Schools have changed dramatically in the last two decades with the advancements that have been made in technology. One of teachers' main concerns is the appropriate selection of software for classroom use (Hall and Martin, 1999). In our technology driven world, it is essential for future educators to learn all they can about technology. Teachers use software as a supplement or enrichment for curriculum taught in the classroom. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate software for its most effective use in the classroom. There are many different software applications on the market, and it is crucial that teachers know how to provide input when selecting these for their classrooms. T. Oppenheimer (1997) suggests, based on a 1996 poll taken by U.S. teachers, that computer skills and media technology is more essential than the study of European History, biology, chemistry, and physics. This study was designed to create a checklist for teachers to use when evaluating software specifically used in a balanced literacy program. The purpose is to answer the following questions: 1. Can an instrument be developed for the evaluation of software to be used in a balanced literacy program? 2. What are the results of applying such an instrument to selected software? This paper reviews literature related to software evaluation and observation of software used in elementary classrooms. The checklist is comprised of scoring systems of various related checklists and rubrics that deal with evaluating software, and there are a few original questions based on relevant information about children's learning, literacy in the classroom and technology in the classroom. The software was selected due to my previous observations and seminars attended that related to software usage in the classrooms.

At some point during their education children seem to lose their motivation to read. Teachers are becoming more aware of this phenomenon and realize that just teaching children the skills of reading is no longer a sufficient means of ensuring high quality literacy education. It is equally important to help children learn to value reading. Unfortunately it is becoming ever more prevalent to find children who do not read voluntarily. This group of people who can read but choose not to are known as aliterates. What role does the classroom library play in combating aliterate readers? The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between aliteracy and classroom libraries. The methodology used is a literature review of relevant research articles and scholarly works related to this topic. In the studies reviewed, researchers examined the prevalence of classroom libraries in schools and the characteristics of the classroom library that are most effective in influencing children to read on their own. From the data reviewed, recommendations for the physical set-up, collection, and introduction of a classroom library have been presented.

ABSTRACT Aldous Huxley stated that "Every man who knows how to read has in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full , significant and interesting." For young students learning to read and expand their minds, there is no better time than the present to gain a love of reading. Yet, so many students expend the energy to learn how to read, only to choose never pick up a book. This study serves to show one characteristic of reading: aliteracy. From the mouth of a fifth grade student, aliteracy is "when you spend a lot of time learning how to read, but you just never take the time to do it." After first conducting focus groups with fifth grade students at a public elementary school, the researcher focused on three distinctly different students who posed diverse sides of aliteracy. By conducting interviews with these students, a better understanding of aliteracy can be achieved. Through this understanding, positive changes in our schools and our reading programs can hopefully be achieved.

The purpose of this study is to determine if elementary school libraries in west central Florida provide diverse, inclusive collections of LGBTQAI+ material in a safe space, and, if they do, to ascertain the librarians' understanding of, and satisfaction with, how that material is cataloged and classified. I wanted to know whether the literature was easily located, or, conversely, if the library classification tools and practices either misrepresented non-normative students or failed to represent them at all, given the potential impacts on students' self-acceptance. To answer these questions, I surveyed 41 private, independent, and public librarians, 10 of whom volunteered for in-depth, semi-structured interviews. During the interviews, I explored how the librarians used lists, thesauri, tagging, ratings, and spine labels to supplement their catalog searches. As none of this work happens in a vacuum, I also examined the paradigm in which the librarians do their work. I approached this study as a humanist, through a feminist lens, using Queer Theory and Whiteness studies. I was not seeking a unitary truth but rather a thick description of each librarian's perspectives and decisions concerning their collection management and cataloging procedures, contextualized within their daily demands as school librarians and, in the case of the public school librarians, technology specialists. My research found a group of librarians dedicated to their work, each of whom approached the management of LGBTQAI+ literature from their own positionality, ranging from those who denied that elementary students needed this literature at all, to those who wanted to provide it but were restricted by time, budget, and parental and administration censorship, to those who boldly proclaimed "I'm not afraid."

<p>Throughout my project, I focus on contemporary young adult historical fantasies that engage with legacies of systemic racism and Western Imperialism—a publishing trend that has developed due to an increased call for stories of racial inclusion in YA literature. These texts aim to create a more inclusive historical imagination by telling fictionalized histories that center people of color. Given the current political climate surrounding Critical Race Theory, my project analyzes how these texts both challenge and inadvertently perpetuate the logic of systemic racism. I argue that these historical fantasies attempt to acknowledge and untangle legacies of racism for audiences who, in the face of today’s reactionary political climate, may very well not be taught about them in their schools. My approach focuses on how, in their exploration of racism, these novels attempt corrective representation in the context of current social justice and racial reckoning movements, and grapple with the legacy of institutional racism in the here and now. As such, my project argues that we not only need diverse books in Western young adult fiction, but we also need more books that are willing to confront the persistent problems of systemic racism without perpetuating racial stereotypes or Eurocentric viewpoints. </p>

High school is bad enough with cliques, coursework, and the impending threat of college – now some old evil is coming to Solomon Starek High School (SSH for short). It’s up to transfer student Ella, older than time and unthinkably powerful, to stop it. Ella’s certainly up to the task, but the world’s changed since the last time she was in it. Society has merged magic with science, and Ella’s not sure she’s up for that. Can her new classmates help her stop what’s coming, or will they fall short? This excerpt tracks Ella’s first days at school, and sets the stage for the chaos to come.

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Based on recent research concluding that fiction can increase empathy, this project examines how multicultural young adult literature may encourage empathy in Appalachian adolescents. Empathy encourages prosocial behaviors, but evidence suggests that young adults’ ability to empathize has declined in recent decades. In addition, Appalachia in particular is still a relatively homogenous region as it is majority white, protestant Christian, and heteronormative. Because of this, young adults in Appalachia may encounter few diverse perspectives in real life; multicultural young adult literature can provide diverse perspectives with which teenagers can empathize in a region where they might not have similar opportunities in reality. This thesis demonstrates how three multicultural young adult novels (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007), Accidents of Nature (2006), and The Porcupine of Truth (2015)) can be used in a literature unit that encourages students to show emotional understanding despite personal differences.

"We are in the world, but not of the world," a maxim frequently spoken in evangelical Christian culture, provides insight into how these individuals view their relationship with secular culture. They presume to share the same temporal plane with secular culture, but do not participate in it. In this dissertation, I explore whether the division between evangelical Christian culture and secular culture is as clear as this aphorism implies. To facilitate this investigation, I examine media Christian content creators created for an American evangelical Christian young adult audience in the early twenty-first century, specifically focusing on novel-length fiction, comics and graphic novels, and video games. Guided by a methodology informed by structuralist and poststructuralist theories, I uncover patterns in these media. I conclude that the boundaries between evangelical Christian culture and secular culture are less distinct than might first appear, which indicates significant contact and influence between these cultures.