What They Didn't Have: Backwards Design toward a Forward Agenda

Abstract

Pragmatic research epistemology calls for a problem to be solved. As a secondary school librarian and doctoral student, this writer's observations of urban students' poor standardized test scores and their weak research dispositions inspired me to explore the impact of student learning without a school library. Elements of the theories of information worlds and everyday information practices outline their under-resourced educational contexts and weak information literacy skills. The purpose of this paper is to examine the validity and reliability of the emerging concept of informationally underserved (IU), and if its four-quadrant model and the associated mixed-methods procedures are appropriate. The goal is to advance student empowerment through earlier and equitable access to school library professionals and resources. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013.