Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 505 - PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS COMMISSION
Chapter 505-3 - EDUCATOR PREPARATION RULES
Rule 505-3-.65 - Media Specialist Program

(i) Candidates are knowledgeable of learning styles, stages of human growth and development, and cultural influences on learning. Candidates assess learner needs and design instruction that reflects educational best practice. Candidates support the learning of all students and other members of the learning community, including those with diverse learning styles, physical and intellectual abilities and needs. Candidates base instruction on student interests and learning needs and link it to the assessment of student achievement.

(ii) Candidates implement the principles of effective teaching and learning that contribute to an active, inquiry-based approach to learning. Candidates make use of a variety of instructional strategies and assessment tools to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments in partnership with classroom teachers and other educators. Candidates can document and communicate the impact of collaborative instruction on student achievement.

(iii) Candidates model, share, and promote effective principles of teaching and learning as collaborative partners with other educators. Candidates acknowledge the importance of participating in curriculum development, of engaging in school improvement processes, and of offering professional development to other educators as it relates to library and information use.

(iv) Candidates employ strategies to integrate multiple literacies with content curriculum. Candidates integrate the use of emerging technologies as a means for effective and creative teaching and to support P-12 students' conceptual understanding, critical thinking and creative processes. Candidates advocate for progressive information literacy skills to support the learning needs of the school community. Candidates demonstrate how to collaborate with other teachers to plan and implement instruction of the current AASL standards for learners and state student curriculum standards.

(i) Candidates are familiar with a wide range of children's, young adult, and professional literature in multiple formats and languages to support reading for information, reading for pleasure, and reading for lifelong learning.

(ii) Candidates use a variety of strategies to promote leisure reading and model personal enjoyment of reading in order to promote habits of creative expression and lifelong reading.

(iii) Candidates demonstrate the ability to develop a collection of reading and information materials in print and digital formats that support the diverse developmental, cultural, social, and linguistic needs of P-12 students and their communities.

(iv) Candidates collaborate with classroom teachers to reinforce a wide variety of reading instructional strategies to ensure P-12 students are able to create meaning from text.

(i) Candidates identify and provide support for diverse student information needs. Candidates model multiple strategies for students, other teachers, and administrators to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information for specific purposes. Candidates collaborate with students, other teachers, and administrators to efficiently access, interpret, and communicate information.

(ii) Candidates support flexible, open access for library services. Candidates demonstrate their ability to develop solutions for addressing physical, social and intellectual barriers to equitable access to resources and services. Candidates facilitate access to information in print, non-print, and digital formats. Candidates model and communicate the legal and ethical codes of the profession.

(iii) Candidates demonstrate their ability to design and adapt relevant learning experiences that engage students in authentic learning through the use of digital tools and resources. Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research, learning, creating, and communicating in a digital society.

(iv) Candidates use evidence-based, action research to collect data. Candidates interpret and use data to create and share new knowledge to improve practice in school libraries.

(i) Candidates demonstrate the ability to establish connections with other libraries and to strengthen cooperation among library colleagues for resource sharing, networking, and facilitating access to information. Candidates participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners.

(ii) Candidates model a strong commitment to the profession by participating in professional growth and leadership opportunities through membership in library associations, attendance at professional conferences, reading professional publications, and utilizing digital resources. Candidates plan for ongoing professional growth.

(iii) Candidates are able to articulate the role and relationship of the school library program's impact on student academic achievement within the context of current educational initiatives. Utilizing evidence-based practice and information from education and library research, candidates communicate ways in which the library program can enhance school improvement efforts.

(iv) Candidates identify stakeholders within and outside the school community who impact the school library program. Candidates develop a plan to advocate for school library and information programs, resources, and services.

(i) Candidates evaluate and select print, non-print, and digital resources using professional selection tools and evaluation criteria to develop and manage a quality collection designed to meet the diverse curricular, personal, and professional needs of students, teachers, and administrators. Candidates organize school library collections according to current library cataloging and classification principles and standards to ensure efficient and equitable access to information and resources.

(ii) Candidates practice the ethical principles of their profession, advocate for intellectual freedom and privacy, and promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. Candidates educate the school community on the ethical use of information and ideas with particular emphasis on copyright and plagiarism.

(iii) Candidates apply best practices related to planning, budgeting, and evaluating human, information, digital and physical resources. Candidates organize physical spaces and virtual libraries to enhance the use of information resources and services and to ensure equitable access to all resources for all users. Candidates develop, implement, and evaluate policies and procedures that support teaching and learning in school libraries.

(iv) Candidates communicate and collaborate with students, teachers, colleagues, administrators, and community members to develop a library program that aligns resources, services, and standards with the school's mission. Candidates make effective use of data and information to assess how the library program addresses the needs of their diverse communities.