Making a Difference: The 2006 Guys Read Book Club Summer Program for Boys Hennepin County Library - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 87
About This Presentation
Title:

Making a Difference: The 2006 Guys Read Book Club Summer Program for Boys Hennepin County Library

Description:

Making a Difference: The 2006 Guys Read Book Club Summer Program for Boys Hennepin County Library A Report of a Collaborative Evaluation Project – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:92
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 88
Provided by: hclibOrge
Learn more at: http://www.hclib.org
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Making a Difference: The 2006 Guys Read Book Club Summer Program for Boys Hennepin County Library


1
Making a Difference The 2006 Guys Read Book
Club Summer Program for Boys Hennepin County
Library
A Report of a Collaborative Evaluation
Project Partners The Library Foundation of
Hennepin County, Hennepin County Library Staff,
and the University of Minnesota--College
of Education and Human Development, Literacy
Program Area Research Staff Professors David
OBrien Deborah Dillon Research Assistants
Scharber Nichols February 15, 2007
2
Does the HCL Guys Read Program make a difference
in boys reading behaviors and attitudes?
Results indicate a resounding YES!
Boys (directly quoted via survey and interviews)
say the following about the impact of the Guys
Read program i'm reading alot more i read
more books I am a exelent reader Discussing a
book makes me feel more like I understand
it. It helped me learn new words. Each time I
read i get better at it Oh, yeah, Im really
interested in trying to continue that Among the
Hidden series, so as soon as they come out with a
couple of new books, I will be the first to read
them.
3
Key Findings Impact of The Guys Read Program
  • Boys reported that they read more
  • They were more likely to read
  • They had more positive perceptions about
    themselves as readers
  • They were less likely to view girls as being
    better readers than boys
  • They were more likely to view reading as a
    positive, socially constructed process

4
Background Information Jon Scieszkas
Guys Read (GR) Initiative
  • The mission of Guys Read is to motivate boys to
    read by connecting them with materials they will
    want to read, in ways they like to read. Jon
    Scieszkas goals for GR include the following
  • Make some noise for boys.We have literacy
    programs for adults and families. GUYS READ is
    our chance to call attention to boys literacy.
  • Expand our definition of reading.Include
    boy-friendly nonfiction, humor, comics, graphic
    novels, action-adventure, magazines, websites,
    and newspapers in school reading. Let boys know
    that all these materials count as reading.

5
  • Give boys choice.Motivate guys to want to read
    by letting them choose texts they will enjoy.
    Find out what they want. Let them choose from a
    new, wider range of reading.
  • Encourage male role models.Men have to step up
    as role models of literacy. What we do is more
    important than all we might say.
  • Be realistic. Start small.Boys arent believing
    that Reading is wonderful. Reading is often
    difficult and boring for them. Lets start with
    Here is one book/magazine/text you might like.
  • Spread the GUYS READ word.Encourage people to
    use the information and downloads on this site to
    set up their own chapters of GUYS READ, and get
    people thinking about boys and reading.

6
What are the Characteristics of the HCL Guys
Read Program?
  • Guys Read is a summer book club program, designed
    by the
  • HCL for boys aged 9-11 the program is based on
    author Jon
  • Scieszkas Guys Read initiative. The program
    is
  • --available to boys in the greater Minneapolis,
    MN
  • area (Hennepin County)
  • --designed to encourage boys to read over the
    summer months and beyond
  • --created to foster boys' positive
    attitudes/associations with reading and develop
    reading habits over time
  • --developed to promote positive relationships
    between boys and male book club facilitators

7
Description of 2006 Guys Read Summer Book Clubs
  • Book clubs met at 16 different library sites
    between June and August
  • Clubs were facilitated by male volunteers trained
    by library personnel in how to lead a book club
    and facilitate the weekly discussions
  • Participants received free books throughout the
    program
  • Books were chosen based on several criteria
  • topics of interest to boys
  • titles that could be easily read
  • books that engendered discussion

8
How Do We Know that the HCL Guys Read Program
Makes A Difference?
  • Purpose of the Evaluation Project
  • To document the HCL Guys Read Book Club
    Programwho participates in the summer program,
    what it looks like in action, when and how it
    operates in particular settings, and the impact
    of the program on boys reading attitudes and
    practices. The overall goal is to determine what
    the program means to the participants (the boys
    facilitators).

