Effingham County Middle

School

Memo
To:

Mr. Billy Hughes, Principal

From:

[Your Name]

cc:

Site-Based Management Team

Date:

October 15, 2014

Re:

Program Evaluation Rubric

Self-Evaluation Rubric Completion

Recently, a self-evaluation rubric was completed through a collaborative effort with the media specialist.
The categories that were evaluated include: Category 1 Student Achievement and Instruction, Category
2 Staffing, Category 3 Facilities, Access, and Resources, Category 4 Administrative Support, and
Category 5 Staff development. These were the results that were found by category:
Category 1: Student Achievement and Instruction
This category examined the media programs instructional practices which include the teaching of the
st
AASL Standards for 21 Century Learners, the collaboration between the media specialist and the
teachers, the engagement in teaching roles by the library staff, the reading program participation,
services provided to students with learning disabilities, and the routine assessment of student
achievement. While the overall assessment would be proficient several areas were rated as basic and
are in need of improvement.
Category 1

Information literacy standards integrated into content instruction - (Exemplary)

o The media specialists fosters critical thinking skills by teaching units which accentuate
literacy skills such as research skills and media evaluation techniques. The media
specialist collaborates with the classroom teacher to ensure that the state standards are
met.

Collaborative planning includes both the Library Media Specialists and teachers to ensure use of
library media center resources that support on-going implementation of state curriculum (Basic)
o The media specialist only participates in collaborative planning when initiated by the
teacher. A major factor in the basic rating is due to the lack of utilization of the media
specialist in classroom lessons. The media specialist feels that the classroom teachers
will not utilize her to her full capacity due to the misconception that working with the
media specialist creates additional work for the classroom teacher.
Professional library media staff are engaged in active teaching role/s. (Exemplary)
o Due to a request from the Instructional Supervisor, the media specialist has incorporated
lessons in literacy for each grade level in both science and social studies this year.
These lessons allow the media specialist to use a variety of teaching styles to meet
diverse needs of students. This teaching effort also allows for collaborative planning to
take place more frequently than in previous years.
The library media center resources encourage and support reading, viewing, and listening.
(Basic)
o While the media center does display books and reading materials to encourage reading,
there is currently no structured reading program due to the excess reading in the English
Language Arts classes in previous years. Currently, the new administration has
requested that the media specialist develop a reading program to encourage students to
read for both academic reasons and for recreational purposes.
Services are provided to students who have diverse learning abilities, styles, and needs.
(Exemplary)
o The library media specialist works collaboratively with the classroom teachers to collect
and use student data to drive instruction. They also work with the SPED department to
provide for the needs of those students.
Student achievement is routinely assessed.- (Basic/ Proficient)
o It was found that student achievement is only assessed when collaborative lessons are
taught or when a library activity occurs that requires collaboration.

Category 2

If less than base size: A school system shall provide no less than half-time services of a Library
Media Specialist for each school less than base size and shall provide adult supervision in the
library media center for the entire instructional day. (OMIT)
o School population is more than base size.
If base size is larger: A school system shall employ a full-time Library Media Specialist for each
base size school or larger. (Exemplary)
o A full time Library Media Specialist is currently employed in the media center along with a
full-time paraprofessional person (clerk). Neither employee has any other duties in the
school at this time and is not shared with other areas during the school day.

Category 3

There shall be a plan for flexibly scheduled library media center access for students and teachers
in groups or as individuals simultaneously throughout each instructional day. Accessibility shall
refer to the facility, the staff, and the resources and shall be based on instructional need.
(Exemplary)

