Civic Education Study

 "A survey fielded to a nationally representative sample of U.S. public school teachers of all subjects in November 2021 was used to assess how civic and citizenship education is being provided in U.S. public schools, what U.S. public school teachers believe to be the most important aims of this education, and whether those aims match the ones identified by teachers several years ago in other countries.

Researchers found that elementary teachers were more likely than secondary (middle and high school) teachers to indicate civic and citizenship education is integrated into all subjects taught at school. Teachers most commonly chose the development of students' critical thinking and their skills in conflict resolution as the most important aims of civics and citizenship education, although teachers' beliefs about top aims depended somewhat on their school grade level and their gender. U.S. teachers did agree with their international peers on many of the top aims of civic and citizenship education, although the comparison was limited by a five-year gap between surveys.

This report is part of the Countering Truth Decay initiative, which is focused on restoring the role of facts, data, and analysis in U.S. political and civil discourse and the policymaking process."

Diliberti, M., & Kaufman, J. (2022). How are U.S. public school teachers approaching civid and citizenship education? Rand. 

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA112-23.html?utm_source=AdaptiveMailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7014N000000XKUjQAO&utm_term=00v4N00000ihBIIQA2&org=1674&lvl=100&ite=268963&lea=1530820&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0w4N00000A11MwQAJ

Teacher Librarian Expenses during COVID study

A recent study collected exploratory data on perspectives, details, and artifacts related to how school librarians used personal funds to purchase school-related items during the pandemic. The researcher found that "school librarians used their own money to meet student needs, to get what was needed quickly and conveniently, to obtain items for which they were not allowed to spend school money, and to avoid dealing with time-consuming purchasing and reimbursement processes—if reimbursement was even an option. School librarians also spent their own money because library budgets were eliminated, reduced, or frozen during the pandemic. Findings also showed for those school librarians spending their own money, that the most money was by those who worked in rural areas with a higher proportion of students who qualify for free/reduced lunch."

Kammer, J., Atkins, C. & Burress, R. (2022). "The Personal Cost of Small Budgets & Underfunded Libraries: Out-of-Pocket Spending by School Librarians during COVID-19." School Library Research, 25.  https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/pubs/slr/kammer-atkins-burress.pdf

Media Literacy Report

 This report provides a comprehensive overview and a road to follow in seeing that media literacy becomes part of every nation's cultural fabric, and notes the library's role in supporting and advancing media literacy.

Jolls, T. (2022). Building resiliency: Media literacy as a strategic defense strategy for the transatlantic. Center for Media Literacy.

https://www.medialit.org/sites/default/files/Building%20Resiliency-Media%20Literacy%20as%20a%20Strategic%20Defense%20Strategy%20for%20the%20Transatlantic%20%28Final%29%20copy.pdf

National School Librarian Studies

The LibSlide project examines the state of school librarians nationwide. The evidence is discouraging.

 Lance, K. (2022). The school librarian investigation. LRS.

https://libslide.org/

Media Literacy Study

 "A new survey finds that most people did not learn to reflect on media messages in school, and few learned to use media literacy skills when considering science news. Only 38% of survey respondents reported learning to analyze media messaging in high school. However, a majority of respondents – 84% – said they supported required media literacy education in schools."

Media Literacy Now and Reboot Foundation. (2022). Science Fictions: Low Science Knowledge and Poor Critical Thinking Are Linked To Conspiracy Beliefs. Reboot Foundation. 

https://medialiteracynow.org/nationalsurvey2022/     https://reboot-foundation.org/research/science-fictions-low-science-knowledge-poor-critical-thinking-linked-to-conspiracy-beliefs/

School Library Collection Censorship Studies

 

School Library Journal surveyed 720 school libraries about the impact of the coordinated censorship campaigns across the country on libraries and collection development decisions. The survey found that the efforts are more often attention-getting, high-visibility acts, e.g., yelling at a school board meeting and pushing for unilateral book removal rather than filing official challenges or following the formal process of reconsideration. Most of the challenges came from parents (80 percent), with teachers and administrators next at 14 percent and 11 percent, respectively. But the more insidious aspect of this movement to remove titles from school libraries is the lasting impact it has on collections going forward. 

Yorio, K. (2022, Sept. 8). Censorship attempts will have long-lasting impact on school library collections, SLJ survey shows. School Library Journal. 

https://www.slj.com/story/censorship-attempts-will-have-a-long-lasting-impact-on-school-library-collections-slj-survey-shows?fbclid=IwAR3_pDUy0ni_YAcVhvM270zYs1-fhDaqnfM7TEh9SwfqQCvv28fOVMjvlEk

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A new study from PEN also noted the increase in book banning, particularly for books on ethnicities and gender. The study noted the new sources of banning: social media and politicians.

Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights (April 2022). PEN. https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/

Reported in the Los Angeles Times: https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=7d6a2131-058f-416f-9065-14b0f9e8623e&fbclid=IwAR2CA00CcAn-7yYaKcuJUAdGvo_hz784iSSRVZHtuj4iqLnkrYEVOuABPn4

Teens and Health Fake News Study

 A new study has found that teenagers have a hard time discerning between fake and true health messages. Only 48% of the participants trusted accurate health messages more than fake ones. Meanwhile, 41% considered fake and true neutral messages equally trustworthy and 11% considered true neutral health messages less trustworthy than fake health messages.

“Superlatives, clickbaits, appeals to authority, poor grammar, or boldface: Is editorial style related to the credibility of online health messages?” by Radomír Masaryk et al. Frontiers in Psychology