Advocacy Plan

LIS 653

Angie Mitchell
11/25/2013

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I.

INTRODUCTION
Community Demographics

Level Cross Elementary School is one of 17 elementary schools in the Randolph County School
System, located in the piedmont of North Carolina. It is also one of two elementary schools that serve
the Randleman area. According to the US Census data from 2010, the city of Randleman has 4,113
residents who are 86.3% white, 5.9% African-American, 0.4% Asian, 1.9% bi-racial, and 7.6% Hispanic.
59.7% of housing units are owned while 40.3% are rented. The median family income was $30,685 (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2010). . The average class size for kindergarten was 20, first grade was 21, second was
18, third was 19, fourth was 17, and fifth was 25. Those numbers are comparable to the district and
state class sizes (NC School Report Cards, 2012).
School Demographics
Level Cross Elementary School is a small rural school in Randolph County that serves 514
students from Pre-K through 5th grade. We have four classrooms of every grade except K-2nd grade.
We only have three kindergarten classrooms and 4 first and second grade classrooms. The community
is not as diverse as neighboring areas and our population represents that with 81% of our population
being Caucasian. Our socioeconomic demographics have decreased recently due to the economic
hardships facing the county. This has increased our number of students receiving free and reduced
lunch. For the past four years we have been a Title 1 school.
The school has 36 classroom teachers; 100% of those teachers are fully licensed. 19% of
teachers have advanced degrees and three are National Board Certified Teachers. According to the
2011-2012 data, Level Cross Elementary had a 10% teacher turnover rate (compared to an 12% district
rate and 12% state rate) (NC School Report Cards, 2011).
The following table represents End of Grade test data for 2011-2012. The percent represents the
percentage of students who were considered proficient (level III or IV). (NC School Report Cards, 2011)
rd

LCES
District
State

rd

th

th

th

th

3 Math

3 Reading

4 Math

4 Reading

5 Math

5 Reading

Overall
Reading

Overall
Math

82.3%
84.3%
82.8%

67.7%
63.1%
68.8%

>95%
87.1%
85.1%

87.6%
69.8%
71.6%

86.4%
82.4%
82.1%

69.1%
68.2%
72.3%

72.5%
66.5%
71.2%

89.4%
81.2%
82.8%

Overall females were more proficient than males (75.6% to 72.8%). Whites were more proficient
than African-Americans or Hispanics (77% to 60% and 65.2%). 25.8% of students with disabilities were
proficient (NC School Report Cards, 2011).

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School Mission and Belief Statements
The mission of Level Cross Elementary School, in partnership with parents and community is to
create a safe learning environment where all students will become literate, responsible, productive
members of our diverse society.
Level Cross Elementary has created belief statements that help to define our schools mission.
We believe at Level Cross that:
a. All students can learn.
b. Student learning is the chief priority and drives all decisions impacting the work of the
school.
c. Teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community share the responsibility and
accountability for student learning.
d. A safe and comfortable environment promotes student learning.
e. Curriculum and instructional practices should incorporate a variety of learning activities
to accommodate differences in learning styles, abilities, and cultures.
f. Student learning should enable students to become confident, self-directed, lifelong
learners. (Level Cross Elementary School, 2013)

Media Center Mission Statement

The mission of Level Cross Elementary School's Media Center is designed to support and
enhance the educational goals of the school and district. Our mission is to teach the learner to seek,
evaluate, and apply information from traditional and technological sources and to develop skills that will
help prepare them for the 21st Century. We strive to make the LCES Media Center a user-friendly
facility with a positive environment for all students. (Level Cross Elementary, 2013)
Media Center and Technology Information
The hours of operation are 7:30-2:45, which coincides with the school hours. Level Cross has a
full-time media specialist, media assistant, and technology assistant. The media center is on a fixed
schedule where the media specialist sees one class per grade level every day from 9:00 am-2:35pm. The
media specialist collaborates with teachers and students throughout the week to make sure the lessons
relate to what is being taught in the classroom. She also provides staff development on resources
available in the media center and on the Internet. Other tasks that the media specialist is responsible
for are book talks, story-telling, teaching lessons, operating two book fairs, managing and maintaining
the media center collection, and being the captain of the Battle of the Books team.
According to the 2012-2013 Annual Media and Technology Report collected by the North
Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Level Cross has 132 desktop computers, 78 laptop computers,
32 document cameras, 39 data projectors, 35 interactive whiteboards, and 3 interactive tables. Level
Cross Elementary School has 10,211 books on the shelves of our media center for student checkout.

