Review by Choice Review
Designed as an easy-to-use reference for the entire educational community, especially students of education, the third edition of this encyclopedia covers numerous broad areas of education, including administration, federal and state legislation, court decisions, finance, pedagogy, special education, vocational education, history, school reform, and classroom technology, among others. The encyclopedia examines complex issues that American educators face, ranging from illegal immigrants and ethnic and racial educational achievement gaps to intelligent design, digital libraries, national testing, and financial aid. To keep pace with educational changes, this work has added almost 100 new articles regarding technology, special education, e-textbooks, interactive whiteboards, and various electronic teaching tools. In the process of updating thousands of statistics, Unger (independent scholar) and contributors revised over 750 articles, including information on the history, trends, and quality of education in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The introduction, a new addition to the table of contents, gives readers a strong sense of the history of education in the US and identifies specific sections throughout the volumes with a unique font. Although the information in this set is accurate, concise, and timely, users will find that the placement of the bibliography, references, and appendixes in the last volume makes it difficult to use this material for further research. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic and general collections; all levels. M. L. Melita SUNY College at Cortland
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
With each revision of this encyclopedia, which first appeared in 1996, the changes, fads, politics, debates, and realities of educational practice are updated, while the basic history of American education since colonial times is kept intact in clearly written, accessible entries. Controversial issues of past and present are succinctly and factually described. The breadth of entries, which cover events, projects, educational plans, curriculum approaches, court cases, educational jargon, and selected individuals, makes this an exceptional reference for those reading educational literature or needing definitions of words used in the news media. One can find the meaning of Ceiling budgets, Dream schools, Matthew effect, Petty school, and Talking typewriter as well as descriptions of the U.S. Secretary of Education's job, the activities of influential colleges of education, and the impact of poverty on education. About the only missing topic from the detailed index is school violence though juvenile delinquency is there. The lengthy bibliography is grouped into 41 general subjects with subheadings. Among the appendixes are a chronology from 1607 to 2001, a list with brief descriptions of significant federal legislation from 1787 to 2006, and a list of significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions on education. The introductory essay is a good overview of the history and substance of the varied aspects of education in the U.S. The close to 1,400 libraries that hold earlier editions will want to add this to their holdings because one-quarter of the entries have been revised and almost 100 new entries deal with technology in teaching. Recommended for academic and public libraries.--Scarth, Linda Loos Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
The author of this comprehensive encyclopedia, a former professor of English and journalism, has written five books on education, and his column appears regularly in the weekly journal Education. His three-volume set contains over 2000 alphabetically arranged entries covering all aspects of education past and present, including educational movements, biographical information on prominent educators, health issues such as AIDS and sex education, legal issues, publications, organizations, schools, programs, and tests. The final volume includes an extensive bibliography divided into 41 major subject areas, while the four appendixes offer a wealth of information, including a chronology of major dates in the history of education from 1607 to 1994, federal education legislation from 1787 to 1993, and significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions in education. Nothing currently available has the scope of this excellent encyclopedia. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.Barbara S. Meagher, Central Connecticut State Univ., New Britain (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
