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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

CDE Update: CA School Library Evaluation

 If it is Spring, then it must be time for the Online school library evaluation (formerly known as the online school library survey.) Yes indeed, the California Department of Education online school library evaluation is open and ready to collect information about the school library services provided during the 2019–20 school year (not the current year). While the name may have been updated, the importance of the data collected remains.

The evaluation is divided into five sections, based on the California Model School Library Standards.


Here are some things we discovered after the evaluation initially launched, and a few tips to help you complete the questions while reflecting on this unprecedented year:

  • ALL QUESTIONS The questions are collecting data on the 2019–2020 school year. Because the majority of this year occurred before COVID-19 caused the move to distance learning, we suggest answering the questions based on the library program prior to COVID-19. Question 65 provides an opportunity to explain how the program changed when you shifted to distance learning.

  • QUESTION 25 If your site went 1:1 with laptops or tablets only when schools went to distance learning, then we suggest select “other” in Question 25 and briefly explain that your site went 1:1 due to COVID-19.

  • QUESTION 33 To determine the Age of the Collection, the recommendation had been to use 970.3 as the call number for Native Americans. It has been brought to our attention that some schools catalog their Native American books in different Dewey sections. The focus of this question is the subject Native Americans, so please provide the copyright date for your Native American books – even if they are not cataloged in 970.3.

  • QUESTION 34 The focus of this question is the average age of books in the entire Dewey section 305 - Groups of People. Please answer with the average age of books in the entire section 305.00 to 305.99, rather than only 305.00.

  • QUESTIONS 33 and 34 These questions require a 4-digit answer. If you have no books in a particular section, please put 0000.

  • QUESTIONS 38 – 43 We recommend you work with your administrator or office staff to complete this section.

  • QUESTIONS 55 – 65 The evaluation behaves differently depending on your answers: 

    • If only classified staff work in the library, answer through Question 55. The evaluation then skips the Teaching Approaches section and takes you directly to Question 65, the open-ended question. 

    • If only certificated staff work in the library, the evaluation skips Question 55 and goes directly to Question 56, because Questions 56-64 ask about teaching duties in greater detail than in Question 55.

All questions in the Online School Library Evaluation focus on a single-site-level library program. If you are answering for multiple sites, complete a separate evaluation for each site.

Begin at the  evaluation home page.

  • The password to access the evaluation (typed just as it appears here) is: @YourLibrary

  • The evaluation will be open until June 30, 2021. Why not complete it now?

  • At the completion of the evaluation, your contact information is requested, and you will be able to print a copy of your responses.

  • Finally – and very importantly - after you enter your contact information, be sure to click “NEXT.” On the following page, click “SUBMIT.” Your hard work and responses are not recorded unless you click “SUBMIT.”

Information from schools that have submitted the evaluation appears immediately at Participation and Responses.

The California Department of Education relies on you to complete the evaluation for your school or schools and to encourage other schools to complete the evaluation -  even if you or they do not have a library. Please take this opportunity to complete the evaluation and assist the CDE in gathering information about individual school libraries as they were during the 2019–20 school year, prior to COVID-19 forcing schools to move to distance learning.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a virtual training, please contact Renée Ousley-Swank, School Library Technology Consultant, Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division, by phone at 916-319-0449 or by email at rousleyswank@cde.ca.gov.

 

Thank you so much for your aid with this important annual project!


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