9
Evaluation Questions
  • 1. What do boys think about reading prior to,
    and after participating in the Guys Read book
    clubs?
  • 2. What are boys perceptions about themselves as
    readers prior to and after participating in the
    Guys Read clubs?
  • 3. What books/materials do boys read and what
    impact on reading habits and choices do the Guys
    Read clubs have?

10
  • 4. What perceptions do boys have of other males
    as readers prior to and after participating in
    the Guys Read book clubs and interacting with
    male book club leaders/mentors?
  • 5. What activities and structures associated
    with the Guys Read book clubs help boys find
    reading meaningful and worthwhile? What engages
    boys and supports their reading and completion of
    books over the course of the book clubs?
  • 6. What characteristics of the Guys Read book
    clubs influence boys long-term reading
    preferences and habits after they participate in
    the program?

11
Design of the Evaluation Project
  • Pre- and post-survey data were collected
  • Focus groups and individual interviews with boys
    and group facilitators were conducted
  • Book Club sessions were observed over time

12
Data Sources and Analyses
  • Data were collected as a naturally occurring part
    of the Guys Read Program
  • Boys were asked to
  • complete online surveys (pre post)
  • participate in focus groups (pre post)
  • In addition, several boys were interviewed and
  • selected groups were observed as part of
  • the evaluation project

13
Participants
Sixteen (16) Guys Read Book Clubs were included
in the evaluation sample Total Enrollment 194
boys Total Number of Boys with signed permission
forms 89 boys (45.8) Demographic Data
Survey respondents were predominately White
males (84) and a few males of color ( 4 Native
American, 3 Asian, 3 African American)

14
  • On-line Survey Data
  • Pre-survey data were collected through an online
    instrument (Zoomerang) from 76 of the 194
    participants (39)
  • Post-survey data were collected in a similar
    manner from 36 of the 194 participants (19)
  • The pre-survey included 32 items, the post-survey
    19 items
  • forced choice items using likert-type scales
  • open-ended items with text fields allowing
    participants to write responses
  • The survey constructs measured boys
  • reading attitudes and habits
  • perspectives about the role of gender and reading
  • perceptions about ability and self-efficacy as
    readers
  • perceptions about the Guys Read Book Club

15
  • Focus Group Interviews
  • We gathered pre-and post-focus group interview
    data at
  • the initial and final meetings of the book clubs
  • 12 book clubs completed both pre- post-
  • focus group interviews
  • 15 total pre-focus group interviews were
    conducted
  • 13 total post-focus group interviews were
    conducted

16
  • Interviews
  • We gleaned additional data about the boys'
    individual
  • perceptions about reading and their experiences
    in the
  • groups through individual interviews. We
    interviewed
  • 11 boys (individually), from 7 book clubs
  • 7 additional boys were interviewed in small
    groups
  • We also interviewed 6 of 10 facilitators to
    obtain their perceptions of the book clubs

17
  • Interviews and Focus Groups enabled researchers
    to
  • obtain reactions and opinions from boys about the
    clubs, reading, and the books w/o influence from
    facilitators (e.g., favorite part of club,
    surprises, benefits, affect on reading how much
    they read)
  • hear how much boys loved the clubs
  • understand events that we could not infer
    directly from observations
  • gather different information than surveys, which
    had low response rates
  • provide a place for boys opinions to be heard a
    place where they could expand on their thoughts
    when they were not as willing to type their
    thoughts into the online survey

18
  • Observations
  • We sampled from the corpus of discussion groups
    7 out of 16 sites were observed
  • 22 total book club meetings were observed across
    the beginning, middle and end of the program
  • Club A 5 times
  • Club B 4 times
  • Club C 3 times
  • Club D 3 times
  • Club E 3 times
  • Club F 2 times
  • Club G 2 times

19
Scope of Data Collection Across Sites
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23
Survey Sampling
Pre
Post
24
Results Organized by Research Questions
  • Question 1 What do boys think about reading
    prior to, and after participating in the Guys
    Read book clubs?