Flexible scheduling is in place for the media center and students, teachers, and classes
are welcomed in the media center throughout the day. The media center is also available
both before and after school hours.
School library media center square footage requirements based on FTE (Exemplary)
o Based on FTE the media center exceeds the square footage requirements and is large
enough to accommodate multiple activities. Shelving and storage areas meet all needs
with additional room that has yet to be used. Student work space is available and all
areas are easily accessible and accommodate students with special needs.
Streaming video is used throughout the school to support the curriculum. Interactive white
boards and computers are used for teaching and learning throughout the school. A central
electronic media distribution system is also available. (Proficient)
o The school currently has a subscription to HiaVision which allows for school-wide
streaming of various videos. The school has whiteboards in almost every classroom that
are used on a daily basis. The classrooms that are not equipped with whiteboards have
screens and Mobi pads which serve as an interactive device. The electronic distribution
system exceeds state requirements.
Print and non-print resources and access to online information are basic to a library media
program. A school network is effective for delivering media resources to the classroom and
beyond. Multiple computers are available for student access to online resources that enhance
instruction. (Exemplary)
o All computers in the school have access to the internet whether through Wi-Fi or through
wired connection. A listing of all resources is available throughout the school through
Destiny which is our county wide database system. Students have access to multiple
computers for independent use.
All library media resources are managed for maximum efficient use. The library media center has
an electronic online public access catalog (OPAC). Funds for acquisition of computers are
utilized to implement the goals/objectives set forth in the State Technology Plan 2007-2012 or in
the System Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. (Exemplary)
o Our county wide OPAC is available throughout the school and all information recorded on
the system is in a MARC format. The Destiny system allows for easy weeding of out-ofdate materials by offering a variety of reports to assist with the process. The OPAC is
updated regularly as well as verified at the end of each school year.
One of the national education technology goals states: Effective and engaging software and online resources will be an integral part of every schools curriculum. The GALILEO Virtual Library
provides Georgia students and teacher access to exceptional on-line resources at no cost to the
local school district. (Basic)
o The Media specialist feels that GALILEO is time consuming for the students as they are
overwhelmed with the volume of information that they received when researching. She
also feels that GALILEO is above the students reading levels and feels that the content is
difficult for the students to understand. The password is sent to all teachers when the
changes are made; however, it is not utilized much in the school setting.

Category 4

The local system superintendent shall appoint a system media contact person (SMCP) to serve
as a liaison to the department. (Exemplary)

The SMCP maintains communication with other Library Media Specialists in the county
by attending periodic professional development sessions and mandatory county wide
media specialist meetings. District level administrators facilitate the communication and
maintain the consistency of the websites, procedures, and information throughout the
county.
Administrative staff support at both the school and district levels is essential for the development
of a strong library media program (Exemplary)
o The administration takes an active role in developing the media center and the materials
for student use. Both the principal and the instructional supervisor are knowledgeable
about current trends in education and have developed requirements for collaboration
between the media specialist and the classroom educators. They provide budgetary
support and are continuously looking for ways to further enhance the materials in the
media center.
Each local board of education shall adopt a library media policy that provides for the
establishment of a media committee at the system level and at each school. A library media
committee makes recommendations and decisions relating to planning, operation, evaluation,
and improvement of the library media program. This committee shall annually evaluate library
media services and develop a multi-year media plan for budget services and priorities.
(Exemplary)
o The school has an advisory committee that meets on a semi-semester basis to discuss
the media center and its materials, policies, and procedures. They discuss the
acquisition of resources and discussed banned books along with controversial materials.
The media center and the policies, staffing, and budget are updated annually.
Local Board approved library media policy is current. This policy requires development of
procedures for the school system and for selecting materials locally, handling requests for
reconsideration of materials, considering gifts of instructional resources, using non-school owned
materials, and complying with the copyright law. (Exemplary)
o The media policy that address the above issues is current and was updated in April of
2014.
Each local school system shall spend 100 percent of the funds designated for library media
center costs. (Proficient)
o The media center receives an allocation each year for purchasing additional materials
and for replacing dated materials that are weeded. The media specialist was not sure
where the money was allocated from, but simply knows that the money is budgeted each
school year. 100 percent of the funds were not spent last year due to several items being
on back order. The items that the money was allocated for were never sent which left the
money to be returned to the board office. The media specialist estimated that 98 percent
of the entire budget is spent each year.

