Discusses the need for students to become more aware of other cultures as the population becomes more diverse. Provides examples of activities that teachers and library media specialists can use to expand student's cultural awareness and explains The Diversity Game that can be adapted to community demographics. (LRW)

Discusses the National Board Certification for the Early Childhood through Young Adulthood/Library Media certificate, under development by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Explains the library media standards overview, including knowledge, activities, and professional growth; portfolio requirements; required assessment…

Discussion of national standards for information-and-technology literacy focuses on experiences at one school where national standards were synthesized by library media specialists to develop local standards as well as a series of benchmarks by which student achievement could be measured. (Author/LRW)

The Internet's unique scope, characteristics and potential make it a vehicle for media specialists to model good use of information technology and provide far-reaching instructional leadership in schools. This article focuses on approaches to Web site selection, supervision, and staff development for effective use of the Internet in schools. (AEF)

Discusses standards created by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) for library media programs that improve student achievement. Highlights include Information Power, 1998 edition; how to use standards; curriculum content standards; the influence and use of…

Discusses "Information Literacy Standards" for school library media specialists that were included in the 1998 edition of "Information Power" and presents a lesson plan for middle school students on global warming that focuses on the standard addressing perspective, or point of view, and incorporates an information process…

The shortage of school library media specialists (SLMSs) has accentuated the need for establishing and promoting mentoring programs in K-12 schools. Mentoring programs for SLMSs in two large urban school systems are addressing the needs of new SLMSs. Sample orientation/mentoring program activities are given. (AEF)

School library media specialists (SLMSs) in the Rochester (Michigan) Community Schools decided it was crucial to come to a consensus about key roles of SLMSs in successful school library media programs. They identified the following roles: information specialist, instructional partner, and program administrator. To educate administrators, staff…

Most camps use specialists to run activities and cabin leaders to manage campers. However, a generalist model offers greater leadership development opportunities. To implement a more generalist paradigm, have camp leaders express their areas of skill and interest, pair up experienced and inexperienced staff, allow specialists to cover activities…

Objective: To examine the relative contributions of symptom severity, functional impairment, and parental burden in predicting the use of specialist child mental health services over a 4-year period. Method: Between 1999 and 2000, parental Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were completed on a community-based sample of 1,168 (40% response…

This article describes the library media program at John Glenn Elementary School (San Antonio, Texas). The program's goal was to increase student involvement in the teaching/learning process through a library media program that would generate excitement, intensity, and commitment. The three strategies they employed to achieve this goal were: (1)…

Health and educational leaders are sounding the alarm about the unhealthy condition of many students in America's K-12 schools. Each day, new scientific studies confirm that "The majority of American youth are sedentary and do not eat well. Sixteen percent of school-aged children and adolescents--or nine million--are overweight, a figure that has…

When adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) require a psychiatric admission, general adult mental health units are often used. Specialist units have emerged recently as a care option but there is only limited evidence of their effectiveness. Thus this study aims to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of a specialist inpatient unit and…

When Oprah Winfrey began her successful book club in 1996, she continued a tradition that public libraries have provided for decades. Oprah placed a spotlight on reading that encouraged many women who had never read a book "to read." Book clubs sprang up in neighborhoods, bookstores, and on Web sites. Library media centers began offering book…

A survey of 34 British headteachers, 25 deputy headteachers, and 49 other educators found the most popular form of professional development was short-course provision, the most requested topic for professional development was performance management, and the majority believed professional development should be special education needs-specific.…