With constantly changing needs in a global economy, more flexibility in educational accountability for states and districts, and a focus on high standards for all students, state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) are increasingly defining what skills, competencies, and knowledge graduates should have by developing a…

This activity guide, for Colorado teachers responsible for teaching geography to students in grades K-12, explains how to use the principles of contextual learning to integrate academic content standards with career development and workplace competencies. The introduction discusses the guide's purpose, the role of standards and assessments in the…

Educating students about character development and responsibility can and should be an integral part of the academic curriculum. This collection contains units of study that were written to exemplify some of the many ways that these themes might be taught in preK-12 Massachusetts classrooms. Using the standards of the Massachusetts Curriculum…

The purpose of New Jersey's Visual and Performing Arts Standards is to improve student achievement in arts education, not arts-as-entertainment, not art-assembly projects, not art-as-activity. An education in the arts requires curricular scope and sequence and the intellectual rigor of experiential learning. The Visual and Performing Arts…

The report summarizes findings and recommendations of a California Task Force on Program Effectiveness in Special Education. The 30 Task Force members ("stakeholders" in special education) were divided into committees to address four goals: (1) identify the mission of special education and describe the context in which special education…

The students in California's classrooms live in a world of diversity. They eat unique foods, wear different types of clothes, live in different types of homes, and speak and hear many languages. This unit focuses on cultures, customs, ceremonies, traditions, foods, clothing, and shelter. These basic universal necessities of life--food, clothing,…

This guide has been designed to assist the middle grades (5-8) physical educator in planning and providing Georgia students with meaningful activities to prepare them for physically active, healthy lives. Designed to provide middle grades physical education teachers with a framework for local curriculum development, this guide is available for the…

Educating students in the arts provides benefits not available through any other means. This guide to essential learning requirements for the arts for Washington state students defines the arts as creative expressions using sound, image, action, and movement. The guide explains that the arts help students to develop intellectual, social, personal,…

Recent state reforms that embrace the effective schools movement may actually be counterproductive. These mandates encourage the persistence of outmoded, teacher centered, pedagogical practices and current school organizational structures, inhibiting the development of students' independent reasoning and problem-solving skills, as well as the…

This manual offers guidance on the use of the Alternate Portfolio Assessment Process to evaluate outcomes of Kentucky students with severe disabilities. Portfolios are intended to showcase student work and allow performance-based evaluation across life domain activities. Criteria for determining eligibility of students with disabilities for this…

This document is designed to assist classroom teachers in preparing students to complete successfully the social studies component of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). The teaching strategies, activities, and resources herein are meant to assist teachers in specifically addressing the mandated standards and objectives of the AHSGE.…