Three Heads are Better than One

Whitney Fischer

CO

Reference:

Parrott, D. J., & Keith, K. J. (2015). Three Heads Are Better Than One. Teacher Librarian, 42(5), 12-18.

Summary:
This article posits that due to ever-occurring budget cuts, now is the time for teacher librarians to step up and take a more active role in developing curriculum by working closely with classroom teachers. At many schools writing teachers and information literacy coaches have been forced out of the job, but teacher librarians possess many of the skills necessary to fill that gap in instruction.  With these new opportunities to be more involved in the classroom come new responsibilities, of course, and teacher librarians should familiarize themselves with Common Core standards to ensure that they are helping students reach the necessary benchmarks.

Evaluation:
This article is helpful because it suggests specific steps teacher librarians can take to increase their impact in the classroom.  Teachers possess the knowledge of how their individual students learn, but teacher librarians have the means and know-how to instruct students how to research effectively and accurately.  Though it is regrettable that information literacy coaches and reading specialists are becoming extinct in schools, I agree with the author that those positions can be filled by teacher librarians.