Value of School Libraries Well-stocked, staffed school libraries boost FCAT scores, UCF research shows. An Anonymous Patron writes to share this article: Students at schools with well-staffed libraries that circulate the most books and have the most computers outperform their peers on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, according to research at the University of Central Florida. FCAT scores, the state's primary measure of student achievement, were 20 percent higher in 2000-01 in reading at high schools that employed at least one full-time professional librarian and the equivalent of one other full-time library employee, UCF education professor Donna Baumbach concluded in her "Making the Grade" report. FCAT scores also were highest at elementary and middle schools with well-staffed libraries. [LISNews.com] There are so many of these studies out there now, but it's as if no one reads them except the school librarians. It's hard to believe that legislators and school administrators continue to ignore this kind of data. Are there similar studies that show the effects of low student/computer ratios? Is that where the money goes, instead of into buying library books and hiring school librarians? 7:46:35 AM     [comment []];[]