Week #1 Blog #1 - Compare and Contrast the AASL and ISTE Standards

The article School Librarians Level Up! Transform Your Teaching by Unpacking the AASL Standards Framework and Implementing Shared Foundation V: Explore by Freedman and Robinson offers a first hand perspective on how the AASL Standards empower librarians to foster inquiry, innovation, and personalized learning through the lens of the Shared Foundation “Explore.” Using this as context, a comparison with the ISTE Standards for Students reveals both overlap and unique contributions each framework brings to modern educational practice.

At their core, both AASL and ISTE standards advocate for learner agency, inquiry-based exploration, and digital fluency. The AASL’s Shared Foundations (inquire, include, collaborate, curate, explore, and engage) emphasize the learner’s growth through reflection, creativity, and community involvement (AASL, 2018). In particular, the "Explore" foundation encourages curiosity-driven learning, risk-taking, and problem solving. This aligns closely with ISTE’s Empowered Learner and Knowledge Constructor standards, which promote student agency and responsible technology use to create knowledge and solve authentic problems.

However, there are also distinct differences. The AASL Standards are more library-centric, with an emphasis on information fluency, ethical use of resources, and the librarian's role in scaffolding and guiding learning experiences. The ISTE Standards, by contrast, are technology-centric and reflect broader digital citizenship, computational thinking, and design thinking skills across subject areas.

One important synergy lies in their shared emphasis on student voice and choice. Freedman and Robinson describe how librarians used makerspaces, coding challenges, and real-world inquiry projects to personalize learning and empower students to explore topics of personal relevance (pp. 12-14). These hands-on, exploratory activities mirror ISTE’s focus on creative communication and innovative design.

Envisioning these standards working together means creating interdisciplinary learning environments where AASL’s inquiry-based approach intersects with ISTE’s digital fluency goals. For example, a collaborative project on media literacy could integrate AASL's ethical evaluation of sources with ISTE's emphasis on understanding digital tools and formats.

Ultimately, both standards aim to equip students for success in a complex, information-rich, and digital world, and librarians are uniquely positioned to serve as bridges between these frameworks. When integrated, they promote not only academic achievement but also critical thinking, digital literacy, and lifelong learning.

References 

American Association of School Librarians (AASL). (2018). Learners approach the world from an inquiry stance. National School Library Standards. https://standards.aasl.org/project/foundations/ 


Robinson, A. & Freedman, J. (2019). School librarians level up! Transform your teaching by unpacking the AASL standards framework and implementing shared foundation V: Explore. Knowledge Quest: Journeying with the AASL Standards. Journal of the American Association of School Librarians. 47(5), 10-15. 

Comments

  1. Olivia C.June 30, 2025 at 9:56 AM

    Hey Madison! Thank you for your thoughtful discussion. I agree with you in saying that ISTE and AASL could be interwoven to provide a complementary framework for students to implement across all subject areas. While ISTE standards focus on technology, the AASL standards are written in a more general format. Both sets of standards can work together to provide guidance in progressing in literacy and communication.

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