TOTAL 6 ITEMS

1. The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce the newest addition to its grants and awards program - the AASL Innovative Reading Grant. Sponsored by Coughlan Publishing, the $2,500 grant will support the planning and implementation of a unique and innovative program for students that motivates and encourages reading, especially with struggling readers.
 
"Reading fluency is fundamental to overall student success and achievement," said AASL President Cyndi Phillip.  "AASL is proud to offer this new funding opportunity to school library media specialists who teach these essential life skills to their students. The AASL Board of Directors approved the new grant earlier this year and we are looking forward to learning about the winning project at next year's Awards Luncheon."

Applications and detailed information will be available on the AASL Web site http://www.ala.org/aasl/awards on September 1, 2006. Deadline for submission is February 1, 2007.

2. MASL Fall Seminar MASL and Missouri Library Association have partnered for Fall Seminar October 4-6. By having Fall Seminar directly after the MLA Conference, some programming is available that has not been in the past, such as pre-conf, speakers, etc. October 6 is the MASL focused day but programming on other days may be of interest. Joe Raiola Senior Editor of MAD Magazine “The Joy of Censorship: A Provocative Program on the First Amendment and the History of MAD Magazine” is the featured speaker. A Vendor/Exhibit Area is available this year. You may register online or print the registration form http://www.maslonline.org/  Contact the MASL Office with questions 573-893-4155 or masl_org@earthlink.net

3. eThemes An extensive database of content-rich, age-appropriate resources organized around specific themes. These resources are created for educators to use in their classrooms. eThemes is a service of the eMINTS National Center. eThemes resources are created and maintained by University of Missouri-Columbia College of Education staff and graduate students from the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies. Although only teachers approved by the eMINTS program may make resource requests, all educators are encouraged to search our extensive database of existing eThemes. Currently, more than 900 eThemes are available — on topics ranging from Africa to Yellowstone National Park. The database is searchable. A search of Information Literacy returned 16 sites for the 4th grade level. http://www.emints.org/ethemes/search.shtml 

4. SETDA Expresses Concern with the 65 Percent Solution Library Media Specialists and Technology Coaches Critical to Student Achievement

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has developed the following comments regarding the “65 Percent Solution” proposed by First Class Education (http://www.firstclasseducation.org/) focusing primarily on the definition of “classroom instruction.” The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) defines expenditures as “in the classroom” or “outside of the classroom.” First Class Education (FCE) has adopted the “in the classroom” definition from NCES as their definition for “classroom instruction.” It is important to note that NCES does not have a term that directly correlates with “classroom instruction” as described by FCE. The definition of “classroom instruction” proposed by First Class Education does not include certain expenses or items which SETDA believes directly impact classroom instruction.

Instructional Staff Support Services – Library and Media
Although the purchase of computers (instructional supplies) is included in the “classroom instruction” definition, “classroom instruction” as referenced by First Class Education does not include library and media specialists (and, therefore, does not likely include school-based technology coaches or curriculum facilitators). If technology is to be utilized effectively, teachers must have the resources and knowledge to integrate technology into teaching and learning. Media specialists and technology coaches work directly with teachers and students to develop and implement lessons – with the goal of improving student achievement. Without these individuals, the potential of technology in schools will not be realized.

If a state or district is considering the 65 Percent Solution, SETDA emphasizes the importance to reconsider the definition of “classroom instruction” to include those expenditures (namely individuals in this case) that directly involve working with students and teachers to improve student achievement. By excluding key staff members from the “classroom instruction” definition, schools, districts, and states risk the ability to fully utilize resources available to teachers and students. Media specialists and technology coaches directly affect classroom instruction when utilized effectively.

FCE’s Comments on Libraries and Librarians
FCE advises NCES to reconsider the definition of “in the classroom” to include libraries and librarians and is actually adjusting this definition in states where FCE has direct input on proposed legislation. However, FCE urges other states adopting legislation around this topic to move forward with the current definition to avoid watering down the 65 percent solution formula, suggesting that a waiver could then be granted to school districts for libraries and librarians. This approach seems contradictory as the key tenet of the solution is the definition of “in the classroom.” As noted above, libraries and librarians (which likely include media specialists) directly impact students and teachers and should be officially included in the “classroom instruction” definition.

