Explains how various national reform initiatives encourage curriculum integration. Considers traditional means for integrating the arts into the curriculum. Explores the inherent interdisciplinarity of design-based teaching and learning and describes a more central role for the arts in interdisciplinary curricula, stressing the importance of…

Examines experienced and inexperienced teachers' perceptions of band music content and quality in three experimental settings. Provides information about how teachers critique band music for curricular use. Suggests that preservice teachers may possess abilities similar to experienced teachers concerning decisions about mid-level band works.…

Asserts that educators should not teach about the Holocaust to K-4 students. Addresses the purpose of teaching the Holocaust and whether it can be taught to young children; questions the use of the term "Holocaust education"; and discusses the future of Holocaust education at the K-4 level. (CMK)

Explains free-market environmentalism, demonstrating how it is integral to environmental economics. Discusses issues such as market and government failures; the "tragedy of the commons"; and how to avoid said tragedy, focusing on the role of private property rights. Provides suggestions for history, social studies, and economics teachers on…

Discusses the issues involved in holding a collegiate mini-conference at the state-level, focusing on Georgia. Provides questions to consider before the conference preparation, a review of the process, a sample mini-conference schedule, and a description of the 1999 Georgia mini-conference. (CMK)

Focuses on the importance of building four capacities in students: disciplinary knowledge, thinking skills, commitment to democratic values, and citizen participation. Examines the use of learning communities to develop these capacities. Discusses the application of brain based learning research to the classroom, such as immersion within the…

Distinguishes between lower and higher order thinking in education. Offers guidelines for higher order thinking approaches in the art classroom, such as using generative topics. Discusses a lesson on drawing portraits that uses higher order thinking. Considers ways to include higher order thinking in the curriculum. (CMK)

The researchers who conducted a review of 995 journal articles on mainstreaming reflect on the finding that there has been much more survey research than direct measurement of teacher and student performance. The need for empirical research on instruction and learning in inclusive settings is stressed. (DB)

Examines historical developments following the 1971 publication of "Justice in the World" by the Rome Synod of Bishops. Describes the incorporation of the publication's ideas into American Catholic education. Indicates that the document and the ideas it included were a significant achievement in the ongoing struggle for greater social justice.…

This article urges educators of the gifted to look critically at both contributions of their field (for example, recognition of individual differences, stress on process and metacognitive skills, and commitment to high standards) and weaknesses (for example, narrowness of definition and identification, lack of program evaluation, and poor…

This discussion of issues in gifted education focuses on the need to support effective practices that are also equitable. The article considers problems with defining gifted students as the "cognitive elite," the provision of qualitatively different programs to gifted children, and the need for challenging intellectual work and development of…

Longitudinal data from two cohorts of over 4,000 students, followed from grade 7 through grade 9, reveal that schools differed in track structure, criteria for student assignment, assignment flexibility, and the effects of tracking on student growth in achievement over time. Implications for the school choice debate are discussed. (SV)

The school superintendency is reviewed as it has evolved and as it currently functions. A view of the superintendency is advanced that could be acceptable in evaluation in contemporary school systems but that still recognizes the distinctive requirements of different settings. A superintendent duties list is presented. (SLD)

The boundaries between educational research, policy, and practice are becoming blurred in the postmodern age. Ways to transform knowledge utilization and teacher self-knowledge to greater educational productivity are explored, and principles for reinventing the relationships between knowledge creation and knowledge use are discussed. (SLD)

Defines four essential elements of a system of educational standards: (1) common, rigorous student achievement standards; (2) state-administered assessments; (3) explicit rewards for achievement; and (4) opportunity to reach the standards. Practices to ensure these conditions and enact a system based on these elements are discussed. (SLD)