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With an enrollment of 514 students, there are approximately 19.86 books per student. Minimum
guidelines require 10 books per student, while 15 books per student are required for a developing
library. LCES is within reach of the outstanding guidelines of 20 books per student. (North Carolina
Department of Public Instruction, 2008). The average age of our media center is 1995.
While the collection surpasses the number of books that are required per pupil for a developing
library the numbers are not as impressive when our collection is analyzed using a Balanced Dewey
Comparison Chart. Many areas of our media center are under the recommended percentages based on
IMPACT standards. The following charts represent the collection broken down by 100s. This chart was
created by doing a TitleWise collection analysis of our current collection.

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Our media center is 5,153 square feet which meets the minimum 5,000 square feet of IMPACT.
Maximum seating for our media center is 103 students, which is roughly 20% of our population. This
exceeds the required 10 to 15%. If we move our tables and chairs we have been able to get up to 180
students sitting on the carpet for presentations before. We are fortunate to have two areas in our
media center that will hold such large numbers. We also have a small group storytelling area that will sit
a class or smaller groups. We have a section in the back of the media center where students could come
and work independently.
II.

ADVOCACY GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the school media specialist is to serve the students, teachers, parents, and
community and to help them see how a dynamic media program can help each group. In order to do this
she has created two advocacy goals for this year.
GOAL 1: Teachers will recognize that the school media center and media specialist can assist them with
unit and lesson planning.
Connection to mission statement: At Level Cross we believe that teachers, administrators, parents,
students, and community share the responsibility and accountability for student learning. We also
believe that curriculum and instructional practices should incorporate a variety of learning activities to
accommodate differences in learning styles, abilities, and cultures. The media specialist wants the
teachers to see that she can assist them in reaching all learners by integrating 21st Century skills and
resources throughout the units they have planned.
Objective 1: Meet with teachers in PLCs at least once a month to start building the collaboration
relationship with the teachers.
Objective 2: Keep the teachers abreast on the current resources and materials that can assist them with
teaching the Common Core Standards and the North Carolina Essential Standards, which in turn will
increase the circulation of professional resources both print and online by 15%.
Goal 2: Students will recognize the library as a place to go for resources and help on assignments.
Connection to mission statement: The mission in the media center is to teach the learner to seek,
evaluate, and apply information from traditional and technological sources and to develop skills that will
help prepare them for the 21st Century. In order to accomplish this mission the media specialist needs
to help the students see the media center as a place that will help them find answers to the questions
they have.
Objective 1: Using the Big 6/Super 3 research model, adopted by Randolph County Schools, students will
learn the process of using the library and its resources for at least one major project this year.
Objective 2: Create a designated time before school starts for students to get assistance on research
projects that they are working on in class.

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III.

