Empowering agent for Oklahoma school learning communities: An examination of the Oklahoma Library Improvement Program.

摘要

The purposes of this study were to determine the initial impact of the Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Grants on Oklahoma school library media programs; assess whether the Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Grants continue to contribute to Oklahoma school learning communities; and examine possible relationships between school library media programs and student academic success. It also seeks to document the history of the Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Program 1978--1994 and increase awareness of its influence upon the Oklahoma school library media programs.; Methods of data collection included the examination of the Library Media Improvement Program archival materials housed in the Library Media/ITV Section of the Oklahoma State Department of Education. A survey was sent to 1703 principals in Oklahoma, and Library Media Improvement Program participants were interviewed.; Data analyses were conducted in three primary phases: descriptive statistics and frequencies were disaggregated to examine mean scores as they related to money spent on school library media programs; opinions of school library media programs; and possible relationships between school library media programs and student academic achievement. Analysis of variance was used in the second phase of data analysis to determine if any variation between means was significant as related to Oklahoma Library Improvement Grants, time spent in the library media center by the library media specialist, principal gender, opinions of library media programs, student achievement indicators, and the region of the state in which the respondent was located. The third phase of data analysis compared longitudinal data collected in the 2000 survey with past data.; The primary results indicated students in schools with a centralized library media center, served by a full-time library media specialist, and the school having received one or more Library Media Improvement Grants scored significantly higher than students in schools not having a centralized library media center, not served by a full-time library media specialist, and the school not having received one or more Library Media Improvement Grants. Students in schools having even one of these components scored higher than students in schools with none of the components.