Instructional leadership effects of library media specialist on student achievement

Instructional leadership effects of library media specialist on student achievement

Introduction

The school library is well stocked with fiction, nonfiction, and a host of reference books, which has always been the heart of the school. Traditionally the library of school used to be a storehouse of books and magazines, but now the school library media center includes electronic books, multimedia resources, and remote access to a broad range of electronic resources. Information literacy, once perceived only as the ability to use print reference sources, has now evolved into multiple types of technology literacy (Zmuda & Harada, 2008). Students now use online databases instead of encyclopedias, blogs, and email instead of handwritten letters, and they use multimedia presentations in lieu of research papers.

The instructional leadership roles of School library media specialists often struggle with assuming different roles. There are discrepancies existed in perceptions of their leadership preparedness, assumption of leadership roles, opportunities to exert leadership, and its impact on the achievements of students and school (Mosqueda, 1999). The problem of school library media specialists not having leadership skills has an impact on schools because national library media guidelines and state media specialist evaluation instruments have established standards with the expectation that school library media specialists will assume leadership roles immediately upon entering the profession.

Research Questions

What are the perceptions and importance regarding the instructional leadership roles of school library media specialists and their impact on the achievements of the students or school?

What are the perceptions of school library media specialists concerning the degree to which they currently practice the role of instructional leadership?

What is the difference between the school library media specialists' instructional leadership roles and their practice of those roles and impact on achievements of students?

Literature Review

This literature review begins with an historical overview of the three major turning points in social development and the subsequent implications for education, for the development of school libraries, and for the development of an information society (Roberson, et.al, 2005). For students to be successful in the 21st century, school library media specialists must lead the way in building school library media programs that provides opportunities for students to locate and use information resources in a responsible and ethical manner (Zmuda & Harada, 2008). Although research showed that strong school library programs had a significant effect on student achievement, curriculum, and instruction, many people in the learning community still did not fully understand the roles of the school media specialist (Vandergrift, 1994). The learning community typically acknowledged only teachers as having an impact on student learning. Recognition of successful teachers was easy (Toor & Weisburg, 2011).

The emphasis of primary roles of library media specialist rearing the instructional leadership is centered on the academic interventions which has the direct impact on the quality of student learning curves who are engaged in extensive knowledge based system (Lance, et.al, 2007). A pedagogical role such as this relied on the collaborative efforts of the school library media specialist and ...