ACTIVITIES AND STRATEGIES TO MEET THE OBJECTIVES

GOAL 1, Objective 1

Goal one states that the teachers will recognize the importance of collaborating with the media
specialist and see the media specialist as a co-teacher. Objective one is for the media specialist to meet
with teachers at least once a month to begin building that collaboration relationship. In order for this
relationship to build I must first let them know that I am willing to help out with the planning and
gathering of information needed for the units they want to teach. The activity for this lesson will be for
the media specialist to visit the Professional Learning Communities at least once a month. I will work
with the guidance counselor, technology assistant, and media assistant to help plan a time where they
will be teaching the lessons for the week so that I can sit in on the PLCs with the classroom teachers.
This will need to occur at least once a month so that I can become an active member of each PLCs.
The audience for this activity is the classroom teachers. The classroom teachers already know
that I want to help them as much as possible but since I have their students during planning it is hard for
me to collaborate with them. With my new schedule I have a little more flexibility to meet with teachers
during PLCs. My principal has already approved me going into the classroom PLCs, so I will just need to
email the teachers and ask for a day to meet with them.
During my first meeting I will explain to them my new schedule and how this will open times up
for students to come into the media center to research and find materials needed for projects. During
this meeting I will need to make sure the teachers understand that I am talking about assisting them
beyond their regular media time. I will give them a copy of my schedule for the upcoming month and
explain that each month they will get a new schedule with media times open. We will discuss my role
and how I can help them. I have a presentation that outlines how I can assist them. I will put it on the
webpage also for future viewing. I will follow up the meeting with an email to thank them for letting me
come to their PLCs and letting them know that I am looking forward to working with them on a regular
basis. In this email I will also remind them that my door is always open for questions, help, or just to
brainstorm ideas.
At the next meeting, I will bring grade level specific ideas to the meetings so teachers can see
the possibilities of how I can assist them with co-teaching or co-planning their units. By the following
month I will be able to show them units that I have co-taught with the classroom teachers. This will
demonstrate to the teachers how I can help them. At each of the following meetings it will be an open
forum on how we can work together. During these meetings I will bring my lesson plan book so that I
can write down the notes that I will need for the lessons. This will also be used as a tool the following
year to help me with creating new ideas for collaborating with teachers.
The way this activity will be evaluated is by looking at the media calendar and schedule to see
how many teachers used the extended times with their classrooms. If the media schedule shows that
teachers are collaborating with the media specialist and using the media center as a research tool
beyond their regularly scheduled times then the activity will have been successful

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Goal 1, Objective 2
Goal one states that the teachers will recognize the importance of collaborating with the media
specialist and see the media specialist as a co-teacher. Objective two of goal one states that the school
media specialist will keep the teachers abreast on the current resources and materials that can assist
them with teaching the Common Core Standards and the North Carolina Essential Standards, which in
turn will increase the professional resources both print and online by 15%. The activity for this objective
will be multifaceted and be an ongoing activity all year. The audience of this activity will be the school
administration and teachers.
Our media center is massive and a lot of teachers have forgotten what we have to offer because
the state and county has given them so much to use lately. I want them to see that the media center is
still a place to turn for materials and resources. We are in the process of updating our media centers
collection and are working on purchasing materials to help the kids understand the concepts they are
learning in the classroom. According to the ALA research entitled, Library Matters, School librarians are
instructional consultant from whom classroom teachers can learn of more numerous, more
authoritative, and more current books, articles, and databases than they would ever find on their own.
While elementary and middle school library staff typically spend only two or three hours per week
helping to improved instruction in this way, it appears to be making a difference in reading performance
at those grade levels (increases of almost eight and seven percent, respectively). (ALA, 2013) I want the
teachers to see me as this collaborative partner. This is the goal of this activity.
The first part of this activity will be to create newsletters for the teachers to help them see what
resources are available. Each newsletter will focus on a different type of resource. The first newsletter
will focus on print resources that are available for the teachers and students. The second newsletter will
focus on our online resources. The next newsletter will center on Web 2.0 tools that will help them
teach their standards. I will create newsletters as new resources are acquired. According to the ALA
research, Library Matters, Both elementary and middle schools tended to perform better on tests
where Library Media Specialists took the initiative, on at least a weekly or monthly basis, to provide
their teachers with resources needed to design instruction. (ALA, 2013)
Along with the last newsletter I will be seeking permission from the principal to showcase at
least one new tool at every staff meeting. Due to the full agendas at the staff meetings this will have to
be a short demonstration that will spike their interests. After the staff meetings I will have a sign-up
sheet for teachers that are interested in learning more. I will also have some of our resources on display
for teachers to explore and ask questions about after the meetings. I will be available to work one on
one or small group to help them learn the new Web 2.0 tool. In addition to doing small group
professional development I will also have webinars on using the different tools for the ones who cant
attend the face to face meetings. This will be available via the teacher documents folder and shared via
Google Documents.

