Evidence-Based Practice

in the School Library

slides to accompany Sample Curriculum for �“Putting Evidence to Work in Your School Library”

Slides in this Deck

Synchronous Session 1: Building Your Rationale and Context for Evidence-Based Practice

Self-Study Overview: Gathering Foundational and Process Research

Synchronous Session 2: Collecting and Sharing Evidence: Your Plan for Implementing Evidence-Based Practice

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Evidence-Based Practice

in the School Library

Synchronous Session 1

[DATE]

Icebreaker: Sorting Out EBP

Sort the examples of evidence into these three categories. It’s ok to guess! And multiple categories might work for one piece of evidence.

• foundational evidence (i.e., evidence for practice - theory and empirical research)
• process evidence (i.e., evidence in practice - examples of best practices or strategies in the professional community, also could include anecdotal evidence and statistics, such as circulation numbers)
• outcomes evidence (i.e., evidence of practice, or evidence of your actions teaching, implementing a program, leading the school library, and so on).

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MUDDY POINTS

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Use chart paper, a slide, or other display to post “muddy points” from the icebreaker for reference and ongoing discussion.

Objectives for Session 1

• Explain the rationale and steps of evidence-based practice.
• Discuss examples of three types of evidence: foundational, process, and outcomes.
• Propose a statement of intent for implementing evidence-based practice and a draft of a research question to investigate.

Roadmap for Today

1. Icebreaker: Sorting Out EBP
2. Reviewing Prework: Clarifying the Why
3. New Content: Types of Evidence
4. New Content: Collecting Evidence
5. Looking Forward: Wrap Up & Preview the Self-Study

Prework Activity: Clarifying the Why

• Work in groups of 2 or 3 librarians
• Exchange feedback on statements of intent and their initial ideas for questions or problems to research in the school library
• Use questions and insights from others to help clarify and articulate your rationale for using evidence-based practice

Prework Activity Steps

Explain feedback protocol here [choose one of these or use your favorite!]

• Ask participants to paraphrase one another’s statements and research purposes, so that the librarians can hear their words spoken by a colleague, and perhaps illuminate areas for further development.
• Give 2 stars (strengths) and a wish (something to consider).
• Warm and cool feedback
• [Or for a group that knows each other very well: warm, cool and hard feedback
• Warm = I see that you ____, I like how you ___, I appreciate ___;
• Cool = I wonder if ___, have you thought about ___
• Hard = challenging, what if’s, how to extend, probing for the “so what”]

Key Points of EBP

“Evidence-based practice, or EBP, allows for the continual improvement of your school library's program ensuring the most effective methods for all aspects of the program. Maintaining a practice that focuses on evidence will provide you with data to present to stakeholders about the impact and effectiveness of your school library program.”

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Jeffrey DiScala, Lesson 1 transcript

Key Points of EBP

“Evidence-based practice recognizes multiple sources, types of evidence, and ways of gathering evidence. The use of multiple sources facilitates triangulation—an approach to data analysis that synthesizes data from multiple sources. By using and comparing data from a number of sources, you can develop stronger claims about your practice’s impact and outcomes.”

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Todd, Ross. “The Evidence-Based Manifesto.” School Library Journal, April 2, 2008. https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=the-evidence-based-manifesto-for-school-librarians

Key Points of EBP

“EBP combines professional wisdom, reflective experience, and understanding of students’ needs with the judicious use of research-derived evidence to make decisions about how the school library can best meet the instructional goals of the school. In order to accomplish this, school libraries need to systematically collect evidence that shows how their practices impact student achievement; the development of deep knowledge and understanding; and the competencies and skills for thinking, living, and working.”

Todd, Ross. “The Evidence-Based Manifesto.” School Library Journal, April 2, 2008. https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=the-evidence-based-manifesto-for-school-librarians

Lesson 2 Video: Types of Evidence (3:20)

FOUNDATIONAL EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE FOR PRACTICE

examples: theory, empirical research, peer-reviewed journal articles

PROCESS �EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE IN �PRACTICE

examples: conferences on best practices, stories of practice shared in blogs or tweets, websites, magazines, webinars, usage

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OUTCOMES �EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE OF PRACTICE

examples: rubrics, surveys, student work products, exit slips, student journals or logs

Activity: Revisiting Muddy Points

Re-read the questions posted so far.

Add new questions.

Discuss: What new understandings are starting to take shape? Are there any types of evidence that people want to move to a new category, or perhaps qualifiers that would make for a better fit?

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Activity: Reflecting on Past Evidence

• What are examples of foundational, process, and outcomes evidence that you have collected in the past?
• What did you learn?
• How did you apply the evidence?
• Do you want to do more to investigate this inquiry, problem, or opportunity?

