This handbook contains specific suggestions and activities designed to assist small, rural school districts in identifying local resources for determining their readiness and capacity for curriculum renewal. State education agencies are becoming more active in curriculum issues, with new standards guiding local resources, practices, and learning…

As part of a Funds for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Central Missouri State University is redesigning its 28-hour Secondary Professional Sequence (required for secondary education majors). The department identified and developed 45 teaching competencies reflecting 7…

In the fall of 1989, the president of Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) called for volunteers to serve on a General Education (GE) Task Force which would review the state of GE at the College. The task force conducted a literature search and surveys of BHCC faculty and students, as well as other community colleges. The result of…

Characteristics related to the potential strength of state curriculum control policies in California, Florida, New York, and Texas are described in this report. Each of these states has recently strengthened its influence over the high school curriculum. This report examines the strength of the state policies that: (1) define the high school…

A study examined the effectiveness of a collaborative research and development project designed to enhance the academic competence of typically underserved minority students through instructional strategies which emphasize cooperative learning, maximize heterogeneous skill groupings, and focus on higher order thinking and communication skills.…

In 1988, the Johns Hopkins Center for Research on Elementary and Middle Schools conducted a survey of over 1,700 middle school principals. This survey was part of an effort to analyze the content and skills that middle grades students are taught, the instructional methods through which they are taught, and the influences of school, community, and…

Curricular changes among 20 public comprehensive high schools in California from 1982-83 to 1984-85 were analyzed. This report focuses primarily on changes in advanced placement courses in sample schools; it is accompanied by a discussion of policy implications and tables of demographic and course section data. The researchers discovered a…

This dissertation determines how state-level textbook decisions were made in Texas during the period 1969-81. A combination of primary document, survey, and oral history data is employed to reveal actions of participants in three decision groups and their interactions with textbook publishers and petitioners during phases of three textbook…

This document contains four sections which deal with various aspects of international environmental education. Section 1 includes papers that describe environmental education projects and programs in South America, Europe, India, Scotland, the Arab states, and the Sudan. An additional article in this chapter compares the environmental education…

Designed to provide a more positive learning experience in the area of third grade social studies, this project was concerned with improving the effectiveness of textbooks, developing critical thinking skills, providing group learning situations, and using the computer as an educational tool. Chapter 1 contains the outline of the research proposal…

The papers presented cover three general themes: modern education and curriculum; the legacy of educational thought; and origins and issues in U.S. educational development. Part 1 begins with "The 'New Social Studies' and Curriculum Innovation: The Amherst Project Experience, 1959-1972" (C. E. Samec) which describes the project's…

A guide to the planning and implementation of elementary school foreign language (FLES) programs presents statements of opinion and experience in various aspects of program development by a number of experts. An introductory section outlines basic program planning considerations, and a second chapter describes the work of the American Association…

In an effort to describe parent-teacher conferences and assess their influence on the curriculum, three researchers interviewed children, parents, teachers, and the principal of a midwestern elementary school and observed various school and Parent Teacher Association functions. High school and elementary school parents were mailed a survey.…

A paradigm for learning economic concepts based on cognitive development and learning theory is offered as a guideline for teaching and research. Discussion is divided into two sections. The first section establishes the model's theoretical framework, which is based on two propositions. The first of these is that economic knowledge is not a fixed…

A study was conducted to determine present and future needs perceptions of teachers and others for curriculum resource materials and related curriculum assistance to promote equitable access and success for men and women, single parents, and displaced homemakers in vocational-technical education. The information gathered was to be used as a basis…