It's TAKS time in Texas

Shhhhhhhh!

Be vewy, vewy quiet. 

It is TAKS time in Texas.   

All over the Lone Star State students are being remonstrated, at this very moment, to walk softly, silence their voices in the halls and avoid, at all costs any loud sounds that might disturb the test takers. 

A misplaced whoop in second grade could cause a third grader to startle and snap their no. 2 pencil lead. 

A burst of unwarranted laughter in the kindergarten wing, could cause a fifth grader, debating the best possible answer to a question on  the Science TAKS, to lose focus.  

The day before the tests, they came to the school library in ones or two, then in small groups and finally, three classes at a time (that is 60 kids in the check out line)  to acquire books to read, in case they finish a test before the rest of the class.  

The groups built in size and intensity and frequency,  hitting the library like waves hitting a beach in a storm.  At the campus where I was working, I was buoyed to see great swathes of Andrew Clements books streaming out.  There were runs on Avi novels.  BabyMouse books flew out of the library along with nonfiction books on branches of the military.   To my amazement, tome after tome of the Nancy Drew series were carted away in the hands of fourth graders.

Younger students, who will be exhorted into silence this week, carried out stacks and stacks of Magic Treehouse books and Ron Roy's A-Z Mysteries. 

While the books were being scanned out of the library at the check-out desk,  the excellent library aide moved swiftly around the library covering up any visible words. Posters were rolled up or taken down from the walls.  Signs like "Fiction" and "Magazines" were covered lest they provide some hint to the students who would be testing in the library the next day.  

NSA, FBI, CIA, eat your hearts out. There is no place more secure, than a campus during testing week.  Parents, don't think you can bring lunch to your student this Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  Try as you might, to quote Gandalf, "You shall not pass."

A great deal of sound and fury to prepare for this week. Good luck and a BookMoot salute to  all the students, teachers and principals whose futures hang in the balance.  

Brave little souls, just keep turning the pages in the test booklet. It will be over soon.

Texans, please!  Remember to walk and drive softly.  The sound waves from your car horn honking could, imperceptibly,  jostle a child's elbow as they bubble in and be the undoing of some fourth grader teacher's hopes and dreams. 

SHHHHHH!

Aiming for LOWER test scores? Fire the school librarians

MOOT POINTS on the vital importance of school libraries

I have yet to meet a school administrator whose attitude is, "Woah, slow down now, our school's test scores are TOO good!" In my experience, they are constantly looking for that edge, that extra something that will motivate students and enhance the learning environment in order to RAISE test scores.

It would be crazy to REMOVE personnel and programs that have demonstrably improved student achievement, wouldn't it?

Jen Robinson;s Book Page points to this article, "Parent Volunteers to Play Larger Role in Dearborn Public School Libraries."

The Dearborn school district is attempting to deal with budget issues, in part, by laying off many of their school librarians and obliterating (my word) their school library programs.

from M-W.com: Obliterate = "1 a : to remove utterly from recognition or memory b : to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of ...
2 : to make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or wearing away"

My suggested headline for this article would be:

"Dearborn School District Aims to Lower MEAP Test Scores"
or
"District Knee-Caps Student Achievement"

After reading the article my heart went out to:

1. the librarians facing the loss of their jobs
   
   
2. the impossible mission of the eight librarians who will be left to build, support, run, and teach at 32 libraries
   
   
3. the earnestness of the parents who understand these programs are important and want to volunteer to fill the void
   
   
4. the students who are being denied a vital part of their education
   

Michigan is one of the MANY states that has demonstrated the importance of school libraries to student success in The Impact of Michigan School Librarians on Academic Achievement: Kids Who Have Libraries Succeed.

From the Executive Summary, pg. ix:

Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) reading test scores rise with the extent to which the state’s school library programs are headed by qualified school librarians. The relationship between school libraries and test scores cannot be explained away by other school or community conditions at any school level.

Parents and tax payers must hold the district administration and state legislators accountable.

The kids deserve better.

More information and links to many studies on the importance of qualified school librarians and library programs are available at Library Research Service.