Library Association ICT Training Consortium

ICT Training Programme for School Librarians

QUALITY ASSURANCE

It should be noted that the quality assurance contacts described below will be in addition to the normal management and administrative contacts with participants and their organisations to deliver and administer the programme.

A number of quality assurance activities will be undertaken by Information Management Associates as an independent element within the programme but drawing upon programme management data. The Programme Director will be alerted to any significant problems or difficulties that may be identified in delivery of the programme of study. IMA will:

· monitor the audits of training needs and systematically compare these with the contents of the programme of study. [Programme of study currently in preparation]

· ensure that questionnaires are issued to the head or INSET manager of all participating schools at the commencement of the programme to ascertain school needs and again at the conclusion of the programme to find out the extent to which needs have been met. [See annex A for commencement questionnaire; closure questionnaire not yet prepared]

· conduct telephone interviews with an appropriate representative in all contributing LEAs at the commencement of the programme to ascertain their needs and again at the conclusion of the programme to find out the extent to which needs have been met. [See annex B for commencement interview schedule; closure interview schedule not yet prepared]

· ask all participants to evaluate all face-to-face training sessions by means of an event assessment questionnaire. Questions will cover the suitability and quality of the event content and coverage as well as the performance of the trainers. Participants will be encouraged to make specific suggestions for improving the training. [See annex C for event assessment questionnaires]

· ask participants to comment at the end of the programme of study (through course assessment questionnaires) on the suitability and quality of the programme content and coverage, including all support and materials provided. [Programme of study and linked programme assessment questionnaire in preparation]

· conduct an annual impact study on a sample of librarians, commencing in year 2, to assess how the programme of study has affected the work of the school librarians involved. [Instruments not yet devised]

· observe a 5% sample of face-to-face training elements of the programme to assess the quality of delivery. [We are currently considering two approaches: using a modified version of the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories, or adopting a Critical Events approach as described in Wragg, E. C. An introduction to classroom observation Routledge 1994.]

· monitor the discussion groups and on-line tutorials on a sample basis to assess the quality of interactions. [Rating scales are currently being prepared: these will be tested against early interactions and modified as required.]

· collect performance data on the ‘helpline’, including the speed of response;

· organise and run a minimum of three focus groups per year for programme participants and (separately) for their managers to glean views on the effectiveness of the programme of study. [These will be structured events built around focused activities designed to gather feedback at four levels. The preferred model has not yet been chosen but is unlikely to be either Kirkpatrick’s (reaction/learning/behavioural changes/organisational results) or Warr and Bird’s (contextual evaluation/input evaluation/reaction evaluation/outcome evaluation) model, both of which are very well established. For details see: KIRKPATRICK, D. L. ‘Evaluation of training’ in CRAIG, R. L. (ed) Training and development handbook McGraw-Hill 1976; WARR, P. B., BIRD, M. and RACKHAM, N. The evaluation of management training Gower 1970.]

· make an ‘electronic complaint form’ available on the programme website to enable participants to communicate significant problems to the Director and to IMA in their QA role. [See annex D]

· make direct contact as appropriate with the participant, Head or INSET Manager of any school reporting significant difficulty in matching school needs to provision or expressing dissatisfaction with the programme of study delivery or content to establish what has gone wrong;

· prepare biannual reports for transmission by the programme Director to the central quality assurance body.

· In all cases IMA will analyse the results of QA activities and provide timely reports to the Programme Director.

Where possible, all questionnaire surveys will take advantage of e-mail links. Questionnaires for programme participants will be lodged for completion on the programme website. However, ‘traditional’ mail methods will be used at the follow-up stage to prompt a high response rate.

ANNEX A

FAO: Head or INSET Manager Draft 2

Subject: ICT Training of your School Librarian [use local terminology]

[Name] has been accepted for ICT Training by the Library Association ICT Training Consortium as part of the New Opportunities Fund.

Training Programme

The Expected Outcomes prescribed by the Teacher Training Agency cover five broad areas. Please indicate briefly what you want your Librarian to achieve in each of these areas as a result of participating in the training. Your comments will be used to review the training programme being offered and as a basis for assessing your satisfaction with the training at the end of the programme:

1 Using ICT to develop the role of the library within the school:

2 Supporting teachers to ensure effective training:

3 Ensuring the effective management of resources:

4 Supporting the development of pupils’ skills:

5 School librarians’ knowledge and understanding of, and competence with, ICT:

Thank you for responding. Please keep a copy of your reply and return this form to:

[address]

ANNEX B

DRAFT 1

Task 1: Identify appropriate LEA representatives

2: Arrange telephone interview

3: Confirm interview by letter

Letter to LEA representative DRAFT 1

Dear [name]

ICT Training of School Librarians

Thank you for agreeing to talk to me about ICT Training of School Librarians in your Authority. I will telephone you, as agreed, on [date, time] We are interested in finding out your expectations and needs in relation to this training.

As you know, Expected Outcomes have been prescribed for the ICT Training of School Librarians, under five broad heading:

1 Using ICT to develop the role of the library within the school

2 Supporting teachers to ensure effective training

3 Ensuring the effective management of resources

4 Supporting the development of pupils’ skills

5 School librarians’ knowledge and understanding of, and competence with, ICT

We are interested in learning your expectations of the training programme in relation to each of these areas, as well as any other needs or concerns that you may have. Your comments about these will be used to review the training programme content as well as to assess your views at the end of the training programme.

With best wishes

Interview schedule

Check that still convenient to talk. If not, reschedule interview.

We are interested in your requirements for the ICT Training of School Librarians and any concerns that you may have. I would like to ask you about each of the Expected Outcomes as prescribed by the TTA.

1 What do you want your school to learn about using ICT to develop the role of the library within the school?

Prompts: supporting work of pupils/teachers in library?

assist in developing pupils’ ICT skills?

impact of new initiatives?

planning and developing library ICT resources?

2 What about supporting teachers to ensure effective teaching?

Prompts: helping teachers review and gain access to relevant resources?

helping teachers by developing appropriate ICT use in the library?

copyright? Data protection?

3 What do you want school librarians to learn about ensuring the effective management of resources?

Prompts: software?

managing library management systems/

CD-ROMs/Internet/e-mail to make accessible?

using multimedia in thelibrary?

health and safety?

SEN?

4 What should they learn about supporting the development of pupil’s skills?

Prompts: Information handling skills relevant to electronic environment?

ICT skills?

ICT presentation skills?

5 Are there any particular issues for you in school librarians’ understanding or competence with ICT?

What they need to do or know for their work?

What they need to help pupils with? Finding out?

What is available to help?

Where ICT can help them in preparing and presenting information?

What the curriculum requires?

ICT procedures, tools?

Reference sources?

Legislation: health and safety, data protection, copyright, illegal material?

Ethical issues?

Professional aspects?

6 Do you have any other points or concerns about ICT training of school librarians?

7 What will tell you that the training has been successful?

Thanks

ANNEX C

This event assessment questionnaire is based on the ‘Programme reactionnaire’ offered by Leslie Ray in How to measure training effectiveness 3^rd ed. Gower 1997.

PROGRAMME REACTIONNAIRE

For every item, place a ‘X’ in the scoring box that most closely represents how you feel about the programme as a whole. Please comment briefly on each item about your reasons for giving this score, particularly if your scorings are 3, 2 or 1.

6 5 4 3 2 1

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Stimulating Ž Ž Ž Ž Ž Ž Boring