The Educational Media (Ed Media) Masters at the University of Central Florida is based on the philosophy and mission of the AASL national guidelines for school library media programs: " to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information."

To carry out this mission, successful Ed Media students a) provide intellectual and physical access to materials in all formats; b) provide instruction to foster competence and stimulate interest in reading, viewing and using information and ideas; c) work with other educators to design learning strategies to meet the needs of individual prek-12 students.

The goal of the Ed Media Masters is to prepare Ed Media students for service and leadership as school library media specialists serving preK-12 students. The program addresses the philosophy, principles and ethics of the profession and strives to ensure that students training to become media specialist are effective users of ideas and information through teaching and learning, information access and delivery, reading advocacy and program administration.

The Ed Media program values research, reading, teaching and service in a diverse and changing society.To insure Ed Media students meet these challenging expectations, the AASL, on behalf of the ALA, has developed rigorous standards based on research findings, national and state professional documents, expert opinion, and accepted best practices in the field.

The Ed Media Masters integrates the ALA/AASL standards throughout the program and courses.

ALA/AASL Standards
Education today emphasizes outcomes based learning with most states having standards that describe the level of acceptable or designated student competence (See FLorida Educator Accomplished Practices and FL Ed Media Subject Area Competencies). These standards reflect the public's interest in educational accountability and authentic learning and assessments. The use of authentic learning aligns well with best practice in school library media programs that stress information literacy.

The Ed Media program reflects these educational standards, the educational movement that drives current changes and trends, and the educational commitment to ensure that all students learn as well as become life-long learners.

The following matrix identifies the ALA/AASL Standards, Sub-Standards and Assessment Evidence found in Ed Media courses and the program. Assessment Evidence correlates with the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices (FEAP) Template. Details about each Assessment Evidence can be viewed by clicking the appropriate FEAP.

A complete description of each ALA/AASL Standard and Sub-Standard can be found in the ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Programs for School Library Media Specialist Preparation (pages 10-24).