IASL Research Abstracts

IASL Research Abstracts: 216

Morris, B. J., & Packard, A. (2007). The Principal’s Support of Classroom Teacher-Media Specialist Collaboration. United States of America.

This project was designed to determine how well the principal supports collaboration in exemplary media program schools in Georgia from the viewpoints of media specialists, classroom teachers, and principals. A pilot study was conducted to develop a survey instrument that could be used as the foundation for the exemplary school media program study. Collaboration is well covered in the literature, but information about principals and their influence on collaboration is beginning to be a discussion of concern. The purpose of the descriptive survey study was to determine the existing situation regarding how supportive principals are for collaboration to occur between classroom teachers and media specialists in schools where the media programs are considered exemplary. A questionnaire was mailed to principals, teachers, and media specialists in 12 schools designated as having exemplary school library media programs in Georgia by the State Department of Education. The findings for the study supported the researchers’ expectations that media specialists and classroom teachers in exemplary school library media program schools receive support from the principal for collaboration. The assumption of the study was that principals in schools that are considered to have exemplary media programs provide support for collaboration for classroom teachers and media specialists.

School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), 36-55.

Subject categories: 6, 18

Abstract submitted by Rachel Pultusker, University of Michigan.