Student Media Addiction Worldwide

It doesn't matter if a college student lives in the United States, Chile, China, Slovakia, Mexico or Lebanon -- many are addicted to media, researchers say. Researchers found whether in developing countries or developed countries the findings are strikingly similar in how teens and young adults use media and how "addicted" they are to their cellphone, laptop or mp3 player. The researchers asked about 1,000 students in 10 countries on five continents to give up all media for 24 hours and record their experiences.

Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change and International Center for Media & the Public Affairs (ICMPA), 2011, http://theworldunplugged.wordpress.com/

2011 State Of America's Libraries Report

2011 State of America's Libraries Now Available!

The Great Recession may have come to an end, but there's no end to libraries' key role in helping hard-pressed Americans find employment or launch a bootstraps venture. These and other key trends in the library community are detailed in this report on the State of America's Libraries, 2011. This report is provided free of charge from the American Library Association's Public Information Office in the easy-to-use Zmag web browser format or as a PDF for offline reading.

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/archives/issue/state-americas-libraries-2011

Reading skills report

This study finds that students who don't read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave without a diploma than proficient readers. It is notable in breaking down for the first time the likelihood of graduation by different reading skill levels and poverty experiences.

Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation by Donald J. Hernandez
The Annie E. Casey Foundation; Center for Demographic Analysis, University at Albany, State of New York; Foundation for Child Development, 2011.
http://www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Topics/Education/Other/DoubleJeopardyHowThirdGradeReadingSkillsandPovery/DoubleJeopardyReport040511FINAL.pdf

Teacher tenure report

This report examines government and college tenure systems and how they affect organizational goals. Outlines options for reforming design elements of K-12 teacher tenure, including time-to-tenure, criteria, and process, or replacing tenure with other incentives.
Public Impact. (2011). Teacher Tenure Reform: Applying Lessons From the Civil Service and Higher Education. Chapel Hill, NC: Public Impact.
http://www.joycefdn.org/resources/content/7/8/9/documents/teacher_tenure_reform-public_impact.pdf

Teacher perceptions of collaboration study

This study examined elementary teachers' perceptions of teacher and school librarian collaboration. Although teachers think collaboration is important for student learning, teacher perceive their interaction with school librarians in traditional ways. This perception could shift if school librarians made more effort to demonstrate to teacher that they could be called upon to teach and evaluate students. Furthermore, teachers need to learn how such collaboration can be done.
Montiel-Overall, P., & Jones, L. (2011). Teacher and school library collaboration. The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Sciences, 35(1).

School libraries spending survey report

The biennial School Library Journal national survey of school library spending and services reveals the impact of the economy. Middle schools and the West were hardest hit. The report includes information about acquisitions, collections, staffing, use of technology, and collaboration.
Farmer, L. (2011, March). Spending survey. School Library Journal, p. 42-49.
http://www.slj.com

Mobile use report

Youth are big proponents of using cell phones for education, according to a recent report. Some statistics follow:
60% of students in 6-12 grades think using their own phones would improve tech at their school
31% of students in HS own a smart phone (78% of them think using those devised would improve tech at school)
67% of HS students can access an Internet-enabled phone
62% of parents would buy a mobile device for their child's educational use.
Blackboard and Project Tomorrow. 2010. Learning in the 21st century: Taking it mobile.
http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/MobileLearningReport_2010.html