Administrative Perceptions on the Role of the School Library Media Specialist.

摘要

Despite the efforts of local school library media specialists to promote their programming, many administrators do not understand the roles and responsibilities of the school library media specialist. Using a constructivist theoretical framework, this study was designed to examine the local school administrators' perceptions of the role of the school library media specialist. The research design was a cross-sectional survey. A convenience sample of 82 local school administrators was asked to complete a Likert scale survey that addressed the services offered through the media center, the of those services, and the awareness of services offered that are relative to learning standards. Data were analyzed through a chi-square test to understand the administrative base knowledge for their perceptions or attitudes on the roles, responsibilities, and impact of the school library media center program. A significant difference was found between a knowledge base obtained from administrative training compared to a knowledge base that was gained through personal experiences. These findings suggest that school library media specialists need to provide administrators with more collegial reinforcement such as an instructional support plan that can inform administrators on the intervention resources that school library media specialists can implement. Implications for social change include enhanced educational relationships, improved communication and collaboration amongst educators, and an increased leadership presence within the school library media specialist community.