[Tasl] Fwd: [aaslforum] Two Important Surveys

[Nancy Dickinson]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julie Walker <jwalker at ala.org>
Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Subject: [aaslforum] Two Important Surveys
To: aaslforum at ala.org, aaslaffils at ala.org


 With full recognition that you may be suffering from "survey fatigue,"
please give a moment's consideration to the following important information.



Both *AASL *and *NCES* are currently surveying the field to gather data that
is extremely critical to tracking the "state of school libraries" in the
US.  The NCES surveys date back to the mid-50's and provide essential trend
data.  The AASL survey is designed to provide a yearly snapshot.  Although
there is some overlap, both surveys are critical.



*AASL survey*



The second year of AASL's longitudinal survey, "School Libraries Count!" is
rapidly coming to a close.  Participation is encouraged from everyone:
public schools, private schools, school library media specialists, and
library support staff. Participation from those who completed the survey
last year is equally valuable this year.

This year's survey also poses an additional question about social networking
and other electronic tools used in instruction by school library media
specialists and their classroom teacher collaborators.

The purpose of the survey is to provide longitudinal data for advocacy at
the local, state, and national level. This has already begun! The Washington
Coalition for School Libraries & Information Technology was able to use data
from last year's survey in its recent rally in Olympia, Washington. Data
from the first year has also appeared in articles by eSchool News, Education
Week, and several general newspapers.

This brief survey is online at
http://www.aaslsurvey.org<http://maildogmanager.com/link.html?url=1674&client=ala1&campaign=446&email=jwalker@ala.org>
.

Please join in this advocacy effort by completing the survey by March 15.
Questions regarding the survey may be directed to aasl at ala.org

*NCES survey*

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S.
Department of Education, conducts a school survey every four years. If your
public school has been selected to participate in the 2007-08 Schools and
Staffing Survey (SASS), please complete your Library Media Center survey by
Thursday, March 13th. To produce accurate estimates from the survey data,
obtaining a high response rate for each state is essential.
Policymakers, library
leaders, and education researchers rely on data from this survey to inform
their decisions concerning libraries in K-12 schools. Because it is a sample
survey, your responses will represent many other public school libraries in
your state.



To learn more about the Schools and Staffing Survey, and see the library
questionnaire, go to http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/.



If your school has been selected for this survey and you have any questions
about it or need another copy of the questionnaire, please call
1-800-221-1204.  Questions regarding the NCES survey may be directed to
Barbara.Holton at ed.gov



************************

Thank you for helping us get the word out!



Julie A. Walker

Executive Director

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)



50 E. Huron

Chicago, IL  60611



1-800-545-2433 x4388

Direct:  312-280-4388

FAX:  312-280-5276

www.ala.org/ala/aasl