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The evaluation process of this activity will be multi-faceted also. One way of looking at the
successfulness of this activity will be to access the Destiny circulation of teachers, using teacher lesson
plans, and accessing the usage of our online resources at the beginning of the activity and at the end of
the year. If each of these demonstrates a 15% increase in the use of the library resources then the
activity was successful and should be continued next year. If not then I will need to reexamine the
activity and make improvements before next year.
Goal 2, Objective 1
Goal two states that students will recognize the library as a place to go for resources and help
on assignments. Objective one of goal two focus on using the Big 6/Super 3 research model, adopted by
Randolph County Schools. In doing this students will learn the process of using the library and its
resources. According to the ALA research, Libraries Matters, Ninety percent of the students recognized
that the school library had helped to boost their confidence as proficient information seekers and users,
enabling them to work independently; 91.8% of the students appreciated the school librarys help
regarding working out the most important information, and sorting and analyzing information. (ALA,
2013)
Based on this finding the students need to be the target audience of this activity. The Big6 is a
six-stage model for information problem-solving and decision-making. The Big6 approach helps students
learn essential information and technology skill necessary for success. The Big6 provides students with a
tried and true method to answer a question, complete an assignment, or create a unique product.
(Berkowitz arid Eisenberg, 1990) While all the steps are important in this activity we are going to focus
on steps 2 and 3 of the Big 6.
Step two is called information seeking strategies. In this step the students make a list of possible
resources that can help them to find the answers they need. Step three is called location and access. In
this step the students learn how to locate the information they need. It is important for students to be
able to locate the information physically and virtually and find the information within the source.
For this activity I am going to have the students create a video advertisement and a combined
Media Center Bibliography for each type of resource that our media center has to offer. The students
will take the time to explore the resource and explain to the viewing audience, which will be the student
body, how that resource can help them. The students will also help explain which resource would be
best for different types of assignments. Doing this the students will learn more about the different
types of resources that our library has to offer, which in turn will help them discover the hidden
treasures of our media center and give them more possible resources to use in the future.
This activity will take place in January this year, however in the future it will take place at the
beginning of the year to help students understand how to search and locate information for themselves
and be successful researchers. The activity will be evaluated by doing a pre-assessment and postassessment with the students. The pre-assessment will have the students list all the resources that they
have at their disposal in the media center to do research. By the post-assessment the students should

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be able to list more resources and state how each of these resources can assist them in research. If the
students are able to list more resources than before then the activity was successful.
Goal 2, Objective 2
Goal two states that students will recognize the library as a place to go for resources and help
on assignments. Objective two of goal two states that the media specialist will create a designated time
before school starts for students to get assistance on research projects that they are working on in class.
By creating this time students will see the direct correlation between the media center and research.
While this activity is geared toward the students the administration and teachers are the ones
that will be targeted at first in the creation of this time. I will need to meet with the principal at first and
discuss my goals of helping the students see the media center as a place to help with research and not
just a place to check out books. In this discussion with the administration I will bring destiny circulation
records and show how the students are checking out material to read for pleasure but not really using
the media center as a resource for research. I will also explain how in middle school and high school the
students need to be able to know how to use the media center as a resource tool independently. Most
of the teachers at the elementary level try to provide all of the resources needed to do the research,
however by offering this time I will be helping take some of the burden off them. In order to do this I will
also need to meet with the teachers and explain how I want to help them with the research process.
This activity will start with 5th graders at first and then be extended to fourth graders once I see if this
will be as beneficial as I hope.
In order to get this program started I will create flyers and create an ad campaign with the
assistance of the media helpers to show the students what the program will offer. The title of the
program will be Got Questions? Get Answers @ your library ! Through the flyers and campaign the
students will see that during this time the students can come to the media center to use both digital and
print resources to locate information needed for investigations. This program will start the second nine
weeks after the students learn what resources the media center has to offer and how to access and use
them. The media center will be open from 7:15 to 7:50 for students to come and do research. During
this time the students will become active participants in the research process.
There are several ways to evaluate this activity. One of the main ways is to take attendance and
see how many students are actually using this time as a way of researching for classroom assignments.
Another way is send an evaluation in form of a survey to teachers. Some of the questions on the survey
would be: Are the research papers of better quality since the addition of this time? Has this time been
beneficial to the research process in the classroom? Does this free up more time in the classroom for
them to cover other topics? Another survey will be given to the students to see how this time has helped
them in becoming effective researchers.
If the media center is being used for research and the students are becoming confident, selfdirected, lifelong learners then this activity is successful. If not then we need to re-examine this time and
find out what is not working.

