Causality: School Libraries and Student Success (CLASS) White Paper

Abstract

On April 11 and 12, 2014, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) held Causality: School Libraries and Student Success (CLASS), an IMLS-funded national forum. Dr. Thomas Cook, one of the most influential methodologists in education research, and a five-member panel of expert scholars and practitioners led 50 established and emerging school library researchers in articulating a national research agenda to investigate causal phenomena in school library instruction, resources, and services. Research in academic achievement and school librarianship has a strong foundation of over 25 correlational studies in which school librarians’ activities and school library programs have been explored in relation to student learning and teacher support. The results of these studies suggest that complementary research should be conducted to establish a causal relationship between the work of effective school librarians and the creation of motivated, engaged, and agile learners. The goals of this white paper are to: 1. Capture the rich discussion emanating from the CLASS forum surrounding research and causality. 2. Propose a progression of research methods and projects that will support efforts toward theory building, exploratory research, and demonstration research; and 3. Outline mechanisms by which a community of scholars can be cultivated and nurtured toward furthering the research agenda and its activities.