Book Review: A Disciplinary Blueprint for the Assessment of Information Literacy

Book revie

Beyond competence: digital literacies as knowledge practices, and implications for learner development

Our interest in studying digital literacies arises from what we perceive as a failure to develop students' capacities to learn deeply in a technology-rich environment. The trends towards networked communities and digital citizenship, as well as workplace changes including distributed/collaborative work patterns and an (arguably) higher value being placed on 'knowledge' work, all make digital capabilities central to what higher education can offer. While we see efforts being made to support learners’ ICT skills – or at least bring these up to a minimum standard of competence – these are rarely integrated with the development of other capabilities critical to higher learning. E-learning is often celebrated for its potential to extend participation. As we are increasingly saturated in opportunities for acquiring knowledge (Downes 2005, Walton et al. 2007, Anderson 2008), informal networked learning has achieved a new prominence in educational discourse, to the extent that it has almost become the measure by which formal learning is judged. In practice, however, we see digital opportunities being disproportionately taken up, and benefited from, by those with existing educational capital (see for example NIACE 2008). Too often, also, e-learning is used as a shorthand for the management of learning by digital means, rather than the exploration of disciplinary knowledge and knowledge practices in a new digital context. A more competence-based curriculum is becoming the norm, a development which has arguably been accelerated by the standardisation of qualifications in a global (digital) learning market. And yet, we see evidence that effective learners in digital – as in other – contexts have not been motivated by competence-based approaches to learning. We are excited by the current theoretical interest in digital literacies, and yet our motivation remains a pragmatic one: to investigate how learners are developing literacies for learning and meeting their learning goals, at a time when valued knowledge is predominantly communicated in digital forms. We continue to be involved in translating relevant research into effective interventions at curriculum and institutional levels

Frameworks for Literacy Education Reform

Research is the differentiator between the reliable and the uncertain, the element that provides an unimpeachable credential of practical validation. When advocating for literacy education reforms, stakeholders should settle for nothing less, avoiding the temptations of political expediency that too often limit the prospects for sustained student achievement.What's needed to move the needle on literacy learning within a research-validated perspective. To this end, ILA offers four frameworks for developing and evaluating literacy education reforms, each focused on a specific component of the education sector: literacy teaching and teachers, schools and schooling, student support, families and community.Each framework sets out a list of research-validated approaches to literacy advancement that is designed to function as a blueprint or rubric to inform, refine, and assess proposals for reform. The more such proposals are aligned with these approaches, the stronger their potential will be to produce meaningful and sustained improvements in literacy education. Moreover, each framework includes a detailed list of supporting sources to facilitate exploration into the underlying research base.There is much that can be done to raise students' literacy achievement, and many individuals and organizations must accomplish the work. We must pool resources both within and outside of schools, including those of teachers, school administrators and supervisors, universities, parents, the business community, policymakers, and foundations. Collectively, these stakeholders can have a positive impact on the literacy learning of children and adolescents and, in turn, create a pathway for success for the next generation.These frameworks are meant to provoke conversation and inspire action to use multiple pathways to support the literacy achievement of all children. There is much to be done and there are many to draw from in order to ensure equitable, accessible, and excellent educational opportunities that will result in high literacy achievement for all. This is every child's right and everyone's responsibility. The time to take action is now.

Being Literate About Something : Discipline-Based Information Literacy in Higher Education

This report examines how academic librarians and theorists have discussed the issue of discipline-based information literacy instructional approaches since the publication of the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education in 2000. As Kate Manuel has recently noted, the Standards balance outcomes and indicators of universal or general information-literacy skills with more discipline-specific skills. Prior to the publication of the ACRL Standards, Stephen Plum argued that disciplinary standards can provide valuable frameworks for library instruction; more recent theorists have focused attention on general skills, some arguing that discipline-based skills are the province of subject faculty, others suggesting that discipline-based skills are modeled on more general skills, still others suggesting that liaison librarians work collaboratively with faculty to address discipline-specific information needs. Based on a literature survey, my report is a thought piece addressing the following interlocking questions: how do discipline-based skills relate to more general skills? Who should teach discipline-based information literacy? Is information literacy a discipline in its own right? What role might the subject specialist play in discipline-based information literacy initiatives

Info Lit 2.0 or Deja Vu?

