Across the state of North Carolina, some school systems have set a sad precedent, cutting certified school librarians and staffing school libraries with unqualified staff or removing access to those libraries altogether. This is damaging to students, of course, because decades of research has shown a “positive relationship between full-time, qualified school librarians and scores on standards-based language arts, reading, and writing tests, regardless of student demographics and school characteristics.”1 This is in addition to the impact that a certified school librarian can have on student engagement, student discourse, and students’ social and emotional health.
Another consequence that must be considered is the impact on a school’s overall performance. North Carolina schools are evaluated annually using a variety of measures focused on leadership, staffing, curriculum, student achievement, and technology. One such measure is the second edition of the North Carolina Digital Learning Plan (NCDLP), adopted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) in August 2022.2 The original NCDLP was developed in 2015 in response to North Carolina Session Law 2016-94, designed to improve and expand the use of technology and digital learning in public schools. The central focus of the 2022 NCDLP is the Student Learning Experience. The plan identifies five categories that directly impact that learning experience:
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Leadership and Vision
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Human Capacity
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Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
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Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
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Technology, Infrastructure, and Devices
According to the plan description, “Through the implementation of action steps written in alignment with this Digital Learning Plan, students will become knowledge constructors, innovative designers, computational thinkers, creative communicators, and global collaborators through student-centered learning.” Those sound like students ready to go out and change the world, right?
School Librarians have a starring role in category two: Human Capacity. Goal 2 in this category states that “There is consistent and equitable access to Instructional Technology Facilitators and School Library Media Coordinators to support the implementation of digital teaching and learning strategies.” On the school-level Digital Learning Progress Rubric provided by NCDPI, schools are evaluated as Developing, Proficient, Accomplished, or Distinguished, depending on pre-established growth metrics. This school-level rubric is similar in format to the annual evaluation rubric used for every individual educator in North Carolina.
So here’s the rub. Any school in North Carolina without a full-time School Library Media Coordinator is automatically placed in the Developing category. There is no option to be considered Proficient, Accomplished, or Distinguished. For an individual educator in North Carolina, placement in the Developing category in any area automatically triggers what is known as a “monitored growth plan.” It’s essentially probationary status. If they do not move beyond the Developing category by their next annual evaluation, they are placed on a “directed growth plan” developed by their administrator. They have an additional year to achieve Proficient or above in all areas according to growth metrics determined by that administrator, or they are dismissed.
What, then, does this mean for our North Carolina schools that will find themselves in the Developing category because they lack a full-time, certified School Library Media Coordinator? What does a directed growth plan, even a figurative one, look like at the school level? Short-sighted decisions result in unintended consequences, and these consequences are particularly harmful. The loss of a full-time, certified school librarian has far-reaching implications for our students, our schools, and our state. It’s time to draw the line.
1 Lance, K.C. & Kachel, D.E. (2018). Why school librarians matter: What years of research tells us. Kappan. https://kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/
2 https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/districts-schools-support/digital-teaching-and-learning/digital-learning-initiative