Other Organizations Comment and Analyze the “65 Percent Solution”
Standard & Poor’s - http://www.schoolmatters.com/pdf/65_paper_schoolmatters.pdf 
NEA - http://www.nea.org/65percent/index.html 
ASCD - http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.ef397d712ea0a4a0a89ad324d3108a0c/template.article?articleMgmtId=6cda33caf117a010VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD
AFT - http://www.aft.org/topics/65percent/index.htm
NSBA - http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/36700/36642.pdf 
National PTA - http://www.pta.org/ia_pta_positions_1138312705671.html

5. Online Resources (purchased by the Secretary of State's Office/State Library -- available via the MOREnet connection) http://www.more.net  -- http://www.more.net/online/index.html
 

EBSCOhost
EBSCOhost provides access to full-text information on a broad range of topics including general interest, business, health and multi-cultural. Age-appropriate publications, references and interfaces are available for both younger and older students. Information in EBSCOhost is from current and authoritative journals, magazines, pamphlets, newsletters and reference books on a wide variety of topics.


NewsBank provides the full text of news features, special interest stories, editorials, daily columns, letters to the editor, sports reports, death notices, obituaries and more from Missouri publications Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Springfield News-Leader. A broad spectrum of nationwide newspapers are also available: Chicago Tribune, New York Post, Wichita Eagle, Washington Post, Des Moines Register, Louisville Courier Journal, Tulsa World and Christian Science Monitor.
 

Annenberg Media
Annenberg Media provides access to professional development materials for educators. The resources are free, and include video-on-demand, live streaming video events, and other materials available for purchase. The site also provides access to the Annenberg Channel, a free satellite channel for schools, libraries, colleges, universities, and other public access channels.

NetSmartz Workshop®
The NetSmartz Workshop® is an interactive, educational safety resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® and Boys & Girls Clubs of America for children (ages 5-17), parents, guardians, educators and law enforcement that uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children how to stay safer on the Internet. The NetSmartz Workshop can be accessed at http://www.NetSmartz.org.Missouri-specific materials are available from http://www.netsmartz.org/education/mo/. MOREnet offers training on how to implement NetSmartz Workshop materials into a school or library.

Missouri Resources
Finding Missouri: Our History and Heritage
This video series, for students and teachers in Missouri's elementary and secondary schools, was funded by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Historical Preservation Section of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Each of the 18 digitized videos focuses on a single topic and lasts approximately 10-15 minutes.
 

Virtually Missouri
Access to a wide variety of digitized collections from Missouri libraries, archives, historical societies and museums
 

Other Online Resources
The sites listed below are not managed by MOREnet. MOREnet therefore cannot assure the quality of the user experience for these sites.
Content Sites
Educator’s Reference Desk
ERIC Database: Education Resources Information Center
National Library of Medicine Databases and Electronic Resources
Virtual Field Trip “Inside the Artists Studio” (No Charge)
Virtual Field Trip “Lewis and Clark“ (No Charge)
eThemes is an extensive database of content-rich, age-appropriate resources organized around specific themes. These resources are created for educators to use in their classrooms.
eThemes is a service of the eMINTS National Center. eThemes resources are created and maintained by University of Missouri-Columbia College of Education staff and graduate students from the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies.
Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM)
Internet Public Library
Multnomah County (OR) Library Homework Center
National Criminal Justice Reference System
NewsLink
Thomson Gale Business and Company Resource Center
Due to the procurement procedure, Business and Company Resource Center is no longer available as of July 1, 2005.
Business search functionality will be provided by EBSCO's Business Source Premier.
More information about direct purchase is here.
Usage Statistics
Individual Customer Statistics
EBSCO Usage Statistics
EBSCO usage statistics are available through EBSCOadmin.
NewsBank InfoWeb Usage Statistics
Gale Database Usage Statistics
MOREnet Aggregated Statistics
EBSCOhost
NewsBank

6. Carnegie-Whitney grant awards up to $5,000 The American Library Association Publishing Committee provides a grant for the preparation of print or electronic reading lists, indexes or other resources that promote reading or the use of library resources at any Previously funded projects have ranged from popular, general-reader "ReadMOre," a reading list for Missouri's statewide reading program, scholarly proposals such as "Librarianship and Information Science in 1966-1999: An Annotated Bibliography." Applications must be received by November 6, 2006. Recipients will end of February 2007. For more information and guidelines, visit the Award Application Web site http://www.ala.org  or contact Ray Toler at rtoler@ala.org .