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Bleckley County Middle School Media Center: Strategic Management Plan
Rebekah N. Bowen FRIT 7331
Contextual Analysis of the Learning Community BCMS School Description: Bleckley County Middle School was built in 2010, and is a small rural school in the county seat of Cochran, Georgia. Our community is made up of about 70% white, and 30% black with less than 1% any other race. At BCMS, we have 6 th , 7 th , and 8 th grade and around 510 students enrolled. Within our middle school, we have 1% Asian students, 24% Black students, 2% Hispanic students, 71% White students, and 1% multi-racial students. The subgroups that are identified within our school are students with disabilities who make up 14% or our school population, English language learners who make up 1%, and students who receive free or reduced lunch make up 60%. We have accelerated programs at each grade level for math and English/language arts. These students make up about 8% of our school population. To serve our students with disabilities, we have resource classes for Math and English/language Arts for each grade level, as well as inclusion and self-contained special education classes. There are 42 certified teachers at BCMS and 10 other support staff members. Our school mission statement is to provide excellent educational experiences today, for tomorrows success. We expect excellence from all of our students. For the 2013-2014 school year, Bleckley County Middle School, as well as all other schools in the county, received Accredited with Quality status from the Georgia Accrediting Commission, INC. We have a partnership with the local Communities in Schools (CIS) organization who provide a mentoring program. There is a CIS representative who has an office at our school so that the program is better able to meet the needs of our students. At times, the CIS program has provided school supplies, clothes, and counseling services to students. Our system provides afterschool tutoring through the 21 st Century Grant for all grade levels, and our schools have also been awarded several hundred dollars through a literacy grant. Click image above to visit the BCMS homepage. In the 2012-2013 school year, BCMS had excellent scores on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) when compared to the state. Below is a table showing a comparison of BCMS CRCT scores and the average score in the state of Georgia. Grade levels ELA Reading Math Science SS 6th Grade 94.7 98.2 92.9 88.2 90 STATE 92.4 96 82.7 74 77.5
The school media center is housed in a central location in the front of the school building. It is approximately 2,200 square feet and serves each grade level throughout the day. We have a wide variety of books for students to check out, and the majority of the traffic each day is students taking Accelerated Reader tests, and checking out new Accelerated Reader books to reach their assigned goals for each nine weeks. There is a computer lab in a separate auditorium-type room adjoining the media center. A teacher resource room is located in the media center as well. This room is where teachers take things to be laminated; the dye-cut machine is here, as well as, many other resources for teachers classrooms. We have a large area with tables that provide a place for classes to meet and collaborate, and there is a quiet area in which students can read in comfortable chairs. BCMS Media Center Philosophy: The Bleckley County Middle School Media Center strives to assist students in becoming critical thinkers and information seekers. The media center has an open-door policy from 7:30 in the morning until 3:15 in the afternoon. This provides students with many opportunities to visit the library for quiet reading time, research, or collaborative time with other students. It is crucial that students are given the opportunity to explore the selection of reading material in order to discover their interests. This is an integral part of developing a lifelong love for reading. The media center strives to create a warm and welcoming environment in which students feel welcome at any time. The BCMS media center also believes that our community plays a large part in the development of our students. The media center interacts with the community in a variety of ways. One way is by donating books to the Bleckley County Friends of the Library organization. The Communities in Schools mentors also meet regularly in the media center. The media center staff believes that collaboration and communication between all stakeholders is the only way to ensure success. BCMS Media Center Mission Statement: The mission of the Bleckley County Middle School Media Program is to equip students and teachers with a vast assortment of resources, encourage creative and critical thinking, and develop eager, lifelong readers by collaborating with teachers, and providing appropriate, up-to-date tools.
