A Reflection

I was re-reading some of what I wrote about articles I read for my section of 285, which focused on youth.  I specifically focused my reading on Teacher Librarians, their impact, and collaboration with classroom teachers.

What is obvious from the data is that teacher librarians who are leaders on their campuses, who are engaged in collaboration, curriculum development, and co-teaching, and who have adequate support staff have a tremendous impact on student learning.

What is obvious from the current lack of teacher librarians in California schools is that politicians don't really care.

I don't know why this gap between data and practice/funding exists.  After all, aren't politicians the ones who want to tie test scores to funding?  Shouldn't they be rewarding evidence-based instruction by funding what we know works?  How many times do we have to re-prove the worth of the Teacher Librarian?

I find this frustrating, but I'm not sure exactly what to do about it.

I was also reminded from my reading that teachers (and probably TLs) need to be taught to collaborate, and that collaboration is more than simple task division.  The danger when everyone is so rushed is that we simply divide tasks instead of truly collaborating.  Web 2.0 tools have potential here, at least with those teachers who are willing to utilize those tools, but before collaboration can really be effective TLs must build relationships.  This implies, too, that if we expect students to collaborate we must help them build relationships first as well.

Anyhow, not exactly reading, just some rambling reflections.