Trends in YA literacy study

 Despite its name, the young adult genre is increasingly dominated by stories about older teens and even adults. But as protagonists get older, younger readers are getting left behind, a University of Mississippi study indicates.

Ally Watkins. (2025). Is Popular Young Adult Literature Aging Up?, New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship.  DOI: 10.1080/13614541.2025.2513193

http://schoollibraryjournal.com/story/6-Grant-Opportunities-School-Libraries

College Readiness Study

The First Years Meet the Frames project investigates the influence of high school librarians on first-year college students' readiness for academic research, particularly amidst a national decline in school librarian positions. The project seeks to understand how information literacy skills acquired during K-12 education affect college students' academic performance, revealing significant gaps in research preparedness and addressing equity issues in access to information resources. Future studies will continue to explore the impact of librarianship on student learning outcomes and the necessity of collaboration between high school and academic librarians.

Valenza, J., & Dempsey, J. (2022). What's in a frame? Perspectives of high school librarians and first-year college students. College & Research Libraries News. https://doi.org/10.5860/CRLN.83.9.393

Middle and High School Critical Thinking Report

 "This report focuses on several elements of students' deeper learning based on fall 2023 and spring 2024 surveys administered to American School District Panel member district leaders. It summarizes how district leaders believe middle and high schoolers' critical thinking skills are best developed in their schools, whether students' input about teaching and learning is collected in these schools, district leaders' examples of their schools' most effective forms of project-based learning, and districts' theories of action for teaching and learning.

Key Findings

• District leaders' examples of successful teaching of critical thinking skills fell into four main categories: teachers posing high-level questions, project-based learning, real-world problem-solving activities, and activities that students chose.
• These examples align with research on effective methods for teaching critical thinking.
• According to reports from district leaders, districts engaged in a wide variety of project-based learning, most commonly science, technology, engineering, math, and career and technical education classes.
• Seven of ten school district leaders reported formally collecting students’ input about teaching and learning, which is another element of deeper learning."

Schwartz, H., & Diliberti, M.  (2024). Encouraging deeper learning in middle and high school: Selected findings from America school district panel surveys. RAND.

https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA900/RRA956-28/RAND_RRA956-28.pdf

HS to College Readiness and Librarians Study

A statewide, multi-institutional research project explored the role of certified school librarians in providing resources and instruction to students and identifying equity issues among first-year college students’ preparation for college research. High school librarians impact students' college preparedness and ability to cite sources. 

Valenza, J., Berg, C., Bushby, R., Charles, L., Dalal, H., Dalyrmple, J., & Demspey, M. (2022). What’s in a Frame? Perspectives of high school librarians and first-year college students. College & Research Libraries News, 83(9), 393. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.83.9.393

Valenza, J., Dalal, H., Mohamad, G., Boyer, B., Berg, C., Charles, L., Bushby, R., Dempsey, M., Dalrymple, EJ., &Dziedzic-Elliott, E. (2022). First years’ information literacy Backpacks: What’s already packed or not packed? Journal of Academic Librarianship 48(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102566.

Pleasure reading benefits study

Reading for fun has academic benefits for students, according to a recent study. The study found that students in elementary school often read for fun, but that changes in high school -- and that love of reading appears to decline. The study found significant differences between students who read for pleasure outside of class—immersing themselves in fantasy novels or spy thrillers, for example—and those who primarily read books to satisfy school assignments. Not only was there a powerful link between reading for fun and stronger language skills, but students who disliked reading frequently attributed their negative outlook to experiences they had in classrooms. Too much emphasis on analyzing the compositional nuts and bolts of texts and reading merely to absorb information came at a psychological cost, the researchers found, as students disengaged from voluntary reading.

Martin-Chang, S., Kozak, S., Levesque, K.C. et al. What’s your pleasure? exploring the predictors of leisure reading for fiction and nonfiction. Reading & Writing (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10112-7

Personalized Learning Perceptions Study

 

Personalized learning (PL) approaches have become increasingly common across the United States. PL aims to create individual learning experiences and pathways for students. Despite its popularity, little data exists on the prevalence of PL practices and the conditions needed to support high-quality PL implementation, particularly in high schools. This report presents findings from high school teachers taken from RAND's 2018 American Teacher Panel. The findings should be useful to practitioners, professional development and support providers, researchers, and policymakers interested in understanding how high school teachers are using PL practices and which supports and resources they need to use them effectively. Key Findings Teachers reported providing a variety of instructional materials and adapting course content to meet students' needs; student-directed learning was less common. Teachers reported using mastery-based assessment more frequently than other mastery-based practices. Most teachers reported addressing students' social and emotional growth but reported that professional development was less helpful for addressing this area. More teachers reported using student data for tailoring instructional approaches than for adjusting how quickly students advanced through content. Teachers reported infrequently receiving data on individual students' progress and needing better data systems; those who reported access to high-quality data reported more extensive use of PL practices.

Elizabeth D. Steiner, E., Doss, C., & Hamilton, L. (2020). High school teachers' perceptions and use of personalized learning. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA322-1.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=NPA:2535:6293:Aug%2011,%202020%205:42:03%20AM%20PDT&utm_campaign=NPA:2535:6293:Aug%2011,%202020%205:42:03%20AM%20PDT

Digital Citizenship in Education

This article explores how social media use in formal and informal learning spaces can support the development of digital citizenship for secondary school students. The article provides a conceptual analysis of civic engagement as digital citizenship and considers how digital media applications can support citizenship education in middle- and high-school grades. Then, empirical research is provided that demonstrates how high school students develop digital citizenship practices through out-of-school practices. This article also suggests that both dimensions of digital citizenship (i.e., in-school, traditional citizenship education and out-of-school activities aimed at civic engagement) can be integrated through a social media-facilitated curriculum. Lastly, recommendations for teaching and learning through social media are offered to educators, community members, practitioners, parents, and others.

Gleason, B., & Gillern, S. (2018). Digital citizenship with social media: Participatory practices of teaching and learning in secondary education. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(1), 200-212. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26273880?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Study Examines Bullying

This paper outlines theoretical considerations for bullying, including developmental changes in (a) the manifestation of bullying, (b) the underlying causes of bullying, and (c) the efficacy of domain-general behavior-change tactics. Results were consistent with theory in that whereas bullying appears to be effectively prevented in 7th grade and below, in 8th grade and beyond there is a sharp drop to an average of zero. This paper provides a basis for a theory of age-related moderation of program effects that may generalize to other domains. The findings also suggest the more general need for caution when interpreting between-study meta-analytic moderation results. Key findings include:

-       Bullying appears to be effectively prevented in 7^th grade and below.

-       In 8^th grade there is a sharp drop to an average of zero.

-       There was a seeming reversal in efficacy through the high school years, such that programs, if anything, cause harm.

-       Developmental theory suggests why this may be the case and provides opportunities for future improved interventions.

Yeager, D. S., Fong, C. J., Lee, H. Y., & Espelage, D. L. (2015). Declines in efficacy of anti-bullying programs among older adolescents: Theory and a three-level meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 37, 36-51. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.11.005