This paper examines the effect of content coverage on mathematics achievement and studies its relationship to eighth grade tracking. Previous analyses have shown tracking to be quite prevalent at eighth grade unlike much of the rest of the world. The U.S. practices both between- and within-school tracking, leading to very different content…

Described is an elective course in Creative Thinking in the Maple Heights, Ohio, school system. (MB)

As a result of the emphasis on accountability in education, the faculty of Colonel E. Brooke Lee Junior High School wrote basic and advanced instructional objectives for each course in the curriculum. This publication lists these performance objectives for each subject at grade 8. The purpose of such a system is to give parents and students an…

Discusses generally how a city can be used as an educational resource and presents a learning activity for middle-level social studies students. The lesson involves having student closely examine an aerial photograph of Hampton, VA, from the 1920s. Then, students make inferences from the photo about the lives of residents of Hampton at that time.…

Describes a grade eight course which focused on the neighborhood surrounding an inner city school. The course's objectives were to have students identify architectural features and their relations to architectural styles; ascertain the dominant style and date of probable period of construction; and make a composite map of the area, showing…

This work is one of a series of collections of objectives and measurement items from several subject areas based upon curricular material either submitted by teachers, schools, and school districts, or generated by the Instructional Objectives Exchange (IOX) staff. Contained in the junior high school English literature collection are sixteen…

The goal of this K-8 social studies curriculum guide is to ensure instructional consistency at each grade level and sequential growth in content and process skills. Within the K-6 grade levels, the curriculum objectives are itemized under the discipline areas of geography, history, cultures/ethnicity, citizenship/government, economics, and…

The state of New Mexico requires all sixth grade students to take the year-long social studies course entitled Eastern Hemisphere Studies. Seventh grade students are required to take two semester-long courses, are in Western Hemisphere Studies and the other in New Mexico History and Geography. The year-long social studies course on U.S. History is…

This manual outlines course performance standards based upon intended outcomes in courses which are part of the state-adopted curriculum frameworks, grades six through eight. The Florida standards are for selected courses in language arts including English and reading. Ten to 11 performance standards for language arts are listed for each of the 18…

The Pennsylvania industrial arts curriculum guide for grades 7 and 8 reflects changing philosophy and practices in industrial arts education as well as incorporating the effect of technological changes. Objectives unique to industrial arts education are: (1) to develop literacy in a technological civilization, (2) to develop an insight and…

Describes the comprehensive curriculum approach and teacher training program on the Jewish Holocaust that has been developed for adolescents by Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit organization. Course objectives, problems teachers will encounter, and student response are discussed. (MBR)

The Project Social Studies Curriculum Center at the University of Minnesota developed this teacher's guide for an eighth grade course on Our Political System. The course, part of an articulated curriculum for grades K-12, draws heavily upon political science while using concepts from other social sciences. The emphasis is on decision-making at the…

Designed to help classroom teachers implement the "Alabama Course of Study: Language Arts," this curriculum guide for grades 7-8 is in three major sections. The first section is a table of contents that lists desired student outcomes under each of the four major strands mandated by the course of study (listening, speaking,…

Curriculum mapping activities can be useful in analyzing curriculum goals and planning curriculum revision. This document is specifically designed using the Science Education Curriculum Goals articulated by the State of Oregon for grade 8. The goal areas include concepts, processes, manipulative skills, interests, values, interactions and…

Two classes, each comprised of seventh and eighth grade students, are used to test the hypothesis that student participation in observing and solving real-life environmental problems increases positive changes in their attitudes toward school. Two methods of teaching urban environmental studies are used: an experimental community action approach…