25
How much do you enjoy reading? (Pre-Survey N76)
26
Which of these are reasons you like to read?
(Pre-Survey N76)
27
I like reading 70
  • What is clear is that the boys participating in
    Guys Read have selected the Guys Read club
    because reading is something they like to do.
    Guys Read provides a context for boys to
  • read with a group of their peers
  • meet other boys who may not go to their school
  • read materials which would not typically be part
    of a Language Arts curriculum
  • discuss topics that might not relate to the book,
    the lesson plan, or the interest of the teacher.

28
Reading time
  • 47 read print materials 4 or more hours a week.
  • 22 read digital text 4 or more hours a week.
  • 25 read for homework 4 or more hours per week
  • 24 do not read any digital texts
  • 5 report not reading for homework
  • All of the boys read print

29
Indications
  • There is a greater trend towards reading text
    for enjoyment than there is for homework or
    reading digital text.
  • no boys who completed the survey indicated that
    they do not read
  • some boys stated that they do not read to
    complete homework.
  • some boys stated that they do not read digital
    texts

30
Have you participated in book clubs or discussion
groups with books before?
yes
No
41
59
31
What are some things you do in your spare time
other than reading? (Pre-Survey N76)
32
  • Question 2 What are boys perceptions about
    themselves as readers prior to and after
    participating in the Guys Read clubs?

33
How well do you think you read in comparison to
other people your age? (Pre-Survey N76
Post-Survey N36)
7
14
18
30
28
30
47
47
31
31
34
How do you know how well you read in comparison
to other people your age? (Pre-Survey N76
Post-Survey N36)
7
11
50
42
26
26
17
22
Although the responses for this item were from
different samples from different survey
instruments, the item wording was identical, and
in comparison, there is a similar pattern across
the responses
35
Which of these statements BEST describes what
happens when you read? (Pre-Survey N76
Post-Survey N36)
5
17
12
3
3
0
45
53
8
11
5
3
22
14
36
Why did you decide to participate in the Guys
Read Summer Book Club Program?
Pre-Survey N76
37
What do you think will be some important benefits
of being in the Guys Read Book Club Program?
Pre-Survey N76
38
  • Question 3 What books/materials do boys read
    and what impact on reading habits and choices do
    the Guys Read clubs have?

39
How do you decide what to read? (Pre-Survey N76
Post-Survey N36)
40
Which of these types of books do you like to
read? Select number 1 if it is your favorite type
of book select number 2 if you like it but it is
not your favorite select number 3 if you do NOT
like this type of book. (Mark all items as
either a 1, 2, or 3)
41
  • Pre-survey data indicated the following
  • That the public library is the preferred place to
    find books you might want to read (78)
  • That the main criterion for selecting a
    particular book was that it was on a favorite
    topic (62)
  • That book stores are a popular place to select
    books but not as popular as libraries (47)
  • More than half of the respondents said they would
    read every book written by a favorite author
    (43).

42
  • Post-survey (N36) data indicated the following
  • That books were still selected by boys based on
    their favorite topic (58)
  • But there was a shift toward the importance of
    friends recommendations in their choices (33).
  • Again this indicated the influence of the social
    nature of the books clubs on book choices

43
Question 4 What perceptions do boys have of
other males as readers prior to and after
participating in the Guys Read book clubs and
interacting with male book club leaders/mentors?
.
44
Who do you think reads the most Boys or
Girls? (Pre-Survey N76 Post-Survey N36)
45
Perceptions About Why Girls Read More than
Boys Pre-Survey Responses
  • Girls read lot more because I see them doing it
    at school all the time
  • girls are smarter and dont play as much sports as
    boys
  • Girls because they have more spare time
  • They are more into working on homework or doing
    other stuff like reading and reading like a girl
    in my class she read the harry potter series 3
    times all 6 of them!
  • Girls. I think boys like to play rough sports
    instead of read.
  • Girls-They are obsessed
  • girls becase they start reading earlyer than
    boys.
  • Girls, because I think that they might not do as
    many activities as boys
  • my mom reads a lot
  • boys.because most boys read average or a lot and
    most girls read a lot or not at all
  • Because I think that boys have more time to read.

