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The new Standards for the 2 Ist-Century Learner INACTION, presented like a colorful flowchart, was previewed without fanfare at the annual Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association in Denver, Colorado, in January (American Library Association 2009). This was a much anticipated explanation of the AASL Standards for the 2 Ist-Century Learner. These standards had been previously previewed amidst some controversy at the AASL national conference in Reno, Nevada, in the fall of 2007. Even though the roll out of the Standards for the 2 1stCentury Learner IN ACTION ms not quite what was expected, it is still a helpful publication for practitioners and professors in the school library field.
Not All In One
Though AASL leaders have repeatedly stated that this newest reiteration of the national guidelines and standards would not follow the same format or be presented in the same manner as the previous standards and guideline documents known fondly as "Information Power I" (Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. ALA, 1988) and "Information Power II" (Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. ALA, 1998), library media specialists seemed to still expect one book. Library media specialists who were expecting an all encompassing document providing vision for the school library field that lists not only the newest learning standards and indicators but the program guidelines and implementation recommendations as well will not find their expectations met in this publication.
A Welcome Addition
None the less, this publication is a very helpful and a welcome addition to the literature of the school library field. Structurally, it looks like a businessperson's flowchart as it takes the reader step by step through the common beliefs, the four overarching student learning standards, the strands (skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies), the indicators (the benchmarks for grades 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12), and selected action examples for every grade level. Each successive section includes a definition of the skills, dispositions in action, responsibilities, or self-assessment strategies as the topic applies to learning in the 21st century, as well as information about the process of learning itself and a discussion of how to teach students to be successful in attaining the standards. The book concludes with action examples for each grade level keyed to the...