Category 5

Staff development opportunities are available both for the library media staff to enhance their own
professional knowledge and for the library media staff to provide information and technology
literacy skills to other teachers and administrative staff. Professional resources and services for
all faculty members are provided in the library media center for the learning community.
(Exemplary)

The media specialist has attended several professional development opportunities this
year and will attend the Florida Library Conference in Orlando in February. The media
specialist provides technical support for all staff and serves as a liaison for our county
support technology specialists. The Library Media Specialist has developed a virtual field
trip lab for our school as well as working to greatly expand our access to computers, both
for students and teachers. The media specialist hosts many staff development
opportunities for the school faculty throughout the year and frequently asks the teachers
for materials request to expand those available for staff.

Category 6

Other (Exemplary)
o The media specialist provides support for all classroom educators with technology issues.
She shows a willingness to assist the classroom teachers with lessons and technology
integration that will develop and promote student learning. The flexible scheduling allows
unfettered access to all media center materials, computers, and assistance for students
and school staff members. The media specialist also assist with school programs such
as the Veterans Day program, the Miss ECMS pageant, and the frequent reward
activities that are offered throughout the school year.

Action Steps for Basic Areas:

Collaborative Planning (Category 1 - #2) The media specialist expressed frustration with the
classroom teachers because of their underutilization of her skills and resources. In order to bridge the
gap between the classroom teachers and the media specialist it is proposed that the two will be brought
together in a collaborative effort to create a 1 week unit. The teachers will serve as content specialist and
the media specialist will serve as a literacy/technology specialist and will be taught in a co-teach method.
The media specialists will make certain that the efforts are not impeding the classroom teacher or
imposing on his/her time schedule, but will seek to show the teacher that a collaborative effort should
actually relieve some of the workload by providing alternative ways to supplement and convey content
knowledge. The effort needs to be advertised as a way of relieving the classroom teachers of some of
their heavy workload by allowing the media specialist to assist with alternative teaching techniques. If
done effectively and positively the program will encourage collaborative efforts in the future and will be
promoted by positive discussion by the teachers.
Encourage and Support Reading (Category 1 - #4) Currently our school does not participate in an
active reading program to support the curriculum of any subject area. For many years the language arts
teachers were reading excessively in class due the incorporation of novel studies into the units that were
created. There was little excess time to spend reading for recreational purposes. This year a new
curriculum has been adopted which does not incorporate the reading of novels, whereby creating a need
for a more structured reading program. The media specialist shared the wishes of our new administration
for her to create a reading program for each grade level. The reading program will include lit circles, book
talks, and developing a reading interest inventory for students. While we will not purchase any monitoring
programs such as Accelerated Reader the media specialist is developing a system to monitor student
reading through a method of points per book read.
Use of GALILEO (Category 3 - #13) The use of GALILEO is an area of the rubric that creates an issue
for the Media Specialist due to the huge amount of materials that are available when it is used as a

research tool. Due to the resources that are available in this source it is strongly encouraged that
GALILEO be incorporated in research and that the refining tools demonstrated to allow students to
become familiar with the narrowing process. While students may be overwhelmed with the volume of
information that is given they should be taught to narrow searches and refine techniques to enable them
to adequately navigate the software.

Action Steps for Proficient Areas:

Spending 100 percent of funds (Category 4 - #18) The budget in the media center is possibly the
most vital task for a media specialist to address while attempting to effectively manage resources. In a
collaborative effort with the media advisory committee the media specialist should implement a long-term
plan for the development of materials and resources. The long term plan should address areas of the
media center that have limited resources, outdated resources, or heavily worn resources. There should
be a great deal of effort focused on grant writing and fundraising as well as developing community
relationships for funding possibilities. Along with utilizing several different methods to increase funding
the media specialist should make certain that 100 percent of the funding is used for developing areas of
the media center that are outdated or overused as well as purchasing recently released materials. To
prevent funds being returned due to backordered items, a system of notification should be implemented
that will notify the media specialist when the order is incomplete. The backorder items should be
monitored and if not filled within a reasonable amount of time the order should be cancelled to allow for
redirection of funds.