Challenging the Good Fit Narrative: Creating Inclusive Recruitment Practices in Academic Libraries

As a profession, we talk the talk of valuing diversity and inclusion, but do we walk the walk with our hiring practices? The profession stresses the importance of “a good fit” when hiring, but we rarely interrogate the fact that “a good fit” can be a reflection of our implicit biases. Academic librarians conducted a survey of hiring policies with a focus on the processes (or lack thereof) of recruiting candidates from underrepresented groups. This session will report on their findings and recommend the implementation of specific practices designed to create an inclusive candidate pool and an equitable searc

Small organizations and Title I of the ADA: A survey study in Region 2

While both small and large employers cite barriers to employing and advancing individuals with disabilities, some issues are more common among smaller employers than their larger counterparts. The purpose of the current survey study is two-fold: 1) to understand the barriers to effective implementation Title I of the ADA among small employers, 2) to identify effective ways to educate and support small employers as they implement the ADA. We began survey development with a literature review and a set of interviews with leadership or HR professionals who implement Title I within the small organizations. Through these interviews, we identified themes related to the implementation of the employment provisions of Title I of the ADA. The survey includes questions that examine organizational policy and processes, topical areas of interest, ways of accessing information, and respondent/organizational characteristics. The survey respondents were from New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands (representing Region 2). The survey results highlighted the need to (1) establish a basic understanding of the terms, including disability and reasonable accommodations, (2) provide more guidance on practical implementation of the Title I, (3) support systematic information gathering and an accommodation process that considers small business work setting, (4) promote disability awareness at the workplace and among human resources personnel

Alternative model for the administration and analysis of research-based assessments

Research-based assessments represent a valuable tool for both instructors and researchers interested in improving undergraduate physics education. However, the historical model for disseminating and propagating conceptual and attitudinal assessments developed by the physics education research (PER) community has not resulted in widespread adoption of these assessments within the broader community of physics instructors. Within this historical model, assessment developers create high quality, validated assessments, make them available for a wide range of instructors to use, and provide minimal (if any) support to assist with administration or analysis of the results. Here, we present and discuss an alternative model for assessment dissemination, which is characterized by centralized data collection and analysis. This model provides a greater degree of support for both researchers and instructors in order to more explicitly support adoption of research-based assessments. Specifically, we describe our experiences developing a centralized, automated system for an attitudinal assessment we previously created to examine students' epistemologies and expectations about experimental physics. This system provides a proof-of-concept that we use to discuss the advantages associated with centralized administration and data collection for research-based assessments in PER. We also discuss the challenges that we encountered while developing, maintaining, and automating this system. Ultimately, we argue that centralized administration and data collection for standardized assessments is a viable and potentially advantageous alternative to the default model characterized by decentralized administration and analysis. Moreover, with the help of online administration and automation, this model can support the long-term sustainability of centralized assessment systems.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted in Phys. Rev. PE

Practices, policies, and problems in the management of learning data: A survey of libraries’ use of digital learning objects and the data they create

This study analyzed libraries’ management of the data generated by library digital learning objects (DLO’s) such as forms, surveys, quizzes, and tutorials. A substantial proportion of respondents reported having a policy relevant to learning data, typically a campus-level policy, but most did not. Other problems included a lack of access to library learning data, concerns about student privacy, inadequate granularity or standardization, and a lack of knowledge about colleagues’ practices. We propose more dialogue on learning data within libraries, between libraries and administrators, and across the library profession

Developing a Best Practices Plan for Tutorials in a Multi-Library System

In 2010, the University of Iowa's library system administration created a task force to conduct a reevaluation of tools and spaces used for video tutorial creation across a multi-library system. Following this effort, a working group was charged with improving documentation and staff awareness of resources for developing video tutorials. The group observed that librarians were often independently creating videos that were variable in quality, lacked consistent branding, and were not often shared with others. This article will describe experiences at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa in selecting video tutorial software, and striving to establish a more structured process, including team-developed guidelines, for tutorial creation in a multi-library system. Project limitations and areas for future work will also be presented

