Information literacy skills: successful cross-curricular integration at the secondary level in New Jersey

Focusing on information literacy skills instruction at the secondary level, the purposes of the field research were to examine the impact of national and state curriculum standards on library skills curriculum; to explore the instructional role of the school media specialist; and to create a model for successful information literacy skills projects. Field research was conducted at the media centers of two secondary schools, grades 9 - 12 in southern New Jersey. Two educational media specialists in secondary schools and their 10th grade Biology classes were observed during an instructional period. Application of information literacy skills was incorporated into the lessons and the cumulative projects designed collaboratively by the media specialist and the content area teacher. Skills assessments included scoring rubrics and performance observations. Qualitative data gathered included background information on the school, in-depth interviews with the media specialists, observations of instructional periods, and pre- and post-observation interviews. Findings revealed that the role of the media specialist is crucial to creating inter-disciplinary projects in school districts where national and state standards have an impact on the information literacy skills curriculum. A model for projects that integrate content areas with information literacy skills was developed and is easily replicated