Hello, Vittoria.
In answer to your first question … FOSIL is based on the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum – a PK-12 (Reception-Year 13) continuum of the information literacy and inquiry skills that are essential for all students to learn – which was initially developed in 2009 as the New York City Information Fluency Continuum (NYCIFC) under the auspices of the Office of Library Services and Director Dr Barbara Stripling. The NYCIFC was endorsed in 2012 by the School Library System of New York State and renamed the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum (ESIFC). The ESIFC was re-imagined in 2019, again under the leadership of Dr Barbara Stripling, to adapt to changing information, education, and technology environments, as well as increasing diversity in student populations. The ESIFC serves 3.2 million students in 4,236 schools in New York State alone (as of October 2019). So in theory, all schools in New York State are working across the curriculum with this continuum of skills – Assessments by Grade gives an indication of what these skills look like and how they might be assessed (and were the starting point for our FOSIL resources). By the time I started developing FOSIL from the ESIFC, Barbara Stripling had moved on to the iSchool at Syracuse University and had also become ALA President, so I attempted to contact Ric Hasenyager, who took over from her as Director of Library Services in the New York City Department of Education, with this very question, but never received a reply. A recent development gives me hope again – I was asked to contribute to the programme for The Evolving Concept of ‘School Library’ and Its Profession by Luisa Marquardt, my colleague on the IFLA Section Standing committee for School Libraries, which I did – (Re)Discovering Inquiry In and Through the School Library: the FOSIL Model. As it turns out, Luisa knows Barbara Stripling and is going to put me in touch with her, which means that I will hopefully be able to raise this question directly with her.
In answer to your second question … yes. Jenny created a Topic – Locating ourselves in the epistemological landscape – in which she addresses this more broadly. If this does not answer your question, please let me know.
Take care, Darryl
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