Intended to help school districts develop their own language arts (kindergarten through grade twelve) curriculum guide, this handbook outlines a four-step process for curriculum planning: (1) organizing the curriculum committee; (2) identifying and assessing current philosophies and practices (includes certain standards for accreditation of Montana schools and the "Essentials of Education" statement); (3) writing or revising the English language arts curriculum (provides samples of scope and sequence, course of study, and relating goals to resources); and (4) assessment of the new curriculum. Each process consists of a set of questions, samples, and references. An annotated bibliography that is directly related to the questions is provided at the end and includes sections on general curriculum concerns, English language arts general concerns, career education, censorship and copyright concerns, composition, drama, exceptional students, language, literature, media, oral communication, and reading. (HOD)