Evidence Based Practice: Collecting Data

While doing the first part of the Evidence Based Practice lesson (Getting Started), I broke down the different elements of my library goal/ vision using the mantra:

Growing Innovators, Building Community, and Connecting Globally

I developed areas within each of these elements that I would like to target for gathering evidence, and now I am working on creating the systems to begin implementing some of these practices.

Growing Innovators

I have created documents outlining the benchmark skills within my curriculum for each grade level.  These skills came from the curriculum development that my elementary colleague and I have done using the WISER model of inquiry, the Common Core Standards for writing that focus on research, and the New Literacies (outlined and presented by Heidi Hayes Jacobs).
The first step that I would like to complete is identifying the skills that I have already taught within each grade level, so that I can then work on filling the gaps.  This will provide me with the data that I need to take to teachers to ask them to work with me on teaching specific skills.

Link to 7th Grade Document

The second step will be identifying how the skills are being assessed, and then developing assessment strategies to target skills not yet being assessed.  I especially want to work on gathering formative assessment results and student survey data, such as the one I use with my Research Seminar students, looking at immediate use of skills, as well as long term use of the skills taught through inquiry instruction.
To begin looking at the effectiveness of the MakerSpace I will start by gathering information about how many students participate in the various challenges provided.  From this I will work towards breaking out the skills taught within each project/ challenge, and assessing how students demonstrate their understanding and mastery of these skills.

Building Community

In order to begin gathering evidence on the effectiveness of my literacy promotion I created a document to compare the books that I promote to their circulation statistics.  I know this isn't a perfect system, because there are a lot of factors being left out (like comparing the circulation statistics of books not directly promoted, long term check out rate, etc.), but it is a place to start anyways.  I am beginning with a count of the books promoted, the books from that list circulated within a month, and the books circulated within 3 months.

I have also begun a simple document to track student, faculty, and community participation in library programs and events.  On this document I will gather data that is both quantitative and qualitative in nature, because I don't want programming to be driven by numbers alone.  Our students have so many opportunities, and commitments that sometimes a very worthwhile program has a small number of participants, but there was a specific group being targeted and their needs are being met in this context.  I want to show the value of that as well.

I don't want to neglect the work I do with and for our faculty and professional development.  To this end I want to gather evidence to show how my work with teachers impacts their instruction as well.  To begin this process I am looking at the analytics of things I share with them, and then I will correlate this to collaborative work that we do together.  I use Smore to create newsletters for faculty, and they provide some great analytics to start
this process.
Before the year is over I would like to give students a simple survey about library instruction and programming, and the effectiveness of each, as well as what they would like to see added/ changed.  I am working on the best way to implement this to ensure thoughtful participation.  

Connecting Globally

My goals for connecting to community and the world will be measured by a simple look at the number of "outside" sources we connect to, either physically or virtually, and how many students were afforded these connections.  Down the road I would like to look at the impact these community and global connections make in student understanding.

There is so much to do it is easy to get overwhelmed, so I am trying to keep the gathering of evidence fairly simple.  I am hoping that if I do a little at a time the momentum will grow and it will feel less daunting.  I am excited to have evidence to support the priorities we have in our library program.