46
Perceptions About Why Girls Read More than
Boys Pre-Survey Responses
  • Becase boys do a lot more thing than girl sorry
    if I afeaded anyone
  • I believe both boys and girls read, but it was
    not a selection
  • Boys, because they mostly have nothing
  • i dont know it was hard to guess who to choose
  • Girls have less stuff to do
  • Because ussually boys like to play video games or
    play sports. And girls ussually talk or read
    books
  • Boys like to read action books and mystery
  • boys im a boy duh
  • Girls are more academic
  • I have seen a lot more girls read than boys
  • BECAUSE I SEE GIRLS READING ALOT IN THE LIBRARY
    AND OTHER PLACES
  • Because boys just don't seem like that type of
    person that reads books a lot and girls do
  • boys because lots of the boys in my class read
    more than the girls

47
Perceptions About Why Girls Read More than
Boys Post-Survey Responses
  • sort of
  • beacause most are not to active
  • cause they do
  • Dksvndk
  • Nt really because I think they read about the
    same
  • i dont now
  • because girls are not in to sports as much boys
    but i think sometime
  • boys read more, or the same as girls
  • because a lot of boys say that don't read like my
    friends, and a lot of the people in my book club
    diddent finish the book because they diddnent
    like the book
  • Boys like to read a lot too
  • because ever body read the same amont
  • Thay are more into it
  • They dont play as many sports.
  • becuase they usuely have less to do
  • because there is a guys read and not a gals read

48
Perceptions About Why Girls Read More than
Boys Post-Survey Responses
  • I don't know. I'm not concerned about it
  • they just seem to read more
  • because some are better than some boys and some
    aren't
  • when i did an advanced reading groups it always
    has like 3 boys and 7 girls.
  • because i am a boy
  • because they dont play video games so instead
    they read.
  • Because we play a lot
  • no
  • Boys are usual more active with sports
  • I think they read the same
  • because my firends do not read much
  • They have more time, their less intristed in
    sports
  • I think they do because they have more time to
    and they like reading more.

49
  • Question 5 What activities and structures
    associated with the Guys Read book clubs help
    boys find reading meaningful and worthwhile?
    What engages boys and supports their reading and
    completion of books over the course of the book
    clubs?

50
  • Observation Details
  • Facilitators asking questions/boys responding
  • Ranged from very structured to non-existent
  • Wide variety of book club activities including
  • Boys pulling questions from bucket
  • Planned activities focused around a book
  • Game playing
  • Importance of Food

51
Book Titles
  • Books were predetermined by facilitators or
    librarians prior to book clubs first meetings
  • Boys were not involved in choosing books

52
Observation Club A
  • prior Boys socialized, ate snacks
  • 10 min Facilitator-led questions about book
  • 10 min Authors website projected onto wall
    using LCD projector. Low lights. Facilitator and
    boys surf the site took online quiz about
    book told jokes
  • 8 min Discussion of mythology (related to
    text) map of constellations on wall boys out of
    chairs pointing to constellations
  • 8 min Facilitator illustrated (using LCD) how
    to use librarys catalogue to find more books in
    series
  • 10 min Closing tickler to get boys interested
    in book for next meeting GR clubs during school
    year promoted high-5s as boys leave

53
Observation Club E
  • 17 min Boys trickled in and gathered at snack
    table found a place to sit
  • 48 min Book discussion. Facilitator passed
    around a bucket of questions created by librarian
    and facilitator. Boys drew questions out of
    bucket and took turns answering
  • 5 min Drawing for prizes introduced book for
    next meeting parents arrived boys left

54
  • Observations of book club sessions confirmed the
    following
  • Reading was taken up as a social activity instead
    of an academic one
  • The 45 minute sessions consisted of social time,
    eating snacks and drinking soft drinks, jostling
    and joking and small group discussion time
  • These actions confirmed the boys perceptions
    that the program was fun. Most boys came to the
    session prepared and willing to participate in
    the discussion.
  • The overall depth of the discussion and the
    ability of the leader to sustain the discussion
    varied across sites and may be a function of the
    experience and comfort level of the leader

