ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Preliminary Draft of Guidelines for NCATE by AASL

The American Association of School Librarians has prepared a preliminarydraft of guidelines for use of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The draft deals with curricula, faculty, students, evaluations, and “Resources and Facilities for Basic Programs.” The latter topic is of special interest to ACRL’s Education and Behavioral Sciences Section. Comments and suggestions from our members are welcomed, and may be addressed to Robert N. Broadus, Department of Library Science, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 6Ö115 for consolidation and forwarding.

The text of part 4 of the draft is reprinted here by permission of AASL:

4. Resources and Facilities for Basic Programs

In a unified media program, the system of resources and facilities supports every phase of activity within the institution. Coordinated services, accessibility, and the absence of restrictive regulations typify good programs, and achievements should be measured in services to faculty and students.

The media program is subject to change as technological advances occur and information storage and retrieval becomes more automated. The operational efficiency of the media program and the quality of the collection must parallel the overall growth of the institution so as to fulfill the individual needs and aspirations of the student body.

4.1 Library

The library is the information storehouse of the institution and its services center around efficient storage and ready retrieval. In the past, it housed mostly print materials with stress on the permanent forms.

Today the library should meet Association of College and Research Libraries standards. It should encompass all media and be an active facility in carrying out the media program. It should be as attentive to contemporary and temporary sources as those in more permanent form. The library must also provide multi services such as individual study areas, electronic equipment, rooms for seminars and discussions, and inexpensive copying facilities.

Guideline: The print and nonprint collection, supporting all disciplines and providing strong coverage in pedagogical practice, is sufficiently large and contemporary, and the staff sufficiently large and varied in skills to offer a full range of services.

4.1.1 Regardless of designation, is the library in arrangement and operation a library media center?

4.1.2 Is there an integrated information source covering all resources on the campus and including all formats of media?

4.1.3 Does the budget allow for an adequate, well balanced, up-to-date collection?

4.1.4 Are there adequate funds for multiple copies?

4.1.5 Is access to current or transient information (periodicals, newspapers, bulletins) sufficient when contrasted with more permanent forms, and does the library subscribe to services that provide up-to-date information on new educational materials?

4.1.6 Are facilities for both individual and small group uses of material inviting, comfortable, and sufficient in relation to the number of students?

4.1.7 Are the hours and regulations relative to the borrowing of materials conducive to extended use by students?

4.1.8 Does the workload of the staff of the library allow for professional individual and group contact with students?

4.1.9 Are there enough facilities for seminars and discussions, and are these areas equipped to accommodate audiovisual presentations?

4.2 Materials and Instructional Materials Center

The teacher training institution needs a resource center as a part of or in addition to the library where students can utilize curriculum sources and other aids in creating their own materials and in developing units of study and instructional techniques to support them.

Guideline: Both faculty and students have adequate work areas supported by up-to-date reference materials, sample curricula, syllabi, reports of educational research, and an adequate current collection of materials for children and youth.

4.2.1 Are there accessible production areas where students can prepare devices and materials to use in reporting, in student teaching and in information storage?

4.2.2 Is there a centralized facility for curriculum materials, and is it in a strategic location for student use?

4.2.3 Is there a planned program for acquiring updated curriculum bulletins and other reference sources and discarding outmoded ones?

4.2.4 Do students have access to and become familiar with trade books and other materials used by the age group with which they will be working?

4.2.5 Are students graduating with a ready supply of teaching aids, a knowledge of material sources, and techniques in constructing such items as transparencies, models, slides, posters, etc?

4.3 Physical Facilities and Other Resources If learning through total media is a way of life, the physical accommodations of the institution should accommodate and encourage such experiences. Experiences in the classroom should extend beyond the oral lecture and question and answer periods, and assignments should require more than reading with oral or written reports.

Guideline: The learning area is geared to accommodate the use of any media, and these facilities encourage students’ involvement in a wide spectrum of print and nonprint materials.

4.3.1 Can audiovisual presentations occur in the designated locations for course without having to move to a specially equipped room or department?

4.3.2 Do instructional rooms provide for student participation in using media other than in audience situations?

4.3.3 Are bulletin boards, displays, and exhibits encouraged and adequately provided for and changed frequently?

4.3.4 Are lectures or outstanding presentations usually recorded and placed in the college library media center for replay by students?

4.3.5 Are videotaping and similar devices used for orientation and evaluation?

4.3.6 Are there sufficient learning laboratories and utilization of such devices as computer assisted instruction?

4.3.7 Is there an ongoing program with Teacher Education courses to introduce instructional media to students as it becomes available, and are there sufficient means to encourage the preview and evaluation of print and nonprint media?