The School Library Media Center: Facilities and Services
BCMS Media Center Services Overview: The BCMS Media Center allows students to come in at any time from 7:30 a.m. 3:15 p.m., with teacher permission. Teachers may send students to the library for a number of reasons throughout the day such as working on make-up work, research, reading, or checking out books. This type of open scheduling allows teachers to collaborate with the media specialist to plan lessons to utilize the resources the media center has to offer. Small groups of five or six students may come to the media center to complete research or other cooperative assignments. There is only one full-time staff member in the media center, the media specialist, but there is a paraprofessional that is in the library for one class period, and there are also high school students who volunteer on a daily basis to help with the daily tasks of the media center. The media center personnel request that teachers plan such activities in advance so that resources and materials can be gathered, if needed. Students must have their library card in order to check out books or magazines. If, at any time during the year, students lose their library card, they are able to purchase a new one for $1.00. Students may browse the books shelves or look for books in the online card catalog. They are allowed to select any two items from the library to check out. The media center has a variety of materials available for check out. Students can choose from a large selection of Accelerated Reader books, non-Accelerated Reader books, and magazines. They may check books out for two weeks at a time, but can be renewed one time. Overdue books cost students $0.05 per day until returned. Magazines can be checked out for only one day at a time, and can also be renewed once. Overdue magazines will cost students $0.25 per day until returned. Students will receive an overdue notice each Monday in their homeroom class. The Media Center reference materials are not allowed to be checked out by students because of the cost to replace these materials if they are lost or damaged. Reference materials can be checked out by a parent using the students library card, but any item that is lost or damaged will be replaced at the parents expense.
There are a number of programs offered through the media center to enhance student achievement and help to close the gap for diverse learners. One such program is the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) which is a program used at the beginning of each school year to help place students on the appropriate reading level, and throughout the school year for progress monitoring. The SRI program also helps to guide students to books that may be of more interest to them so to promote an enjoyment of reading. Accelerated Reader is another program used in every English/Language Arts classroom in the school. This program helps to motivate students to read by setting reading goals throughout the year. To accommodate all types of learners, the media center also offers a variety of books translated to Spanish and Spanish Encyclopedias, as well as books on tape. The media center is working to develop a library of e-books with money from a literacy grant that our school was awarded.
BCMS Media Center Facilities: The media center is designed with six main areas. There is a reading corner that has two caf tables with bar stools and four soft, comfortable chairs with a coffee table. There is a work or classroom collaboration area with 10 wooden tables and 43 chairs. This area also has two double sided cubicles for independent work. The largest area is where all of the books and reference materials are located as well as five standing computers for students to use to access the card catalog or take AR tests. Located in a separate room of the media center, is the computer lab which houses 20 computers and 33 computer chairs. This room has windows on each side that is facing the media center.
The media specialist, Amy Lee, has been in her position for 10 years and says that her favorite part of the job is the time she gets to spend with the students. Mrs. Lee is also the Jr. Beta sponsor at our school as well as the Relay 4 Life team leader. She has been the technology contact at BCMS for many years which has kept her as busy as the media center itself. Although she is pulled in many directions throughout the day, her passion is reading and instilling a love for books in BCMS students. A personal goal of Mrs. Lees is to collaborate more on curriculum and lessons with classroom teachers in order for the BCMS Media Center to function like the 21 st
Century Library. The BCMS virtual media center offers a standard online card catalog that students can access on and off campus. Other resources available to students off campus are NBC Learn, AR (parent), PowerSchool, Study Island, OAS, and Galileo. Students may access these programs on campus anywhere on wireless devices and well as benefit from them at home while working on school assignments or studying. The media specialist has expressed a strong desire to create a more user-friendly media center webpage that has all of the online resources available in one place.
BCMS Media Budget Sources: The media center receives funding from the state based on the current FTE data which designates $60.92 per student to pay for school personnel and $13.03 per student to pay for materials. To supplement the funds, our media center participates in a variety of fundraising opportunities each year. We hold two book fairs annually which provide an additional $1,400 - $2,000. The Books Are Fun and Turtle Books are other book fairs programs that we do throughout the year and for every 10 items that are purchased our media center receives one free item. Collecting box tops also provides around $250 each year. These extra funds are used to provide materials and resources to students as well as teachers at BCMS. PART 3 The School Library Media Center Program Plan: Goals, Objectives, and Evaluation BCMS Media Center Facilities: Students at each grade level were surveyed to gather data regarding how they use the media center and their feelings towards the different aspects of the media center and its staff. The following table shows the results.
