A call for a curricular renaissance wherein certain strategies will encourage good curriculum development. (Editor)

Looks at the planning and implementation of the art curriculum in Virginia Beach City (VA) Public Schools. Lists the goals of the art education program and the components that serve as the organizational framework. Provides a brief description of elementary and secondary curricula. Discusses problems and solutions involved with the implementation…

Discusses the varying definitions of a practical secondary school curriculum and those assumptions about practicality that have led to errors in educational planning. Describes the curricular crisis in many developing countries in terms of confusion surrounding the purposes of vocationalization. Notes that educational planners should not duplicate…

Finds many postsecondary students unable to understand or apply arithmetic concepts. Identifies problems in college arithmetic curricula and in students' academic skills. Reviews reform efforts in elementary/secondary mathematics curricula, arguing for similar reforms in college level developmental mathematics. Reviews issues related to calculator…

Presents information on textbook design and marketing practices, and their consequences for textbook content; recommends that selection committees firmly define the role of the textbook in curriculum, and adapt published materials to their school system's unique requirements. (MCG)

Since 1980, an increasing number of state and local education agencies have reintroduced a world history requirement into their secondary curricula. This ERIC Digest examines five key questions related to that trend. Questions raised, together with some salient points made in the discussion of each, are as follows: (1) What is the background to…

Discusses the potential impact of the recent call for cultural literacy on arts education. Describes current design approaches in the arts education curriculum. Suggests a number of ideas that are deemed important for curriculum reform. Cautions that curricular changes, although much needed, must be thoughtfully considered before implementation.…

Proposes a model for a comprehensive arts curriculum. Discusses the significant phases of the curriculum and relates them to each other. These phases include identification of values, conceptualization, systematizing, interpretation, operation, and experience. Lists five objectives that serve as criteria for judging the worth of curricula. (KO)

From a practical, eclectic, and teacher-centered vantage point, this paper reviews previous attempts to classify curriculum development processes, proposes an analytic schema for examing such processes, and explicates an alternative process which has been found to be effective in working with teachers. First, critical distinctions are drawn…

This book discusses how the curriculum can be designed, adapted, and delivered in general education classrooms that are attempting to promote inclusive communities. Chapters include: "Toward Inclusive Classrooms" (Susan Stainback et al.); "Celebrating Diversity, Creating Community: Curriculum that Honors and Builds on Differences" (Mara…

Drawing from tapes of meetings and documents produced during a month-long curriculum development institute, this paper describes the conflicts attending an effort to design a structured general studies program at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). The paper presents and analyzes two fundamentally different ways of conceiving of problems,…

With enrollments in the social sciences declining markedly and their educational values being deemphasized, a new approach must be taken to social sciences instruction. Social science courses are antiquated, need revision, fail to offer enough job relevance to draw most students, are taught too conservatively, and no longer enjoy a protected…

Heritage education is an approach to teaching, rather than an academic discipline or subject area. It draws on history, geography, literature, the arts, architecture, and the social and natural sciences to study the evidence of the past remaining in the natural and built environment, the material culture, written documents, and in community…

This paper focuses on the current trends and issues in social studies education based on the literature that passes through the ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education (Indiana). Four trends pertaining to teaching content in history, geography, civics, and science in society have emerged from a review of the literature.…

The creation of a gender-fair multicultural curriculum is the necessary basis for the equitable schooling of all girls and boys in the United States. The key to success in curriculum reform is the inclusion of everyone with a stake in the schools in an effective, productive process. Defining the term multicultural education illustrates the…