In 1999, ACRL convened a national task force to draft Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. ACRL has recently launched a revision to those standards. The original standards were influential because they helped advance a national need in higher education at the time: a shift to outcomes based learning. Thirteen years later, information literacy stands alongside oral and written communication, critical thinking and ethical reasoning as learning outcomes broadly acknowledged as needing to be integrated, with disciplinary content, into the curriculum. This author believes that, in contrast to the first process, the current recommendations for revision are focused on the wrong question and include the wrong people to address it. Out of the eight recommendations in the task force report, seven focus on revising articulation of the learning outcomes and the eighth calls for better alignment with theAmerican Association of School Librarians’ Standards for the 21st Century Learner. It is time to let go of the rehashing and professional naval gazing and look ahead to address the issues that are most pressing in higher education now. The point isn\u27t to further define, redefine and write more, less or different learning outcomes. There is little to gain in continuing the decades old “literacies “debate about whose are most important and which should be integrated into the curriculum. Labels do not matter! No organization or individual institution is going to accept detailed learning outcomes anyway. Information literacy as a phrase and as a set of learning outcomes are already integrated into a host of related skills, regardless of the label. The challenge now is to move ahead and address the current concerns of education reform: vertical integration with disciplinary knowledge, curriculum mapping, and assessment. There are a host of challenges and libraries and librarians are perfectly poised to help. I have moved on, so should ACRL

Literacy as a Civil Right in the Past, Present and Future: Disciplinary Literacies as an Act of Advocacy, Liberation, and Community-Building

The Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary Classroom were presented to the educational community in 2016; in this article, we look back at history and ahead to classroom instruction to present the evolution of the purpose and practices of disciplinary literacies. By examining literacy as a civil right throughout history and the creation of the Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy, a path is revealed for educators to collaborate, differentiate professional learning, and implement classroom practices to engage students with content knowledge to foster real and relevant literacies for life

Entry-level students' reading abilities and what these abilities might mean for academic readiness

he National Benchmark Tests Project (NBTP) was commissioned by Higher Education South Africa and became operational in 2009. One of the main aims of the NBTP is to assess the extent to which entry-level students might be said to be ready to cope with the conventional demands of academic study in three key areas: academic literacy; quantitative literacy; and mathematics. This paper presents an analysis of the academic literacy readiness of a sample of registered students as reflected in their performance on the NBT in Academic Literacy, a standardised assessment developed in the context of the wider project. The paper presents a theoretical analysis of the construct of academic literacy as operationalised in the test. This is followed by a categorised empirical analysis of test-takers’ performance on the test, in which the levels of academic readiness of these test-takers are presented and discussed. The argument presented highlights the diverse range of academic literacy levels of entry-level students, as well as implying the teaching and learning interventions that might be necessary to improve readiness. Concluding comments argue that some groups of students may be unable to cope with conventional academic literacy demands in the absence of explicit intervention

'We are trying to reproduce a crafts apprenticeship': from Government Blueprint to workplace-generated apprenticeship in the knowledge economy

Recent research has shown that the UK's Advanced Apprenticeship Programme (AAP) struggles to develop the forms of ‘vocational practice’, that is, a combination of knowledge, skill and judgement, employers are looking for in the creative and cultural sector. Employers' reluctance to get involved with the AAP does not mean that they are uninterested in training. They are concerned that the UK's Department of Education and Skills promotes the AAP to serve ‘educational’ goals (i.e. route for academic progression), rather than functioning as a genuine attempt to develop the sector-specific vocational knowledge and skill that they feel it is important for apprentices to develop. To understand why many employers distance themselves from the AAP, the paper compares and contrasts the AAP with the ‘Technical Apprenticeship’, which has been developed by Birmingham Repertory Theatre, with regard to the different notions of skill formation, skill transfer and employability. It concludes by raising a number of questions and issues as regards: (1) the future development of apprenticeship in the creative and cultural sector in the UK and internationally, and (2) the concept of vocational practice in Vocational Education and Training. © 2007 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd

Making Connections for Community Change - The Staten Island Foundation Biennial Report: Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015

The Staten Island Foundation has released its Biennial Report for Fiscal Years 2014-2015. Highlights include:Messages from the Foundation's Chair and Executive Director: Looking Back, Looking Ahead;An infographic summarizing the Foundation's Hurricane Sandy funding to date;Stories on how the Foundation is engaging the community, cultivating leadership for an emerging future, and extending its reach through catalytic connections.The Staten Island Foundation is a private foundation established in 1997 to improve the quality of life on Staten Island. To date, the Foundation has provided over $50 million to hundreds of local nonprofits with strong relationships and deep knowledge of the borough's operating ecosystem. In partnership with the local community, nonprofit, public and private sectors, the Foundation strives to ensure this vibrant, diverse community -- especially its least advantaged -- has access to the resources necessary to maximize its potential. With a results orientation, the Foundation views its support as an investment in change, the measure of changed lives for a better community