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In California we have just implemented a statewide off the shelf test = for grades 2-11 and the reading results aren't as good as we'd like. = Many comments are coming out about why that's the case, including = need for phonics, remedial reading at higher grades, more time for = reading, etc. I sent the following letter to a reporter who wrote = one article and though it might have some ideas or ammunition that = could help you fight for more books for your libraries. Please feel = free to use it, take from it, etc. ************* Your article on the statewide reading scores stated, "researchers = found that high school students were reading less at home and school, = doing less recreational reading and tended to have fewer reading = materials available to them at home." What can be done to improve student achievement? Research studies on = the factors affecting student achievement state that the school = library is a vital component of student success in school. School Match, a company that helps businesses relocate their staff, = reported in 1987 that the strongest predictor of high student = performance is the amount spent on the school library media program.1 = A 1992 research study by the U.S. Department of Education found = that=B2among school and community predictors of academic achievement, = the size of the library media center staff and collection is second = only to the absence of at-risk conditions, particularly poverty and = low educational attainment among adults.=B2 When controlled for = these social and economic differences, they found that =B3students at = schools with better funded library media centers have higher than = average test scores, whether their schools and communities are rich = or poor and whether adults in the community are well or poorly = educated.=B22 School libraries are the great equalizer, providing access to a print = and information rich environment that, for many students, can only be = experienced in their school library. Literacy is usually defined as = getting meaning from text. However, a necessary aspect of literacy = is putting meaning into the text. Students bring their own = experiences to the reading process. If they have learned the basic = phonics and other skills of reading, they must have a rich base of = experiences in order to really understand what they read, to be truly = literate and to put meaning into the text. Growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota I had access to a = school library with a part time credentialed school librarian and = walls lined with books. I didn=B9t have much opportunity to travel = or experience the world directly in that town of 600 people, but I = can, even now, almost 40 years later, vividly remember books, poems = and films that made an impact on me. Those experiences are as much a = part of what I bring to literacy as the experiences I have had in = life. Too many students in California have a limited base of experience. = Reading many books, listening to stories, viewing films and videos, = traveling, and experiencing many things builds up this base, this = storehouse of experience that Edgar Dale called the =B3capital fund = of past experiences.=B2 Those of you in business know that the = biggest mistake made when going into business for yourself that will = almost certainly lead to failure is that of undercapitalization. = This is also true in education. We allow our children to be = undercapitalized, we deny them the experiences that they need to be = successful. Though we cannot give every student the number of direct experiences = they really deserve, we can provide them with a well supplied, well = staffed school library that can give them their own =B3capital fund = of past experiences.=B2 The key is to read, read, read, and then, = read some more! Stephen Krashen reports numerous research studies3 that show the = effect of school libraries on children=B9s reading. Children in = schools with no library read half as much as children in schools with = libraries. Children who had access to school libraries read more than = students with access only to classroom collections of books. He also = describes numerous studies that have consistently proven that =B3more = reading results in better reading comprehension, writing style, = vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development.=B2 To improve student reading, we must improve our school libraries. = It=B9s as simple as that. To take away the school library is = especially disastrous in poorer communities where students may lack = this necessary print-rich environment in their homes and where they = are less apt to visit their public library, if one exists and is = accessible to them. A recent research study that looked at the = number of books in homes, school libraries and communities in Beverly = Hills, Compton and Watts (communities within only a few miles of each = other) found that children in the poorer communities had access to = many fewer books in every location, not just their homes. One reason for the poor scores might just be the dismal state of so = many school libraries in California for many years. Maybe that=B9s = one reason why California schools have done so poorly over the last = couple of decades, we have literally starved and abandoned our school = libraries. 1. Lynch, Mary Jo and Ann Weeks, =B3School Match revisited,=B2 = American Libraries, June 1988, pp. 459-60. 2. Lance, Keith Curry, et al, The Impact of School Library Media = Centers on Academic Achievement, Hi Willow Research and Publishing, = Castle Rock, CO, 1993, page 92-93. 3. Krashen, Stephen, The Power of Reading, Libraries Unlimited, = Inc., Englewood, CO, 1993 Susan Martimo Choi Director, Educational Media Center Santa Clara County Office of Education and Past-President California School Library Association and School Board Member Morgan Hill Unified School District HM PH: (408) 578-3098 HM Email: smchoi@ix.netcom.com WK Email: Susan_Choi@sccoe.k12.ca.us =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= To quit LM_NET (or set NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send an email message to listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST * NOTE: Please allow time for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=