Dr. Stephen Krashen, international linguistics scholar, and his colleagues have completed the third phase of his longitudinal study of significant factors in children’s levels of literacy. Using the PIRLS test, he found that school libraries and their collections were the main contributing factor, and made up for some of the negative effort of poverty. Direct teaching and early literacy did not have a significant effect. Access the paper at Krashenpredictors of PIRLS
Category Archives: Education
Center for Children’s Books Webinars
A crossroads for critical inquiry, professional training, and educational outreach, the Center for Children’s Books (CCB) at the iSchool at Illinois is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. In its dual role as research collection and educational community, the Center has a national impact on the future of reading and readers.
The CCB supports its mission by providing space, staff, and other support to affiliates; housing collections and other research tools; and sponsoring outreach, scholarly conferences, and instructional activities. Affiliates include School and University faculty and academic staff, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, and the iSchool’s School Librarian Licensure Program.
To commemorate its diamond anniversary, the CCB is holding a virtual lecture series featuring iSchool youth services faculty and alumni speaking about the Center’s history and activities, with an emphasis on children’s literature, storytelling, diversity, and literacy as a public health issue. The lectures, which are open to all, will be held at 12:00 p.m. CT. Speakers and presentations will include:
- February 25: “CENTERED: The Life and Times of a Book Review Journal,” presented by Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne.
- March 3: “Storytelling: From Story Times to Epistemological Information Divides,” presented by Associate Professor Kate McDowell (MS ’99, PhD ’07).
- March 23: “Advocacy and Infographics: Doing the Work for Diversity in Youth Literature and Librarianship,” presented by Sarah Park Dahlen (MS ’09, PhD ’09), associate professor of library and information science at St. Catherine University.
- April 6, “Books Build Better Brains: Sharing Books as a Public Health Intervention,” presented by Dipesh Navsaria (MS ’04), pediatrician and medical director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin.
“Given the focus on the Center’s history, it is especially appropriate that three of the speakers were students of the fourth, longtime CCB director and Bulletin editor Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne,” said Professor and CCB Director Sara L. Schwebel. “The Center for Children’s Books has been led by a series of remarkable women who enjoyed long associations with the Center and its Bulletin, including Zena Sutherland, Betsy Hearne, and Deborah Stevenson—all of whom commanded tremendous industry-wide respect in the world of children’s books. During the most recent decade, the iSchool has welcomed four new youth services faculty members with diverse research interests and disciplinary backgrounds. As we celebrate the many successes of the CCB over the past 75 years, we are also engaged in strategic planning with an eye to the future.”
More information about the anniversary celebration is available on the CCB website.
Literacy and Reading Section Toolkit
Attached is the Literacy Toolkit final draft June 2019 for developing national literacy and reading strategies.
In Athens the IFLA Literacy and Reading section will organize the following session as a section:
Skalkotas Hall 28.08.2019, 13:45 – 15:45
Session 236 Toolkit – Literacy and Reading
Programme Workshop: IFLA Toolkit for developing national literacy and reading strategies
– Opening and word of welcome by Chair of L&R Adriaan Langendonk, introducing section member Lisa Krolak (Unesco) as session moderator.
– Introduction of IFLA Toolkit for developing national literacy and reading strategies by Ingrid Bon.
– Interactive session: attendee input
Standards for preparing literacy professionals
Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 sets forth the criteria for developing and evaluating preparation programs for literacy professionals. Developed by literacy experts across the United States, the standards focus on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective educational practice in a specific role and highlight contemporary research and evidence-based practices in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and leadership. The updated standards address the need for a broader definition of literacy beyond reading to include writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing in both print and digital realms.
Watch the Standards 2017 overview video
Standards for specialized literacy professionals matrix (including reading/literacy specialists)
Standards for classroom teachers matrix
More details about Standards 2017 can be found in the FAQ. To purchase a copy of Standards 2017, click here.
UNESCO Open Access modules
UNESCO’s Open Access Curriculum is Now Available
The complete set of five Open Access (OA) modules for researchers and four OA modules for library schools is now available online. These curricula will soon be converted into self-directed e-learning tools, which will enable users to self-assess their knowledge on Open Access and take a learning pace that is initiated and directed by the learners themselves. UNESCO also aims to translate the OA curricula into several languages to increase reach and impact.
School libraries and multilingual education article
The CLELE (Children’s Literature in English Language Education) Journal – http://clelejournal.org/journal-profile/ – has just published a very interesting paper, written by Stephen Krashen and Janice Bland, which promotes the need for school libraries in multilingual education. http://clelejournal.org/category/current-issue/ and http://clelejournal.org/article-1-2/ .
IF 2015 conference call for student papers
Students of Library and Information Science (LIS) are invited to take part in the upcoming 81st IFLA Congress, 15–21 August, 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa <http://conference.ifla.org/> with a paper presentation. The Calls for Papers <http://conference.ifla.org/ifla81/calls-for-papers> have already started, but more will follow soon.
The IFLA/ekz LIS Student Paper Award <http://www.ifla.org/set/student-paper-award> will honor students of Library and Information Science whose abstract submissions have been accepted by any IFLA Section or IFLA Unit to be presented.
Students must first follow one of the deadlines of any IFLA section Call for Papers. Once the paper is accepted for presentation by any IFLA section at the World Congress (not a satellite conference), the student may then send their full paper to SET to apply for the award – but not later than 15 April 2015.
Three finalists will be recognized for their outstanding achievements. From these three finalists, the winner will be chosen and receive the IFLA Congress registration fee plus grant for economy airfare and economical lodging to attend the IFLA Congress 2015, in total up to €1000, plus the recommendation for publication of the paper in the IFLA Journal. Second and third place finalists will receive a certificate.