Needs Assessment: Key Assessment First Phase 

Introduction

Since its opening in 2018, the media center at Dove Creek Elementary School has been a favorite spot for students and visitors. It is the first classroom you see when you walk into the school, and it is always inviting. The large windows give you a peek inside, where the vibrant and welcoming space makes you want to step in and explore. The entrance has custom-made trees that add a fun, whimsical feel, leading you to bookshelves filled with themed books that match the current holidays, celebrations, or upcoming author visits. This setup keeps things fresh and exciting, encouraging students to dive into new topics and genres.  

Jennifer, the media specialist, has been with the school since day one. She meets with all students once every two weeks to provide lessons and activities that are both educational and engaging, fostering a love for reading and learning. The media center hosts a diverse collection of books that cater to all ages and interests, ensuring that every student can find something that captivates their interests. In addition to the diverse book collection, the media center also houses a makerspace area for STEM-based activities. This space allows students to engage in hands-on learning, encouraging creativity and critical thinking.  

The media center also has a book room filled with leveled readers, which teachers can check out to support their Daily 5 Reading groups, providing targeted reading practice for students at various levels. The media center also hosts the Dragon Den News filmed by groups of fifth graders who work on their communication skills and confidence to deliver the news to the school daily. Overall, the media center at Dove Creek Elementary School is much more than just a place to borrow books. It’s a lively and essential part of the school community, supporting various educational activities. It helps students develop a love for reading and learning, where curiosity and creativity thrive.  

Stakeholders

The stakeholders that participated in this needs assessment are Jennifer, Maggie, Corinne, and Alexis. Jennifer is the media specialist at Dove Creek. The other teachers were selected to be interviewed because they teach the upper grades and frequently use technology in the classroom. 

Jennifer, the media specialist at Dove Creek Elementary, has been in her current role for seven years. Before Dove Creek, she was a media specialist for four years in Clarke County and 1.5 years in Muscogee County.  Her educational background includes a B.S. in Sociology, M.A.T. in School Library Media, a Tier One Leadership certification, and a Ed. S. in Curriculum and Instruction. 

Maggie, a third-grade teacher at Dove Creek Elementary, has been teaching third grade there for seven years. Before that, she taught kindergarten for two years and first grade for five years, for a total of fourteen years of teaching. Maggie has a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, a Tier One Leadership certification, and a gifted endorsement.  

Corinne is a fifth-grade teacher in her third year at Dove Creek. She has twelve years of teaching experience and holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education, M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, an ESOL endorsement, an Instructional Coaching endorsement, and a gifted endorsement. She has also worked as an elementary instructional coach and administrator. Alexis is another fifth-grade teacher at Dove Creek. She has been teaching there for seven years in fourth and fifth grade. She has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and a gifted endorsement. 

School, District, and State Media Center Resources

The media center at Dove Creek Elementary School offers a variety of activities and resources to support learning and creativity. During biweekly lessons, students can be found engaging in novel engineering lessons, makerspace projects, 3D modeling tasks, or working with a green screen for video projects. Students are also able to sign up for a variety of extracurricular activities hosted by the media specialist such as Lego Club, Dragon Den News, or Page Turners Club. Jennifer also plans special events including author visits and book fairs.  Students have access to PebbleGo, Galileo, the Sora eBook app, and the Destiny library catalog for research and reading. There are also leveled readers for different reading levels and a professional section with resources for teachers.  

Erin and Christina, other media specialists in the county, use many of the same activities and resources as Jennifer, with some differences. Erin meets with all K-5 classes on a weekly instead of biweekly basis and also meets with fourth grade small reading groups. Christina meets with K-3 students on a weekly basis and fourth and fifth grade at least three times a month. All the media specialists in the county meet monthly, either in person or digitally, a practice encouraged by the district and the state for collaborative planning. This allows them to share resources and services that support classroom instruction.  

The district provides tools and platforms such as Google, Canva, and Canvas for housing lesson materials and creating projects. There is also a media consent release that allows the district to use student images and creative works across websites, social media, and print publications. Students have access to Tumblebooks and digital citizenship lessons via Google and Common-Sense Media, as well as GALILEO, an information database offering journals, magazines, newspapers, videos, images, and other resources for reliable information on various topics.  

At the state level, resources and guidelines help media specialists create effective and supportive learning environments. Schools must ensure media centers are accessible with flexible scheduling and a variety of resources. Media committees are established to make recommendations and decisions about the planning, operation, evaluation, and improvement of media centers. The Georgia Learning Resources Guide provides a list of state-recommended learning resources, including textbooks, e-books, software, and online materials, designed to support the curriculum and enhance student learning. Additionally, the state offers professional development opportunities for media specialists to stay updated on best practices and new technologies.  

Identified Needs

When interviewing Jennifer about her media center, she described that she was happy with the quality, number of books, and resources available to students. The media center recently had a beautiful renovation where murals, a reading stage, and wooden trees were installed for decoration. It makes the media center a warm and inviting space. Jennifer said it is her “dream library” and the students love spending time there. However, she mentioned struggling with teaching digital citizenship lessons. She has a good lesson on how to determine if a website is a legitimate source or not. However, now that many content creators are using Artificial Intelligence to create photographs, videos, and text, students are having a hard time determining if something on the internet is real or made with A.I. Jennifer would like to have some resources to help students critically analyze images and determine if they are real or made with A.I. 

When asked about needs in the media center, several teachers wanted to see more integration between library lessons and core subjects. Maggie mentioned that she would like some lessons integrating science or social studies standards, as these subjects often have limited time in the schedule. Alexis said that students could benefit from hands-on financial literacy resources, such as books or interactive digital tools, to help students understand real-world applications of math concepts such as budgeting, interest, and financial decision-making, which would support their economics unit. 

Research skills was another topic that was talked about several times in the interviews. Maggie would love to see more time for research in the library that students could use for informational writing. While they typically research animals in class, having library time would allow students to explore a wider range of topics. Alexis agreed that incorporating additional resources to support research skills would enhance student learning, especially for fifth graders working on social studies and science projects. For example, students often struggle with evaluating sources and distinguishing between reliable and unreliable information, especially online. A structured mini-lesson or interactive activity on recognizing credible sources, fact-checking, and avoiding misinformation would be valuable. This could also tie into digital literacy, helping students develop stronger research skills for middle school and beyond. 

Corinne highlighted that many students struggle with efficient keyboarding and typing skills, which can hinder their research and writing assignments. She suggested that students could benefit from keyboarding lessons or practice resources. Additionally, Corinne mentioned that the new English Language Arts standards for fifth grade will soon include copyright and plagiarism awareness. Helping students understand fair use, public domain images, and proper citation practices will be crucial. With a heavier focus on research and citations in the new standards, addressing these areas is important for fifth graders.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the media center at Dove Creek Elementary School is a thriving environment for the students and the teachers as it offers a rich array of resources and activities. It is an area where students can explore, create, and grow. Teachers find the supporting materials they want for classroom lessons. To meet the growing needs of the students and teachers, there needs to be improvements to digital citizenship education, integrating more core subject lessons, and time for additional research and skills.  

Georgia Certification ID# 

Media Specialist 1348894 

5th grade teacher 1269661 

5^th grade teacher 1892400 

3rd grade teacher 1052546 

References 

Subject 160-4-4 instructional Media/Resources. GA R&R – GAC – Subject 160-4-4 INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA/RESOURCES. (n.d.). https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/160-4-4