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Independent School Libraries: Perspectives on Excellence
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Bibliography
The results of these surveys are reported online on the AASL website.

Many of the results of the ISS survey have been reported in an article published online in Volume 11 of School Library Media Research Journal. 

School Library Impact Studies

School Libraries Count! AASL Longitudinal Survey and two reports 2007 (pdf) and 2008 (pdf).

Bassett, Patrick F. Independent Schools: Preparing Students for Achievement in College and Beyond (pdf)

NAIS and Public Schools: How Do They Compare? (pdf)

NAIS. Understanding Students at Independent Schools: A Look Through the Eyes of College Freshmen Students. Ed. National Association of Independent Schools. NAIS, 2006. (pdf)
[This article is only available to NAIS members.]

NAIS. 2006-2007 SAT Test Scores National Schools and National Averages. NAIS, 2008. NAIS. Web. 25 Nov. 2008. (pdf)
[This article is only available to NAIS members.]

National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation’s Report Card: Student Achievement in Private Schools 2000-2005 (pdf)

National Center for Education Statistics. Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2007-2008 Private School Universe Survey First Look

National Center for Education Statistics. Achievement Gaps How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform in Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress Statistical Analysis Report  (pdf)

US Dept of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE). Statistics About Non-Public Education in the United States


Beyond the Book
Baker, Bruce D., Private Schooling in the U.S.: Expenditures, Supply, and Policy Implications. National Education Policy Center (NEPC), August 2009.




Independent School Libraries: Perspectives on Excellence

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Who Are We?  The Independent School Library: A Statistical Profile

by Susan Williamson
Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque NM, (retired)

My career as a librarian began in 1982 at Swarthmore College where I worked as the Social Sciences Bibliographer and taught courses in language and culture.  After seven years, I became director of the Annenberg School for Communication library at the University of Pennsylvania.  Ten years later I moved west to become the Director of Library Services at Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico.  I have recently retired, but remain connected with independent school librarians in the United States.



 
ESSAY ABSTRACT

This essay presents a statistical picture of a sample of independent school libraries based on a survey in 2004-2005 conducted by the Independent School Section of AASL.  The profile compares libraries on the basis of schools' student and faculty sizes, collection sizes, budgets, staffing, hours open, facilities, and access to technology.  Data from three main categories of school groups (Independent, Independent Religious, and Religious) and school types (Day, Boarding, and Combined Day and Boarding) are analyzed and then compared with data from the recent AASL longitudinal survey of public and private schools.  The ISS sample of libraries which consists largely of NAIS members appears to provide greater resources, more open hours and more access to databases than public schools.  In addition, studies from NCES and NAIS comparing public and private school students indicate that independent school students have higher scores both on school tests and SAT tests.  The author discusses the possible role that usage of the independent school library contributes to these outcomes.

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