How many times have you engaged in a conversation by reacting to a picture or an infographic? In today’s digital society many of us do this daily or weekly via social media. Now is your chance to begin a conversation with administrators using an infographic identifying the funding priorities for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSEA) Grants, the Title IV funds of Every Student Succeeds Act.

The Picture

As part of Education Week’s “Quality Counts 2017 Under Construction–Building on ESSA’s K-12 Foundation,” 600 administrators and 600 teachers were asked to identify the funding priorities for SSEA Grants. The results are part of an Education Week Webinar titled “ESSA’s Impact View from Districts and Schools” (slide #15).

The Results

School libraries are a priority for 18% of the participants. More importantly, school libraries/librarians are an integral part of the top responses, which include:

• STEM
• Devices
• Personalized learning
• Technology-related PD for educators
• Blended/online learning
• Digital instructional resources

The Conversation

Due to the popularity of Education Week, many administrators and educational leaders have looked at this infographic. Many articles and discussions reference the results. The question is did they make the connection with school libraries/librarians.

The Task

Audrey Church, AASL President, stated it best. “When a district leader thinks of any of the top results, his/her next thought should be ‘and school libraries fit perfectly/provide the perfect avenue/etc. for this!’ Our task is to be sure they think those thoughts!”

So let the meaningful conversations begin!

Author: AASL Vision for Implementing ESSA

Categories: Advocacy/Leadership, Blog Topics