For educators, the content of the curriculum really is like oxygen: it is the necessary precondition for improving schools, closing the achievement gap, engaging parents, and preparing teachers. However, when educators take the content of the curriculum for granted, they lose opportunities to coordinate and collaborate. Good curriculum instruction…

This article provides a summary account of the book, "A Mission to the Heart of Young People: Catholic Curriculum", published in Australia in 2012. To preserve the true mission and religious integrity of Catholic schools in the face of secularism and "national economic requirements", it is argued that Catholic schools must…

In its quest for boosting Hong Kong's world-class standing in higher education, the Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau implemented the 3+3+4 reform, which represents a major overhaul of higher education curriculum; the addition of one year of studies to create a four-year undergraduate degree track is set to replace its three-year track in…

When educators think about what makes learning relevant to students, often they narrow their thinking to electives or career technical education. While these provide powerful opportunities for students to make relevant connections to their learning, they can also create authentic experiences in the core curriculum. In the San Juan Unified School…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 placed high demands on public schools by requiring that all students become proficient in math and reading by the year 2014. Many public schools responded to the demand by limiting curriculum to the core curriculum, particularly in the lengthening of the amount of time spent studying the subjects reading and…

Seton Hall University's new core curriculum includes a pair of Signature Courses and a third-year Signature Course developed within departments, two composition classes, a university life course, and five proficiencies. This article describes the process leading to the development of this new curriculum and provides advice on general education…

The authors provide a case study of how a group of faculty members was able to initiate transformation in student learning and institutional structures at a small university in the Midwestern U.S. through the introduction of collaborative feminist organizing and pedagogy. It details faculty-led initiatives that set the stage for innovative…

Hunt and McDonnell have provided an excellent overview of one of the most important aspects of planning for students with severe disabilities--an ecological curricular framework that is created with input from the student, family, and needs of current and future environments. The standards-based reform-movement has created tension for educators to…

Background: The Netherlands traditionally has a strong civil society. This has had an impact on the education system through the relatively high degree of autonomy for schools on moral and didactical choices as well as on the curriculum. Such freedom provides ample room for citizenship to develop at a local level. The large degree of curricular…

This dissertation proposal begins with a discussion about how the education of game programmers was not meeting the needs of the game industry. With this problem identified, this study proceeded to verify the existence of disparities of current game programming curricula. The findings from the literature review were able to: (a) justify the need…

To carry out their mission of preparing students to be successful journalism professionals, educators make important decisions on the core curriculum: the common courses that all journalism students must take to graduate, no matter their area of emphasis or academic constraints. This national study of U.S. journalism program directors shows they…

Security and disaster training is identified as a top Information Technology (IT) required skill that needs to be taught in Information Systems (IS) curriculums. Accordingly, information security and privacy have become core concepts in information system education. Providing IT security on a shoestring budget is always difficult and many small…

"If it's not tested, it doesn't get taught" is the prevailing belief that guides many educators' practice of only teaching skills that are addressed in the latest governing standards. Most states have now adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which don't cover handwriting or spelling. Consequently, some states and school districts have…

The emergence of the standards-based reform movement has raised a number of issues related to the design of educational programs for students with severe disabilities, and a debate has arisen that presents an "either/or" choice between the general education curriculum and an ecological curricular framework that has traditionally guided…

In this article (part one of two) I will consider, using the dramatistic model pioneered by Kenneth Burke, the "scene" or historical cultural ground of each "highly developed' national/regional area (The EU, the USA, Hong Kong [SAR], and Singapore) in terms of their Higher Education (HE) systems. After these analyses, then I look to…