparison of the AASL and ISTE standards. There are so many ways these standards can clearly work together to create a well-rounded library program.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post!
—Callie Graham
Using the card game and the dice game for applying the AASL standards to different scenarios is great way to introduce these standards to classroom teachers. Gamification is fun for adults too, specially during a PD or faculty meeting. As a classroom teacher, I am already loaded with standards to cover, so as a librarian, my goal is to find ways to incorporate our standards into the content standards. I appreciate that you are aware that teachers do not need or want yet another list of things to teach and plan to find way to help them blend the two sets of standards. I also think your quote about elevating librarian status within the school community depends greatly on the school and the librarian. My school had a previous librarian who was very hands on and involved with our students and faculty. We all saw her as a peer and expert who could help us and our students with pretty much anything. Other librarians have been very secluded and interact very little. Let's just say they are not as highly recognized as an expert in their area.
ReplyDeleteHey Carson,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the AASL standards incorporate all library users in their standards. The ISTE standards identify Educators and Students but in a broad way and not as encompassing as the AASL standards. As an elementary school librarian, my students' families are as much a part of my library community as my students and staff. I tend to gravitate toward the AASL standards but see how the ISTE standards are also necessary. I also agree that school librarians should try to work the two standards together to access maximum librarianship and school libraries.
Hi Carson,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog this week, especially how you analyzed multiple articles. One thing that I also noticed is that the majority of the readings focused on the AASL standards. Before this class, I didn't even know the ISTE standards existed. What I like about ISTE is how they prioritize technology-based learning. Though students who don’t have access to technology are left out. AASL standards seem to be more common and used in the school library. Like you said, the AASL standards are for everyone—students, educators, and staff. When I become a media specialists, though I hope to use both AASL and ISTE, I will for sure use AASL more.
Kacee