This groundbreaking two-volume set provides readers with the information they need to grasp new developments in the swiftly evolving field of media literacy. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed media literacy a "fundamental human right." How fitting that there is finally a definitive handbook to help students and the general public alike become better informed, more critical consumers of mass media. In these A–Z volumes, readers can learn about methodologies and assessment strategies; get information about sectors, such as community media and media activism; and explore areas of study, such as journalism, advertising, and political communications. The rapid evolution of media systems, particularly digital media, is emphasized, and writings by notable media literacy scholars are included. In addition to providing a wide range of qualitative approaches to media literacy analysis, the handbook also offers a wealth of media literacy resources. These include lists of media literacy organizations and national media literacy programs, plus relevant books, websites, videos, and articles.

This book introduces readers to key concepts and issues in the evolving field of special education. Arguably, over the past thirty years, no other area of education has been as radically transformed as the provision of services to children with disabilities. Since the mid 1970s, special education has steadily grown to reach fully 12% of the U.S. student population in grades K-12, and millions of children from birth to age five. Despite its promise of equal access, special education has become a controversial field in many respects. Critics point to its high cost, questionable pedagogical effectiveness, and differential outcomes across localities, family income levels, and ethnicities. The more typical approach in the literature highlights the legal and procedural mandates that dominate the discourse on educating the disabled student, but fails to explore the underlying assumptions and inconsistencies that make this area of education a controversial and still unsettled enterprise. This handbook departs from the traditional books in the field by focusing on the ways that special education policies and practices are enacted, rather than highlighting only their intended outcomes. Contributors to this text focus on defining commonly used terms and professional jargon in order to give interested readers access and insight into the field of special education and its associated practices. Some of the subjects included in this volume are the history of special education, disability and society, law and special education, pedagogy, policies and practices, and research in special education.

Covering print, photography, film, radio, television, and new media, this textbook instructs readers on how to take a critical approach to media and interpret the information overload that is disseminated via mass communication. This fourth edition of Keys to Interpreting Media Messages supplies a critical and qualitative approach to media literacy analysis. Now updated with conceptual changes, current examples, updated references, and coverage of new developments in media— particularly in digital, interactive forms—this book addresses all forms of information disseminated via mass communication. Organized into three sections, the book first presents a theoretical framework for the critical analysis of media text that covers the definition of media literacy as well as fundamental principles and concepts. Part II focuses on the application of this methodological framework to the analysis of advertising, journalism, American political communications, and interactive media. Part III considers specific mass media issues, such as violence in the media, media and children, and global communications, and discusses outcomes of having a media-literate population.

Maintaining that urban teaching and learning is characterized by many contradictions, this work proposes that there is a wide range of social, cultural, psychological, and pedagogical knowledge urban educators must possess in order to engage in effective and transformative practice. It is necessary for those teaching in urban schools to be scholar-practitioners, rather than bureaucrats who can only follow rather than analyze, understand, and create. Ten major sections cover the myriad issues of urban education as it exists today.

Media is rapidly evolving, from social media to news channels, individuals are being bombarded with headlines, new technologies, and varying opinions. Teaching the next generation of communication professionals how to interact with varying forms of media is paramount as they will be the future distributors of news and information. The Handbook of Research on Media Literacy in Higher Education Environments provides emerging research on the role of journalism and mass communication education in the digital era. While highlighting topics such as community media labs, political cognition, and public engagement, this publication explores the impact of globalization and a changing and diversified world within the realm of higher education. This publication is an important resource for educators, academicians, professionals, and researchers seeking current research on applications and strategies in promoting media and digital studies in higher education.

Emerging technologies are becoming more prevalent in global classrooms. Traditional literacy pedagogies are shifting toward game-based pedagogy, addressing 21st century learners. Therefore, within this context there remains a need to study strategies to engage learners in meaning-making with some element of virtual design. Technology supports the universal design learning framework because it can increase the access to meaningful engagement in learning and reduce barriers. The Handbook of Research on Acquiring 21st Century Literacy Skills Through Game-Based Learning provides theoretical frameworks and empirical research findings in digital technology and multimodal ways of acquiring literacy skills in the 21st century. This book gains a better understanding of how technology can support leaner frameworks and highlights research on discovering new pedagogical boundaries by focusing on ways that the youth learn from digital sources such as video games. Covering topics such as elementary literacy learning, indigenous games, and student-worker training, this book is an essential resource for educators in K-12 and higher education, school administrators, academicians, pre-service teachers, game developers, researchers, and libraries.

From the private academies of Colonial America to the comprehensive public high schools and alternative schools of today, The Praeger Handbook of American High Schools offers a thorough compendium for parents, educators, and students. In its accessible and well-organized volumes, it includes charts and tables representing such things as enrollment trends, drop out rates, and academic achievement, as well as original entries on everything from assessment to No Child Left Behind to vouchers. Written by an interdisciplinary group of experts in education, psychology, sociology, and other fields, this landmark handbook provides a thorough examination of U.S. secondary education from the private academies of Colonial America to the comprehensive high schools and alternative schools of today. This accessible compendium is a treasure trove of reliable and authoritative information for educators, parents, and students. It includes original entries on assessment, architecture, bullying, campus life, censorship, college preparation, desegregation, disabilities, ethnic identity, family and community involvement, finance inequality, gangs, home schooling, homework, immigrants, intelligence, learning styles, magnet schools, mentoring, peer groups and peer culture, prom, reunions, rural schools, school boards, school to work programs, sex education, sports, standardized tests, student rights, teacher certification, teacher shortage, test preparation, violence, vouchers, and yearbooks, just to name a few. The text includes primary documents, each with scene and context-setting introductions, such as reports, legislation, and US Supreme Court cases will be found as well. Thorough cross-referencing enables the user to follow a topic from an entry to a primary document or another related entry. This wide-ranging, accessible and user-friendly source is an authoritative reference for anyone concerned with high schools and high school students in the United States.