Change in School Librarian Staffing Linked With Change in CSAP Reading Performance, 2005 to 2011

In the September 2011 issue of School Library Journal (SLJ), we presented a national analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) state-level data on librarian staffing and fourth-grade reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The results from this study indicated that states that gained school librarians from 2004-05 to 2008-09 showed greater increases in 4th grade reading scores than did states that lost librarians during this time period. As promised, we now move back to the Colorado context to examine the relationships between changes in school library staffing and changes in Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) reading scores over time.