School libraries & student achievement in Ontario

Don A. Klinger Professor; K. Blackett

Pedagogical trends around the world have moved toward a reliance on large-scale testing and setting targets for achievement in literacy and numeracy. And while concerns are being raised about students’ literacy skills, resulting in the introduction of specialised literacy programs, there has been little commitment to preserving one potential literacy asset – school libraries and their library staff. In recent years, there has also been an international trend to reduce governments’ overall spending. In many cases, those reductions have resulted in declines in funding for public education. In particular, school libraries have been vulnerable to funding cuts, a trend that has been documented in the United States1 and across Canada.2 Numerous international studies have demonstrated a link between student achievement and the presence of professionally staffed and accessible school libraries. Studies have also shown that reading enjoyment is a significant factor in improving student performance not only in literacy, but in science and mathematics as well. This study provides the first Canadian analysis of the relationship between student achievement and library resources and staff. With funding from the Ontario Library Association, a unique partnership was formed between a Queen’s University research team and People for Education, a parent research group. The team collaborated to examine data from EQAO, Ontario’s provincial assessment body, and data from People for Education’s ongoing inventory of resources in Ontario elementary schools to examine the following question: Do school library resources and staff have an impact on students’ attitudes toward reading and on their scores on large-scale standardized tests? The study includes assessment data from more than 50,000 students and over 800 of Ontario’s publicly-funded elementary schools.

School libraries & student achievement in Ontario

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