55
Favorite books from Guys Read
Post Survey N 36
Not all of these books were read by all groups.
Some groups read different books than others. Not
all groups reported for the surveys such as
Augsburg Park and Rogers.
56
Examples of Facilitators Questions
  • If you were Charlie Bone, and you could have one
    endowed power, what would it be?
  • What did Merlin learn about himself?
  • What was the most exciting or interesting part of
    the book?
  • Show me with thumbs up, down, sideways how you
    liked the book.
  • If you were in character's situation, what would
    you do?
  • What might happen in sequel?
  • What would you bring on an adventure?
  • If you have a friend that is your best friend,
    how do you know your best friend is your best
    friend?
  • Would you want to be a wizard? They have powers
    but not liked or trusted.
  • Who should xxx be loyal to? Did he break his oath
    to Mom?
  • Lying is bad? When is it ok to lie?

57
Interviews Focus Groups What Boys Thought of
Book Clubs
  • I thought that it the book club was going to
    be one of those boring things that some other
    libraries have, but this one was a lot more fun.
  • It the book club has helped me read better. I
    found some good books. I found some new stuff,
    like authors and types of books. I found that
    they have all the good books in the teen
    section.
  • Reading is more fun in a book club, definitely.
    Yah, much funner.

58
Interviews Focus Groups What Boys Thought of
Book Clubs-cont.
  • After we finished discussing the book, we got to
    eat a snack, and we got to run around the room.
    He didnt try to make us sit downhe did try to
    make us discuss it, but we didnt. I thought we
    would just be sitting down the whole time. Fun
    surprise.
  • You know how in school they have AR Accelerated
    Reader classes? Guys Reading is better. Because
    when youre reading in school you cant have fun,
    you have to sit down and read a book, and if you
    say one word the teachers like, Quiet down,
    read it in your head. complaints about
    substitute teachers

59
(Interview Q) What was the best thing about the
book club?
  • Reading the books. I liked the books they picked
    out.
  • Talking to other kids about how they feel about
    books.
  • We got to, like, discuss the book, and sometimes
    if I didnt understand a part I could understand
    it more at the discussion.
  • I really liked the facilitator. Hes a really
    nice guy.
  • Finding a new series to read.

60
(Interview Q) What was the biggest benefit to
being in the club?
  • Finding more books that I like to read!
  • The food, because I need food and Im a growing
    man.
  • I think the biggest benefit was realizing that
    there was more books than what I have read out
    there, and books that could be more interesting,
    new books. Not necessarily new types, just new
    books to read, new things to do, new things to
    read when you have spare time.
  • I probably wouldnt have read this summer, if it
    wasnt for the book club.

61
(Interview Q) How have you changed as a
reader?
  • Im reading more. Every time I go to a library I
    pick up five books, and then I read them. So I
    think I read a lot more.
  • Im reading more books, and Im reading more fun
    books that I like. Before I was in book club I
    wasnt really reading books that I liked, I was
    only reading what I had to read.

62
(Interview Q) If you could change anything about
the book club, what would you change?
  • I would change the snack bowlI would add more
    and more snacks to it laughs.
  • Make it longer so we can read more books. I
    think we should read more than three books.
  • If I could change something, it would probably
    be more, like, fantasy books.
  • I wish it would last about ten million times
    longer.
  • I think it should be, like, eight more books.
  • I wanted more meetings, because there were only
    five, and I wanted seventy billion.

63
  • Question 6 What characteristics of the Guys
    Read book clubs influence boys long-term reading
    preferences and habits after they participate in
    the program?

64
How did you benefit the most from the Guys Read
Book Club?
Post Survey N36
This sample was combined between the two post
instruments.
65
Do you think you read better because of the Guys
Read Book Club? Post Survey N36
66
31
69
Yes 69
No 31
67
  • 83 of the boys said that they believe they will
    read more in the future due to the Guys Read
    program because
  • they learned about and read good books
  • the reading and discussion inspired them and
  • they believe the more you read the better reader
    you become.

