Argues that middle schools must help students maintain and increase their abilities in reading. Describes a range of approaches and opportunities to emphasize reading in middle schools, including teams of teachers, tools for teachers, media specialists, public libraries, business partnerships, summertime reading programs, and thematic units. (SR)

Discusses four areas in school library media programs that media specialists are expected to develop. Topics include promoting information literacy among students; knowing how to evaluate and use various information technologies; consulting with teachers to strengthen student learning and outcomes; and serving on school-based management…

Presents techniques that in the author's experience have helped middle-school students produce better, more original work. Alternative formats to the traditional report project, clear assignment criteria, a grading rubric, and instruction in visual communication are all valuable. A model with which teachers can reduce plagiarism and promote…

Describes the experiences of a school library media specialist on the school board. Topics include how to make presentations to the school board; how media centers can request extra funding; and the importance of good communication with the community and with the other board members. (LRW)

Discusses the American Association of School Librarian's technology initiative, ICONnect. Components include the following: online courses on Internet use in schools; curriculum connections, providing links to resources and projects; KidsConnect, a question-answering/help/referral service for K-12; ICPrize, rewarding collaborative teams of…

Includes 13 articles that address issues concerning collaboration and partnerships between school library media specialists and classroom teachers. Highlights include projects for specific grades; team teaching; partnerships and activities with public libraries; collaborative planning; and collaboration with college libraries. (LRW)

Describes a study that investigated the effect teenage folklore storytelling has on the self-esteem of adolescents; its effect on building oral communication and storytelling skills; adolescent perceptions of the media center and public library; and cooperative ventures between school library media specialists and public librarians. (Contains 95…

Discusses how school nurses and school library media specialists can work together to help adolescents cope with chronic illnesses. Topics include educating other students; Web sites devoted to illness and youth; keeping material on the shelves up-to-date; and affective aspects that can be addresses in literature. (LRW)

Discussion of achievement tests and aptitude tests focuses on their relevance to information skills instruction. Topics include planning for resource-based activities by media specialists; history of student achievement and library skills; reading achievement; and results of state studies on achievement tests. (LRW)

Preferred characteristics in applicants for school library media specialist (SLMS) positions are studied in this article from three perspectives, that of the library school faculty, the library school student, and the school administrator. Surveys were sent to public high school administrators in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho;…

In January 2004, the National Collaboration for Youth approved a list of core competencies needed by entry-level youth development workers for effective youth development practice. This chapter provides an overview of these competencies, explaining why and how the list was created, outcomes, and recommendations for next steps. (Contains 13 notes.)

This article reexamines the exclusion of African Americans in the discipline of criminology and criminal justice. Young and Sulton raised this issue in their important article that focused on the role of African American scholars in various aspects of the field. The article revisits several areas investigated in the original article, including the…

Community-based parenting education programs have a unique role to play in the promotion of infant mental health. In contrast to classes that seek to accelerate child development, the author describes enrichment programs that promote parent-child bonding and healthy social and emotional development. The ParentSource program was developed on the…

In English schools, many responsibilities have been delegated downwards to "middle level leaders". National standards for subject leadership assume that middle leadership skills are generic and the literature largely agrees with this view. This article presents data from the first pilot enquiry within ARTSLAMP (Arts Leadership and…

Library media specialists are gung ho on technology, but they often lack the cash to take advantage of it, according to "SLJ"'s first-ever tech survey. Earlier this year, they reported on the various ways that school librarians use technology--from creating Web sites to policy-making to training students and colleagues. This time, they…