[LM_NET] TAR: Validity of library research

[Bettie Fisher <fisherbet@CHARTER.NET>]

Dear Colleagues,
         I received an ad through my school e-mail for a book entitled 
Effective Instruction: a Handbook of Evidence-Based Strategies by Myles 
Friedman, Diane H. Harwell and Katherine C. Schnepel. The title
intrigued me so I went to the website to look into it further. This 
link ( http://www.edieinstitute.net/toc_ei.html ) takes you to the 
Table of Contents. When I saw that libraries were not included in the
strategies, I e-mailed the EDIE, the Institute for Evidence-Based 
Decision-Making in Education to suggest they should consider looking at 
the library research for inclusion in future publications. I included a 
link to Library Research Services so he could see the accumulated 
studies connecting libraries to academic achievement.  Seemed to me to 
be a good way for our research to get out beyond us.  I received a 
response from Dr. Friedman stating that while they appreciate and 
support libraries, their research does not support our assertion that 
good libraries and qualified librarians make a positive difference in 
student achievement.  They require "50 rigorously conducted research 
studies" that any strategy works.  He also asserts that while there are 
lots of studies, they aren't rigorous and that only a few show a small 
connection between libraries and academic achievement.
        In looking at his website, it would appear that Dr. Friedman is a 
legitimate researcher.  If so, and if his assertions are correct, what 
does that say about the research we use and depend on concerning the 
value of libraries and librarians to academic achievement?  How can we 
ever hope to reach a broader community than ourselves if our research 
isn't respected?  I frequently share our research with other teachers 
and administrators trying to educate them on the importance of our 
contribution.  If it's not true, I need to stop.
        I have been thinking a lot lately that administrators often seem to 
make decisions based on finances and that what any school community 
should be doing is looking at the research and basing decisions first 
on what is best for student achievement.  It seems to me that schools 
bear a responsibility to be the example that does that.  But what if 
the research is faulty?  I'm opening this up to our LM_NET community 
for discussion, and hopefully, to ultimately learn that our research is 
sound.

Thanks everyone.


Bettie Fisher
Media Specialist
fisherb@aaps.k12.mi.us
Eberwhite Elementary School
Ann Arbor, MI  48103

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