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Example Activity
The activity for goal one objective one that states the media specialist will meet with teachers in PLCs at
least once a month to start building the collaboration relationship with the teachers will be examined in
more detailed.
Email to PLC grade level chair to set up and confirm meeting date (Word)
Copy of Media Schedule that shows time that I can work with their classes (Word)
Who Am I and How Can I Help (Powerpoint - These slides are found on the ALA School
Librarian's Role in Reading Toolkit Website
http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools/toolkits/role-reading) (Force, 2009)
Sample Conversation for Collaboration (Word)
Collaboration Survey in Google Survey sent to all teachers at the beginning of the year
https://docs.google.com/a/randolph.k12.nc.us/forms/d/1G3l93NZqHrMDiDcVPuGISATBzaHvEbzgO3mbpL4LKE/viewform
A Look Back at the Year Google Survey
https://docs.google.com/a/randolph.k12.nc.us/forms/d/1d1jR2EPw2lBw_F3SXa6fW5j70nXBAvX
mKECikpZXaJw/viewform
Emails to share resources available to the teachers
IV.

Overall Plan Evaluation

Standard five of the new North Carolina School Library Media Coordinators Rubric is reflecting
on your practice. At the end of the year it is important to look at aspects of the plan and see how well
they work. Several areas can be examined to see the effectiveness of the plan.
The schedule of the media center. This will demonstrate how much collaboration happened
between the classroom teachers and the media specialist. (Goal 1: Objective 1)
Attendance from the morning research sessions. If attendance was consistent and beneficial
then the program was a success. (Goal 2: Objective 2)
Teacher surveys at the end of the year to see their view of collaboration. (Goal 1: Objective 1)
Collection statistics for professional resources both online and print. (Goal 1: Objective 2)
Post assessment results of students after the Big 6/Super 3 project. (Goal 2: Objective 1)
If these areas have shown success then I can examine ways to improve the plan the following
year to increase the numbers of advocates for the media center. By the end of the year if the plan is
successful the media center will truly be the hub of all learning in the school and people will understand
our theme Got Questions? Get Answers @ your library! If the plan was not successful then I will
need to re-examine the parts of the plan that didnt work well and figure out how to change these the
following year.
A true advocacy plan as stated on the AASL website, begins with a vision and a plan for the
library program that is then matched to the agenda and priorities of stakeholders. It is an on-going
process of building partnerships so that others will act for and with you, turning passive support into
educated action for the library program. (AASL, 2013)

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Bibliography
AASL. (2013). What Is Advocacy? Retrieved November 22, 2013, from American Association of School
Librarians: http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/definitions
ALA. (2013). American Library Association. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from Kindergarten-Middle
School Talking Point #16: http://www.ala.org/research/librariesmatter/node/420
Berkowitz arid Eisenberg. (1990). District-wide Research Model. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from
Randolph County Schools:
http://www.randolph.k12.nc.us/Departments/MediaTechnology/Documents/RCS%20Big6%20S
uper3%20Handbook.pdf
Follett Library Resources. (2013). TITLEWAVE. Retrieved November 22, 2013 from
http://www.flr.follett.com/intro/titleservices.html
Force, S. R. (2009, July). School Librarian's Role in Reading Toolkit. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from
American Assoication of School Librarians:
http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools/toolkits/role-reading
Level Cross Elementary. (2013). Media/Technology. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from Level Cross
Elementary:
http://www.randolph.k12.nc.us/schools/lcross/MediaTechnology/Pages/Default.aspx
Level Cross Elementary School. (2013). Mission. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from Level Cross
Elementary School: http://www.randolph.k12.nc.us/schools/lcross/Pages/Mission.aspx
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2012). 2012-2013 Annual Media and Technology
Report. Retrieved November 22, 2013 from
http://amtr.dpi.state.nc.us/amtr2012/schools/SchoolStart.asp
NC School Report Cards. (2012). School Profile- School Level. Retrieved November 22, 2013 from
http://www.ncschoolreportcard.org/src/schDetails.jsp?pYear=20112012&pLEACode=760&pSchCode=33
1
U.S. Census Bureau. (2010). American Fact Finder. Retrieved November 9, 2013, from United States
Census Bureau:
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml#none

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