68
Thoughts from Facilitators
  • its a really nice for an outlet for kids who
    like to read, boys who like to read, to have a
    place where they can go and meet other kids who
    like to read and be rewarded for reading.
  • if they the boys walk away saying, wowdid
    you have fun this summer? oh yeah, yeah, I went
    to this reading club. Bingo. Thats it. Its
    really the fact that they get excited about
    coming and talking about a book or being in a
    book group.

69
(Facilitator Interview Q) What was the most
interesting or surprising thing about the program
for you?
  • how engaged the boys will actually be
    sometimes. I mean certainly they stray from the
    conversation, but some of the things they have
    said have been really neat to hear, that they are
    thinking about this so much and not just reading
    itI was surprised how interested they were in
    the food.

70
(Facilitator Interview Q) What do you see as the
value of Guys Read overall?
  • The short-term benefit is it associates reading
    with something other than school and its the big
    dilemma that I have always seen with guys and
    reading, girls will keep it up for some reason,
    guys will drop it because they get bored, because
    of the material they read in school and all that.
    I actually have seen some of the kids years
    laterand Ive asked them hey, are you still
    reading, and everyone of those guys can tell me
    yes.

71
(Facilitator Interview Q)cont.
  • either theyre the boys encouraged, supported
    in an already confirmed decision we like
    reading and we support that, or we can get those
    introductory readers into the rhythm of reading
    for fun, which is one of the good things about
    Guys Read, which is to say, hey, you like reading
    and that is totally fine just when you are
    entering an age when it starts to become uncool
    to read, we want to make sure that you know it is
    completely bad- to open a book.

72
(Facilitator Interview Q) Is there anything you
would change in the future?
  • I think they number of book groups throughout
    the summer - I think there should be more. I mean
    a lot more people would sign up for continuous
    ones and make more of an impact.
  • I think 8-10 would be a good size to haveThey
    the boys can come up with fairly thoughtful
    answers to the questions that I posed, but at
    least with this number they werent discussing
    amongst themselves, and they werent posing their
    own questions.

73
Limitations of the Results
  • Pre-and post survey participation was an issue
    for this evaluation study. Participation was
    enhanced when librarians and facilitators were
    able to encourage participants to take the time
    to fill out the online survey.
  • Issues that led to low response rate
  • The length of the survey was difficult for some
    boys to manage
  • Boys who didnt complete the survey prior to club
    time had to do so at the library this cut into
    book club discussion time
  • Often there were not enough computers available
    for boys at the library site during club time to
    enable them to complete the survey
  • Time had to be allocated at the beginning or end
    of a session (or before/after) for the boys to
    take the pre- and/or post-survey
  • Parents and boys may have needed more rationale
    for the importance of completing the pre and post
    survey

74
Significance of the Evaluation Study
  • Developing evaluation systems for out-of-school
    programs is important for the staff of a large
    library system like HCL for these reasons
  • It provides data to improve programs that are
    responsive to the diverse communities they serve
  • It helps them bridge reading practices and
    participation structures in school with reading
    practices outside of school
  • It provides data to help libraries understand how
    to bridge school cultures, home cultures, and
    library cultures related to reading.

75
Significance of the Evaluation Studycont.
  • It provides information about a subset of
    clientele, in this case the Guys, and a
    specific setting, the books clubs, that will
    help serve them better by
  • providing direction for helping boys secure and
    read materials that they are motivated to read,
  • facilitating talk about these texts to help the
    boys better comprehend them, and
  • providing a setting in which the boys can
    interact with other boys and male mentors to
    encourage further reading in- and out-of-school
    and foster a life-long love of reading.

76
Making a Difference The 2006 Guys Read Book
Club Summer Program for Boys Hennepin County
Library
A Report of a Collaborative Evaluation Project
RECOMMENDATIONS FUTURE RESEARCH Partners The
Library Foundation of Hennepin County, Hennepin
County Library Staff, and the University
of Minnesota--College of Education and Human
Development, Literacy Program Area Research
Staff Professors David OBrien Deborah Dillon
Research Assistants Scharber Nichols February
15, 2007
77
Suggestions for 2007 Evaluation
  • 1. Continue to collect high quality data from
    more boys and across multiple book clubs
    strengthen the rationale for why an evaluation
    system is important.
  • 2. Pre- and post-online surveys are critical to
    the evaluation.
  • 3. Post-focus groups provide the needed
    explanation of what the program means to
    participants--why they believe and act as they
    do. These data are used to triangulate with the
    primary data source (surveys) and add power to
    the findings.