Reuse potential assessment framework for gamification-based smart city pilots

The paper proposes a unified framework for assessing the re-use potential for the Smart Engagement Pilot currently being realized in the city of Ghent (Belgium). The pilot aims to stimulate the digital engagement in users (citizens) by involving them in online and offline communities, and increasing the social capital through the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). To engage the citizens, the pilot makes use of Gamification based entities (intelligent wireless sensors) embedded in public hardware, through which innovative games are organized in places of interest (neighbourhood, parks, schools, etc.). Once finished, this pilot will be re-used in other European cities under the context of CIP SMART IP project. Since, the success of a pilot in one city doesn't guarantee its success in the other, an objective socio-economic-organizational reuse assessment becomes critical. To do this assessment, we propose a framework, which uses a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) based scorecard to determine the roadblocks and battlefields that could deter such a transition

It's About Time: Learning Time and Educational Opportunity in California High Schools

A new study by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA) found that teachers in high-poverty schools are more likely than their peers in low-poverty schools to report more time lost for academic instruction due to poor access to libraries, technology and qualified substitute teachers. Moreover, economic and social stressors on students -- such as unstable housing, hunger and lack of access to medical or dental care -- also undermine learning time, according to the study

Documenting the Value of Librarians in the Classroom: Results from a Mixed-Methods Research Collaboration with Campus Partners

This paper details the results of a mixed-methods study of first-year and upper-division students’ information literacy (IL) competencies. The study used a rubric and a survey, seeking to answer two research questions: 1) Is there a correlation between National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) IL survey responses and IL rubric scores? 2) Are there any indicators that correlate to improved IL performance in first-year students? Results demonstrated that first-year students reported greater engagement with IL and also indicated that instructors placed greater emphasis on IL competencies than students in upper-division courses. They also show a statistically significant impact on first-year students’ rubric scores when a librarian is in the class. This finding held even when controlling for other variables. Results provide an evidence-based foundation to spur conversations with faculty and university administration on the value of IL and the role of librarians in undergraduate student success

A Case Study on Instructional Coaching for Teachers of English Language Learners

One of the fastest rising student populations in California schools and other states are English Language Learners.  Yet, teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare teachers to support the needs of language learning in the context of their own classrooms.  This creates a chasm of equity and access for our most needy students.  However, despite this dangerous trend of unpreparedness, there are promising practices that have begun to emerge for supporting classroom teachers.  Instructional coaching is one of them.  The objective for this case study on The English Learner Group (TELG) was: (1) to analyze the effect of job-embedded professional development, if any, on English Learner students’ academic achievement as measured by California State Assessments Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) results from the 2017-2018 Academic Year, and (2) to provide Dr. Sam Nofziger, the owner of TELG, with specific insights into the perceptions of his employees and the school districts TELG has served. There were four noteworthy findings which included an increase of ELL growth as measured by the SBAC and a decrease in the achievement gap between ELLs and English Only students as measured by the SBAC. It is important to note that this case study was submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements in class EDL 561 with the Collaborative Online Doctorate in Educational Leadership (CODEL) program.  CODEL is a joint Ed.D. program with California State University, Fresno and CSU Channel Islands. This project was initially conducted by doctoral students:  Phyllis Grillo, Jazzie Murphy, Lauren Odell, and Lilia Ruvalcaba. Statistical analysis was performed by Ms. Ruvalcaba. The project was significantly edited and submitted for the purposes of CLEAR by Lauren Odell.

Identifying best practices and collaboration opportunities within a nonprofit supporting trafficked and prostituted women

Human trafficking and prostitution for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) happens every day, in every country. Women and female children are the predominate targets of this type of exploitation. This research looked at CSE women and how the Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS), a Seattle nonprofit, approaches their work with victims. The action research study question was: What creates successful collaboration and best practices sharing within a Seattle social services nonprofit organization serving the domestically prostituted and trafficked survivor community? Data were collected through an online research survey, consisting of 11 questions in total. Survey demographics included nine OPS board of directors and staff participants. The completed findings were shared with OPS in a feedback session during the spring of 2014, indicating a need for more robust organizational development practices and strategy beyond OPS\u27s current framework, including standardization of communication and self-care practices, financial development, fundraising, and clearly defined roles