Information and media literacy education within the school library media centers of a Middle Tennessee county

The purpose of this study was to examine the current state of information and media literacy education taking place within the school library media centers of one suburban school district in Middle Tennessee given the absence of state standards as well as state or local leadership. All of the school library media specialists (SLMS) employed by the county participated in the study making the population thirty five. Data analysis included unpaired t-tests, bivariate correlations and a stepwise regression summary. The data showed no difference in the attitudes of SLMS regarding the importance of information and media literacy education based on years of experience in the field. The data revealed a relationship between the SLMS attitudes regarding the importance of information and media literacy education and perceived competence as an educator of these skills. The data concluded there was no relationship between perceived competence and perceived student understanding of information and media literacy concepts. The data also revealed that the perception of barriers to information and media literacy education were similar in all grade configurations (elementary, middle and high school). It was suggested that state standards for information and media literacy be developed, leadership at both the state and local level be put in place, and collaboration between classroom teachers and school library media specialists be mandated at the building level to facilitate information and media literacy instruction