Goals and Objectives Goal Objective Evaluation 1. Increase collaboration between teachers and media center staff in order to provide meaningful research experiences to master information literacy skills.
1a. Expand teacher collaboration and resource sharing in order to foster a program that is dynamic and motivating 1b. Develop an information literacy skills curriculum 6-8 to be used to teach lessons in context with the curriculum. 1a. Create a form to be filled out during collaborative meetings between the library media specialist and the classroom teacher 1b. Create pre- and post-tests for lessons developed in new literacy skills curriculum. 2. Provide a full range of information resources and services through the library media program. 2a. Build and maintain expertise in a wide range of resources and technology. 2b. Collaborate with teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders to ensure that the full range of information resources is available to promote student learning. 2a. Create standard orientation guidelines for all current and new resources and technology. 2b. Catalog current resources and survey all stakeholders to obtain knowledge of what resources are needed.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10. The media center is a pleasant and comfortable place to work on my assignments. 9. There is enough technology in the media center to complete my assignments. 8. The media specialist helps me to find my information. 7. The media center has the materials needed for my assignments. 6. The media center is an important part of my academic studies. 5. Materials in the media center are easy to find. 4. I would like to see more resources on the media center website. 3. I find the media center webpage helpful. 2. I feel confident citing resources I use for assignments. 1. I feel confident using the media center catelog. Don't Know Disagree Agree Percentage 2c. Acquire, provide, and promote information resources tangibly and through the media center web page to meet the learning needs of all learners. 2c. Data usage reports from media center web page as well as usage reports from other technology utilized within the school. 3. The library media program encourages and engages students in reading, viewing, and listening for understanding and enjoyment. 3a. Model the effective and enthusiastic use of books, videos, multi-media, and other creative expressions of information as sources of enjoyment and information. 3b. Work collaboratively and individually to design, develop, and implement programs that encourage reading for enjoyment and for information. 3a. Create a student pole to be completed once per nine-week grading period displaying their favorite book, video, class activity/project, etc.
3b. Analyze Accelerated Reader data as well as book club attendance. 4. The collection of library media programs are developed and evaluated collaboratively to support the schools curriculum and to meet the diverse needs of students. 4a. Maintain current and comprehensive knowledge of the curriculum, of students characteristics and needs, and of instructional and informational resources and the full range of formats and topic areas. 4b. Maintain and use a variety of appropriate, up-to-date tools, and techniques to locate and select materials. 4a. Survey students online and periodically when visiting the media center to acquire and update the learning needs that are being met, but also needs that still may require more attention from media staff.
4b. See 4a.
Each year the media center staff will meet with school administration and other stakeholders on three scheduled occasions to review progress of goals and objectives and revise anything necessary. The first meeting will be scheduled for the week of pre-planning to simply discuss the goals that should be accomplished during the school year. The second meeting will occur at the end of the first semester to discuss current progress on the goals, and possibly revise. The third meeting will occur during post-planning to discuss goals that were met and goals that should continue through the next school year. This will also be the meeting where the media staff, administration, and other stakeholders will discuss and develop an outline of the next school years action plan. The task of getting the media center goals to the school staff will be accomplished by reviewing the media center action plan at the beginning of each school year at a faculty meeting. At this point, teachers and media staff can discuss the goals and different ways to accomplish the goals as well as address any questions or concerns staff may have. The action plan will also be linked to the media center webpage where there will also be a blog for comments and questions about the media center, its goals, vision, and progress.
Resources: Georgia Department of Education, QBE Reports. Retrieved October 15, 2013 from http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows- bin/owa/qbe_reports.public_menu?p_fy=2000. Howard County Public School, School Library Media, Goals and Objectives. http://www2.hcpss.org/met/Media/jobdesc.htm#goals Lee, A. (n.d.). Bleckley County Middle School. Media Center. Retrieved September 20, 2013 from http://www.bleckley.k12.ga.us/content_page.aspx?cid=250&schoolID=2. United States Census Bureau, State and Community Quick Facts. Retrieved September 23, 2013 from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13023.html.
