AASL & ISTE Standards

This post introduces and compares two sets of standards that inform school library practices. 

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards are centered around six common beliefs:
1. The school library is a unique and essential part of a learning community. 
2. Qualified school librarians lead effective school libraries. 
3. Learners should be prepared for college, career, and life. 
4. Reading is the core of personal and academic competency. 
5. Intellectual freedom is every learner's right. 
6.  Information technologies must be appropriate integrated and equitably available. 


The AASL Standards Integrated Framework is made up of the three sets of AASL standards: Learner, School Librarian, and School Library. Within each set of standards there are six shared foundations: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage. Each foundation is subdivided into four domains: Think, Create, Share, and Grow. Within these domains, the competencies for each shared foundation is explained. 

Another set of standards that inform school library practices are the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards. The ISTE standards are designed to guide digital age learning, teaching, and leading. There are 14 essential conditions that must be in place before meaningful technology integration can be achieved and the ISTE standards can be implemented successfully. The 14 essential conditions include a shared vision, empowered leaders, implementation planning, consistent and adequate funding, equitable access, skilled personnel, ongoing professional learning, technical support, curriculum framework, student-centered learning, assessment and evaluation, engaged communities, support policies, and supportive external context. 

There five sets of ISTE standards provide educational frameworks for students, educators, administratoes, coaches, and computer science educators. The ISTE Standards for Students are broken down into seven parts:
1. Empowered Learner
2. Digital Citizen
3. Knowledge Constructor
4. Innovative Designer
5. Computational Thinker
6. Creative Communicator
7. Global Collaborator

There are many commonalities between the AASL Standards and ISTE Standards. They are each organized in ways that break down essential components. The AASL standards have the six shared foundations and four domains, while the ISTE standards for students are subdivided into the seven sections listed above. Both provide a set of standards for the learner and educator: the AASL standard sets include the learner, librarian, and library while the ISTE standard sets include the student, educator, administrator, coach, and computer science teacher. 

More similarities can be found within the AASL and ISTE standards. The each encourage student-driven curiosity and information seeking behaviors, making connections between curriculum and real world situations, collaborating constructively with diverse learners, and guiding students to becoming more independent critical thinkers and problem solvers for today's digital world (Dotson & Dotson-Blake, 2015). Both sets of standards inform school library practices by guiding the school librarian in supporting students in acquiring the skills they need to be successful in the digital age, and in supporting teachers by forming effective instructional partnerships. 

Resources:

AASL (2018). AASL standards framework for learners. Retrieved from http://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AASL-Standards-Framework-for-Learners-pamphlet.pdf

AASL (2018). National school library standards crosswalk. Retrieved from https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf

Dotson, K. D., & Dotson-Blake, K. (2015). Factors of engagement: Professional standards and the library science internship. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning (59)3, 54-63.

ISTE (2017). The ISTE standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/for-students#startstandards