Professional organizations, such as the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, have established guidelines and standards for certification of school media specialists and have identified necessary professional competencies. Issues and problems concerning state certification and…

Reviews the current state of assessment of competencies for school media programs, describes a procedure for categorizing assessment strategies, and presents an approach to determine which competencies and assessment strategies are used in professional courses. A case study of a program at Syracuse University and 11 references are included. (EJS)

Surveyed juvenile justice personnel in Michigan to determine their educational background. Counseling was indicated as a priority curriculum for graduate education. Interdisciplinary education did not have a significant impact. Data support the mental health specialist concept as a descriptor of personnel in the juvenile justice system.…

In the followup to a study conducted in 1977, the 50 state departments of education were resurveyed to determine the availability of orientation and mobility specialists for the visually impaired in the public schools. A definite trend was found toward increasing the availability of these specialists. (Author)

Discusses the role of the media librarian in the transition from print-awareness to media-awareness, pointing out the media skills they need and the lack of instruction in these skills in library schools. (EJS)

Examines the use of media, particularly by the school media specialist, to change attitudes toward children with various disabilities who are mainstreamed into regular classrooms. Kits for use with nonhandicapped children, resource books for faculty members, and other types of media are listed with annotations. References are included. (Author/BK)

Games have only recently been accepted as educational tools, but their potential value is yet to be realized. It is suggested that school library media specialists should investigate this method for actively involving students in the learning process. Game construction and a sample game are included. (Author/CMV)

Explores the skills used by instructional developers to comprehend unfamiliar content, discusses the nature and characteristics of disciplines, and presents self-reports of experienced developers. Ethnography is examined for heuristics on interviewing and questioning techniques for eliciting information. Eleven references are provided. (Author/BK)

The need for mathematics specialists, similar to those often supplied for elementary schools in music, art, and physical education, is promoted. Such specialists should have special training to diagnose learning patterns. (MP)

Examines four types of film directing and the programs available to students wishing to pursue careers as directors. The categories of directing are feature films, independent films, sponsored films, and commercials. Limitations of existing programs are outlined. (JMF)

Surveys five media center directors for promotional tips. Finds that the media specialists keep their clients aware of their programs and services in a variety of ways. (FL)

Discusses the interactive role supervisors and directors of school media centers must assume and processes which they must implement in order to maintain their positions in the educational setting. Article uses examples of supervisory interface in the Cleveland Public Schools with social studies, research and development, and community resources.…

College and university news and information directors are advised about technological advances in news media, types of newspapers, and techniques for writing and distributing news releases. (JMF)

Briefly describes Project: Media Base, a national nonprint media data base; summarizes results of a survey to media personnel and librarians regarding this issue; and draws general conclusions for the practitioner and information science educator. (CWM)

A plan that not only expanded the music curriculum, but also brought classroom teachers and music specialists together. (Editor)