Lesson 3 Video: Collecting Evidence (1:58)

FOUNDATIONAL EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE FOR PRACTICE

examples: theory, empirical research, peer-reviewed journal articles

PROCESS �EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE IN �PRACTICE

examples: conferences on best practices, stories of practice shared in blogs or tweets, websites, magazines, webinars, usage

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OUTCOMES EVIDENCE

EVIDENCE �OF PRACTICE

examples: rubrics, surveys, student work products, exit slips, student journals or logs

What are you excited about?

What do you anticipate might be challenging?

What is your reaction to the suggestion that process evidence could be trendy or controversial?

What might be some examples of practices that might be considered “trendy”?

Activity: Crowdsourcing Inquiry

1. Open up and look over your research question drafts
2. Will someone volunteer to share their inquiry/research question?
3. Let’s tease out different ways to ask the question, probe the rationale or need, and solicit ideas for the types of evidence that will be helpful in investigating the question.
4. To wrap up, everyone will have a chance to briefly report their current questions.

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Self-Study: Gathering Foundational and Process Research

Objectives:

• Finalize an individual research question to work with during the second synchronous session.
• Locate, curate, and study empirical research findings (foundational evidence) and practitioners’ strategies (process evidence) relevant to your research questions.

With this information in hand, you’ll enter the second synchronous session ready to map out their processes of data collection.

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Wrap-Up and Last Questions

Thank You!

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date of next meeting

how to submit evaluation forms

Evidence-Based Practice

in the School Library

Synchronous Session 2

[DATE]

Objectives for Today

• Give examples of objective and subjective outcomes evidence.
• Discuss planning, implementation, and analysis of a data collection process.
• Draft a plan for sharing evidence.

Roadmap for Today

1. Review the self-study - 10 minutes
2. New Content: Introduction to Outcomes Evidence -10 minutes
3. New Content: Objective Data Collection - 15 minutes
4. New Content: Subjective Data Collection - 15 minutes
5. New Content: Analyzing Data - 15 minutes
6. New Content: Sharing Evidence of Practice - 15 minutes
7. Looking Forward: Next Steps - 10 minutes

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Activity: Share Your Findings So Far

• Working with a partner, share and discuss one resource that was really helpful in your collection.
• Maybe this source introduced a new way of looking at the topic, a theoretical foundation you didn’t know before, or even something that made you think, “that’s not something I would ever do.”
• Share for about 7-8 and then come back together.
• Reporting out key takeaways from these conversations.

Lesson 4 Video: Outcomes Evidence (2:24)

Activity: How might you collect outcomes evidence?

• What will the evidence be? How will you collect it?
• We’ll refine processes for collecting it in the next steps.
• Remember that this process is about collecting evidence for a purpose and it doesn’t have to be an enormous undertaking!

Lesson 5 Video: Collecting Objective Evidence (4:39)

Activity: Complete the next questions on the template.

• For your lesson, program element, or situation, what is one element you will change (variable)?
• What will stay the same (the control)?
• What quantitative (objective) methods will you use to measure the outcomes?

Lesson 6 Video: Collecting Subjective Evidence (4:03)

Activity: Complete the question on subjective data.

• What qualitative, or subjective, methods will you use?

Tips for Sharing Evidence of Practice

• Never just drop the data in front of someone
• Share your process early and often
• Use clear terminology and no library jargon

Remember these driving questions:

What differences do my school library and its learning initiatives make to student learning outcomes?

What are the differences, tangible learning outcomes, and learning benefits of my school library?

Activity: Sharing Outside of Libraryland

How might people outside “libraryland” interpret these research problems? What are possible questions or misunderstandings? What phrases might resonate? What tweaks might make the information more clear or relevant?

• I’m interested in genre-fication to make the library collection more browsable.
• My goal is to identify better strategies for teaching search query construction to sixth graders.
• My usage statistics are low on our consortium reference databases, so I’m thinking of offering some PD to the teachers to show how their curriculum and standards align to the content.
• A frequent question I get is how to get an eBook onto a device, so I want to learn about creating some tutorials demonstrating borrowing and downloading eBooks.

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Activity: Sharing Outside of Libraryland

Let’s make a map of possibilities for sharing intentionally worded evidence of this practice.

How might big groups (i.e., “parents and caregivers”) break down (e.g., grade levels, student organization boosters or committees)?

What groups are within the school?

Outside in the community?

What existing processes or communications might be leveraged for this sharing?

Can you identify just one potential person or group for sharing their evidence. Why choose this particular person or group?

Looking Forward: Continued Application

Objectives:

• Implement the next phases of EBP: designing a process for, and collecting, outcomes evidence; and sharing your findings.

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• After the first round of research processes have concluded, reflect on your learning. What did you gain from the process of EBP? What might you try next—another aspect of this same topic? A different variable, if the outcomes were not successful? Something new entirely?

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Instructions for Implementing Next Steps

[Specific to your district and situation]

Wrap Up and Last Questions

Thank You!