This qualitative investigation reports on the use of Parent Resource Centers (PRCs) as a mechanism for parental involvement in public school choice decisions. Interviews with parents and staff at seven PRCs in Florida revealed that PRCs employ multiple strategies to communicate choice information to parents: community-, school- and media-based…

There exists a sparse representation of blind and low-vision students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This is due in part to these individuals being discouraged from pursuing STEM degrees as well as a lack of appropriate adaptive resources in upper level STEM courses and research. Mona Minkara is a rising fifth…

In this article, the author talks about the Florida Power-Library School (FPLS) program. She describes the why, who, what and how of the Florida Power-Library School initiative, as well as the favorable results for schools. Schools successfully completing this process see relationships among staff and community members strengthened. Library media…

Between recent threats by a Florida pastor to burn the Quran, the nation's ongoing presence in Afghanistan, and protests at the planned site for Park 51, an Islamic community center and mosque set to be built two blocks from the World Trade Center site, the topic of Islam is a tricky one, especially in K-12 schools, say many educators. For…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

The manual describes the services and procedures offered by the Florida Instructional Materials Center for visually handicapped children and youth. The center is said to be a coordinating unit and resource center for the cataloging, standardizing, production, procurement, storage, and distributation of educational materials needed by visually…

Hurricane Ivan struck the Gulf Coast of Florida on September 16, 2004, destroying waterfront homes, and damaging properties for miles. Pensacola Junior College (PJC), a two-year college with three campuses and a student population of approximately 26,000, was hit hard. In the Pensacola Campus Learning Resources Center (LRC), water and mold ruined…

Media centers were introduced in six elementary schools, all within the original budget and at less cost than if they had been furnished in the traditional library fashion. (Author)

An innovative school renovation program is resulting in new media centers for six elementary schools and four relocatable kindergartens. (Author/MLF)

The decision to build a new or renovate an existing community college library has been triggered by one or more of these problems: collection growth, increased student population, or new technologies. Increasingly, the perception of diminished use is triggering reconfiguration of library space. This article discusses implications, case studies,…

A Florida elementary school mainstreaming 30 children with deafness and hearing impairments has developed a collection of signed videotapes for teachers, parents, and students to borrow. Videotapes include signed story books, tapes for teaching sign language, and tapes made by students. (DB)

A study of centralized school media processing centers in Indiana and Florida indicated that a coordinated national effort, such as the Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication project, could eliminate the repetitive and costly operation of such centers. (Author/PF)

A nongraded instructional program in a Broward County, Florida elementary school, without interior walls, is set up to focus on the media center. The emphasis in every aspect of the concept is flexibility. (JS)

A stratified random sample of educators from the 1,827 schools in Florida with one or more full-time media specialists was surveyed in order to determine which of the 62 competencies for media specialists proposed by the Florida Department of Education Council on Teacher Education were considered essential. Respondents were sent an initial…

This article identifies problems with current practice in evaluating employee performance and presents currently accepted performance appraisal methods (behaviorally anchored rating scales, management by objectives). A research project designed to improve appraisals for school media specialists which was field-tested in four Florida school…