st
21
The
Century
Learning Standards
and You
Northern Virginia School Librarians
August 27, 2008
Dr. Audrey Church
Longwood University

“…curriculum content alone is not
sufficient preparation for children to
function effectively as learners, citizens,
and workers” (Mardis and Perrault 34)
Workshop Agenda
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Brief look at history of national standards
Examination of the nine common beliefs
Examination of the four standards
Dissection of the strands
Connection of standards with content curriculum
Discussion of Standards for the 21st Century
Learner in Action
The challenge
An Historical Perspective
1920: Standard Library Organization and
Equipment for Secondary Schools
 1925: Elementary School Library
Standards
 1945: School Libraries for Today and
Tomorrow
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1960: Standards for School
Library Programs
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1969: Standards for School
Media Programs
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1975: Media Programs:
District and School
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1988: Information Power: Guidelines for
School Library Media Programs
1998: Information Power:
Building Partnerships for
Learning
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2008? 2009? New national guidelines for
school library media programs
?
AASL Standards for the 21stCentury Learner
Released in October 2007 at the AASL
Conference in Reno, NV
 An “evolution” of the nine Information
Literacy Standards for Student Learning

Characteristics of the New
Standards
Alignment to standards in other content
areas
 Language understandable to other
educators
 “Opportunities, responsibilities, and
challenges facing today’s library media
specialists in preparing students to be 21stcentury learners” (Coatney 57)
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From AASL President, Sara
Kelly-Johns…
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“The new standards focus on the learner. They
outline the content and process that students
need to learn now and into the future, taught
through the school library program. They are
not a curriculum guide or a scope-andsequence. They provide a framework for the
integration of information literacy with curricula
in other subjects, taught in classrooms and
libraries.” (Johns 8)
Common Beliefs
1.
2.
3.
Reading is a window to the world.
Inquiry provides a framework for
learning.
Ethical behavior in the use of
information must be taught.
Common Beliefs
4.
5.
6.
Technology skills are crucial for
future employment needs.
Equitable access is a key
component for education.
The definition of information literacy
has become more complex as
resources and technologies have
changed.
Common Beliefs
7.
8.
9.
The continuing expansion of
information demands that all
individuals acquire the thinking skills
that will enable them to learn on
their own.
Learning has a social context.
School libraries are essential to the
development of learning skills.
The Four Standards
Learners use skills, resources, and
tools to
1. Inquire, think critically, and gain
knowledge.
2. Draw conclusions, make informed
decisions, apply knowledge to new
situations, and create new
knowledge.
The Four Standards
Learners use skills, resources, and
tools to
3. Share knowledge and participate
ethically and productively as
members of our democratic society.
4. Pursue personal and aesthetic
growth.
Structure of the Standards
 For
each standard, four strands
Skills
Dispositions
in Action
Responsibilities
Self-Assessment Strategies
“…standards outline the skills students must
have, ongoing beliefs and attitudes
needed for those skills to be practiced, the
responsibilities or common behaviors of
students as they learn, and strategies for
personal assessment of their learning.”
(Johns 8)
Key Questions
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Skills
 Does
the student have the right proficiencies
to explore a topic or subject further?
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Dispositions in Action
 Is
the student disposed to higher-level
thinking and actively engaged in critical
thinking to gain and share knowledge?
Key Questions
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Responsibilities
 Is
the student aware that the foundational traits
for 21st-century learning require selfaccountability that extends beyond skills and
dispositions?
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Self-Assessment Strategies
 Can
the student recognize personal strengths
and weaknesses over time and become a
stronger, more independent learner?
Connecting the new
AASL Standards for the
21st-Century Learner to
Content Curriculum
An Example: A Sample SOL…
CE.1
The student will develop the social
studies skills citizenship requires, including the
ability to…
c. analyze political cartoons, political
advertisements, pictures, and other graphic
media;
d. distinguish between relevant and irrelevant
information;
e. review information for accuracy, separating fact
from opinion;
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Applicable Skills from each
AASL Standard…
1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information
presented in any format…in order to make
inferences and gather meaning.
 2.1.3 Use strategies to draw
conclusions…and apply knowledge.
 3.1.3 Use writing and speaking skills to
communicate understandings effectively.
 4.1.5 Connect ideas to own interests and
previous knowledge and experience.
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Other Applicable Strand
Indicators?
Dispositions in Action?
 Responsibilities?
 Self-Assessment Strategies?
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Standards for the 21st Century
Learner in Action…
“a broad set of standards for the skills
students should have, the ethical and
legal responsibilities that go with those
skills, the motivations that student have
to apply those skills in the context of
those responsibilities, and, finally,
strategies for assessing their personal
information use” (Dickinson 11)
The Four Standards
Learners use skills, resources, and
tools to
1. Inquire, think critically, and gain
knowledge.
2. Draw conclusions, make informed
decisions, apply knowledge to new
situations, and create new
knowledge.
The Four Standards
Learners use skills, resources, and
tools to
3. Share knowledge and participate
ethically and productively as
members of our democratic society.
4. Pursue personal and aesthetic
growth.
Skills…
Multiple literacies
 Critical thinking and problem solving
 Social learning skills
 An inquiry-based process
 From low-level, fact location skills to highlevel synthesis and evaluation skills
 In the context of content curriculum
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AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action 7
Dispositions in Action…
“a tendency to exhibit frequently,
consciously, and voluntarily a pattern of
behavior that is directed to a broad goal”
 Neither standard-specific nor grade-level
specific
 Developed over time by the way that we
structure learning experiences
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AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action 15
Responsibilities
“the common behaviors that must be
exhibited during researching, investigating,
and problem solving to develop new
understanding successfully, ethically, and
thoughtfully”
 Neither standard-specific nor grade-level
specific
 Developed when learning experiences are
structured for active engagement and
sharing
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AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action 23
Self-Assessment Strategies…
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“Developing internal standards and comparing
performance, behaviors, or thoughts to those
standards”
Three directional:
 Looking
backwards (summative)
 Looking at the present (formative)
 Looking at the future (predictive)
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Three strategies:
 Reflection
 Feedback
from others
 Self-questioning
AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action 33-35
AASL Standards for the
Century Learner
 “…
st
21 -
[focus] on the content and
process of what school libraries teach
students” (Dickinson 10)
 “standards for this century of
library and information users, and
they put librarians at the heart of
learning” (Dickinson 11)
The Challenge…
 Librarians
at the “heart of
learning”…
 Your library as a learning
place!
Selected Resources
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AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm
Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action. Retrieved August 22, 2008, from
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/standardsinaction/standardsinaction.cfm
Coatney, S. (2008, February). Standards for the 21st-century learner. School Library
Media Activities Monthly 24(6), 56-58.
Dickinson, G. K. (2008, March). A place to stand. Library Media Connection 26(6), 1012.
Donham, J. (2008, April). Standards! Standards! Standards! Teacher Librarian 35(4),
43-46.
Johns, S.K. (2008, Spring). AASL standards for the 21st-century learner: A time to
reflect and study. CSLA Journal 31(2), 8-9.
Mardis, M.A., & Perrault, A.M. (2008, April). A whole new library: Six “senses” you can
use to make sense of new standards and guidelines. Teacher Librarian 35(4), 34-38.
Midland, S. (2008, April). From stereopticon to Google: Technology and school library
standards. Teacher Librarian 35(4), 30-33
For more information,
Audrey Church, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor/Coordinator
School Library Media Program
Longwood University
Farmville, VA 23909
Phone: 434-395-2682
Email: [email protected]
Web:
http://www.longwood.edu/staff/churchap