Materials are selected to support undergraduate and graduate teaching and research in the Secondary Education Department. The Secondary Education Department educates students to be teachers in secondary educational institutions and awards single subject teaching credentials, Basic and CLAD Emphasis.
The University Library serves as the main resource for this subject area. It contains books, journals, reference materials, media, and databases relevant to the students and faculty in the Teacher Education Department whose primary focus is on education for middle and high school students in grades 7-12.
As part of the Seventh Floor and Lower Level Educational Resources Center, the Library houses the Learning Resources Display Center (LRDC), sponsored by the California Department of Education. It contains K-8 print and non-print instructional materials adopted by the State of California. The Library also houses in the lower level an historical collection of California K-8 textbooks supporting courses offered by Secondary Education Faculty. The SJSU LRDC is currently the main display center for Santa Clara County. For viewing LRDC materials at the Santa Clara County Office of Education, please call the SCCOE for more information.
The Library also provides reference materials related to this subject area on the 2nd floor.
The Teacher Education library liaison works in tandem with other library liaisons supporting departments in the College of Education. One liaison is a voting member of the College of Education Curriculum Committee, a committee comprised of one representative from each of the eight departments, college leadership and others. Membership on this committee allows proactive participation in changing the curriculum, offering new courses and obtaining new resources necessary to support the College of Education.
San Jose State University students, faculty, and staff have access to the print collections of the other 22 California State University libraries through CSU+, a resource-sharing system, giving SJSU patrons access to over 29 million books.
Materials are purchased in the format that most effectively delivers the information needed by the discipline.
The strength of the secondary education collection is the growing number of electronic resources available to support the on- and off-campus programs. During the past few years, funds have been used to change from print resources to web-based resources. This is due to heavy faculty and student demand for off-campus access to research and resources. Some of the resources used by the education faculty and students are shared with other disciplines. Most notable are Education Research Complete, Education Full Text, Academic Search Complete, and others which support the wide variety of topics researched by the Teacher Education faculty and students. The journals collection has been enhanced by the addition of the aforementioned full-text databases. ProQuest Ebook Central offers searchable e-books in 11 major subject areas.
The collection strongly supports the professional programs such as Teacher Preparation/Credential Programs, Special Education Credential Programs, and certificate programs.
According to Academic Senate Library Policy S15-10, periodic evaluations of the print collection are required to maintain the high quality of the academic collection, with the primary goals of improving the effectiveness of browsing and providing space for new acquisitions. The objectives include relocating materials, and weeding duplicate materials and materials that support discontinued programs or are no longer relevant for current programs. Evaluation of the secondary education collection involves not only print materials but sound recordings and other media as well.
Resources for the Secondary Education collection are selected after consulting with the Teacher Education faculty whose focus in research and university teaching is on middle school and high school subject matter. Recommendations from the faculty and students are the first priority. The ALA EBSS listserv, dedicated to education and social science librarians, and the databases, Choice Reviews and Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) are other sources of recommended library resources.
Further development of the secondary education collection includes:
Increasing the number of e-books that provide unlimited concurrent access.
Evaluating books on secondary education that are maintained in the 2nd Floor Reference Collection.
Identifying materials to support a growing emphasis on cultural diversity in the classroom for students' and faculty's research needs.