by Anne Hatinen
Quick Summary
from EBSCO: As schools revisit state curriculum standards and more U.S. states adopt standards such as Common Core and as public libraries work to support their local school systems, EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is pulling together information to better serve...
from EBSCO:
As schools revisit state curriculum standards and more U.S. states adopt standards such as Common Core and as public libraries work to support their local school systems, EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is pulling together information to better serve students, educators and librarians. EBSCO has created a curriculum standards webpage to provide easy access to information about the EBSCO databases that are aligned with state standards and Common Core values.
Common Core State Standards sets parameters for educators and parents to help make students college- and career-ready. Students are expected to "use technology and digital media strategically and capably." Common Core also places importance on students' ability to "employ technology thoughtfully to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use," and stipulates that "they tailor their searches online to acquire useful information efficiently, and they integrate what they learn using technology with what they learn offline."
EBSCO offers a number of databases that can help teachers and librarians prepare their students to meet state standards and Common Core values including English Language Learner Reference Center™, Literary Reference Center™ / Literary Reference Center Plus™, History Reference Center™, NoveList® Plus, Poetry & Short Story Reference Center™, Points of View Reference Center™, and Science Reference Center™. Database packages for elementary, middle, and high schools are also included. Reference Guides on the EBSCO Support Site demonstrate the ways in which educators can use EBSCO's dedicated interfaces to achieve the curriculum goals described in the Common Core State Standards.
Since EBSCO databases cover subject areas, the content includes thousands of informational texts to support the shift toward non-fiction reading and analysis in all classrooms including primary and secondary source documents. EBSCO databases include multimedia content, a text-to-speech tool, research guides, and citation help to support differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences and individual education plans (IEPs) as well as information literacy. Lesson plans, training guides and comprehension tests are also included to aid educators. Lexile® Reading Levels allow educators and students to identify texts appropriate to a student's varying reading abilities and interests. Students and educators are also able to select content by page length to match student reading abilities.
Since the content in EBSCO databases is curated from a number of popular and academic sources, articles range in text type and level of text complexity to help students build on literacy success. EBSCO's enhanced metadata, an intuitive interface and superior relevancy ranking combine to guide students toward the best results for their searches.
In addition to the content found in EBSCO databases, EBSCO also maintains a Curriculum Standards Module within each of these databases to help educators relate EBSCO content quickly and easily to Common Core, state- or Canadian province-specific curriculum standards. The module provides browsing of specific benchmarks, many of which have recommended search strings for successful content retrieval. Benchmarks can be easily saved as text files for integration with written lesson plans. Tutorials are also available including seven dedicated to the NoveList readers' advisory service.
