The concept of personalization in learning appeals to many K-12 teachers and students weary of regimented, one-size-fits-all instruction. The in-vogue term personalization is used to refer to many different learning strategies and structures--from personal learning plans to greater student voice. Differentiation expert Carol Ann Tomlinson is…

Proposes an expanded definition of critical thinking and discusses its components. Includes an outline of goals and objectives for a critical thinking curriculum. (MCG)

Describes a project to help teachers and administrators identify challenging goals for professional development. Activities that help to heighten awareness include breaking routine, changing perspective, examining assumptions, and reading challenging material. Two important ingredients for the professional development process are time and…

Described is a method of humanizing evaluation procedures by applying both traditional grading procedures and standards of performance based teacher education programs. (GW)

Discusses current educational efforts to enable students to make high quality judgments, and argues that fostering critical thinking and decision-making must be a high priority objective if education is to be responsive to today's needs. (JG)

The author argues that a single major model of curriculum development dominates educators. (GW)

Argues that instructional supervisors must play an active role in translating community-generated goals and processes into effective educational programs. (JG)

Discusses a number of opposing forces that influence curriculum design and school programs and presents a model that illustrates the relationships among various curricular forces. Available from Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1701 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20006, single copies, $2.00. (JG)

The author explains how a humanistic curriculum can function as a component of systems in which learning outcomes are predicted, and in which students' and teachers' responsibilities are defined clearly. (GW)

Whereas the writing process is recursive, Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) is a linear, sequential series of instructional decisions. By understanding the relationship between these two models, staff development and curriculum specialists can assist teachers by coordinating support group sessions and followup training using a common…

By directing the change from an MBO system to a building-based goal program, a Pennsylvania superintendent enabled each building's staff and community to focus on an individual area of need (environmental education), as determined by a grassroots needs assessment effort. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators gathered and analyzed data,…

Describes Oregon's experience with developing and implementing new requirements for high school graduation, based on minimum competency standards defined by local school districts. (JG)

In this article, the author draws attention to the fact that in school evaluations, students will improve on state-mandated tests, but the improved scores will not influence a school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) status because those students' scores do not cross the proficiency point. A state's proficiency point on each of its standardized…

The introduction of Total Quality Management into the classroom is often driven by corporate, rather than student, interests. Corporations'"raison d'etre" is to maximize profit for their investors. If educators look at students and see only future employees, they distort learning by reducing it to fiscal terms and ignore what children…