78
Suggestions for 2007 Evaluationcont.
  • 4. Some structured observations of book club
    meetings are needed to continue to document what
    happens, what works, and areas for reflection.
  • 5. Education is needed for all involved in the
    evaluation How it works, why particular
    procedures are followed, and how this ensures
    trustworthy findings that can benefit the
    program. Training in all facets of the
    evaluation plan that involves facilitators and
    librarians can be provided during facilitator
    training.

79
Developing Quality Evaluation Processes and
Sustainability
  • 1. Make the informed consent process part of the
    registration procedures. For sustainability U
    of MN training can continue to occur to support
    HCL staff in how to obtain informed consent and
    required record keeping.
  • 2. Make the completion of the pre- and
    post-survey part of the first and last book club
    session this can be a 30 minute session PRIOR TO
    the start of the first and final meeting. For
    sustainability Librarians can work with
    facilitators to secure computers for this
    activity and ensure that all boys complete the
    surveys.

80
Developing Quality Evaluation Processes and
Sustainabilitycont.
  • 3. (30 minutes prior to the 1st session) Invite
    parents/caregivers to attend a social session
    they will meet other parents while the boys
    complete the pre-surveys .
  • (30 minutes after the last meeting) Invite
    parents to be part of a focus group/social time
    so that data can be obtained from them to
    supplement the findings. For sustainability U
    of MN training can be provided to support
    librarians on how to conduct focus group
    interviews with parents while the facilitators
    allow boys to complete the surveys on computers.

81
Developing Quality Evaluation Processes and
Sustainabilitycont.
  • 4. Ask librarians or facilitators to use a
    structured set of questions to conduct a brief
    (15 minute) post-focus group discussion with the
    boys tape record the session. Individual
    interviews with boys could be dropped if the
    post-focus group sessions are conducted. For
    sustainability U of MN training can be provided
    in how to conduct focus group interviews the
    training could occur during facilitator
    orientation.
  • 5. Obtain the facilitators perspectives via an
    online survey.

82
Developing Quality Evaluation Processes and
Sustainabilitycont.
  • 6. Continue observing selected book clubs at
    various sites using a structured guide for
    writing fieldnotes observe 2-3
    sessionstypically at the beginning, middle, and
    end of selected site club meetings. For
    sustainability Consider pairing up two
    facilitators and having them observe each other.
    This might provide a helpful way to gather data,
    but also promote sharing of ideas across
    sites/facilitators.

83
Proposed Research Summer 2007Cassie Scharber
  • Whos Involved?
  • Online book clubs during Summer 2007 grades 4-6
  • Not just Guys Read, but also all-girls and
    mixed-gender
  • Ann Melrose (HCL)
  • Why?
  • Extension and complement to HCLs GR evaluation
    as well as inform other public libraries and
    schools about online book clubs for kids

84
Purpose of Research
  • Describe the nature of and involvement in the
    preteen online book clubs.
  • What is the meaning and nature of the
    computer-mediated discussions and postings
    present in the online spaces of the book clubs?

85
Why is this Research Important?
  • Research shows a serious decline in both literary
    and book reading by adults and youth of all ages,
    races, incomes, and education levels (NEA, 2004).
  • Despite technologys purported role in the
    decrease in pleasure reading (NEA, 2004), online
    book clubs may offer a convenient, albeit ironic,
    forum to inspire a love for books in preteens.

86
Very little research on either in- or
out-of-school book clubs No research on online,
public library book clubs geared toward preteens
including online book clubs that are increasingly
offered at public libraries around the country
and in Canada I consider your online book
clubs as sites of possibility. They not only
encourage pleasure reading but also provide
forums for preteens to socialize, discuss texts,
and use both old and new literacy practices
in out-of-school contexts.
87
Questions Discussion
  • Thank you!
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com