Learning through the use of symbols presupposes the ability to think visually, including the perception, structuring, processing, and transformation of visual images. Since children process high volumes of visual messages, especially via television, schools should restructure curricula to include objectives in visual literacy, specifically the reading, planning, creating, and combining of visuals for intentional communication. Analogies to verbal literacy are useful, but inadequate in explaining the complexity of visual thinking. The Visual Communications Project of Milford represented the most successful attempt to present a sequence of visual literacy skills, and other recent investigations have increased the understanding of visual literacy. The research is proliferating, but efforts have not as yet been drawn together by a comprehensive theory of visual literacy. (EMH)