This book, a report from the National Center for Improving Science Education, examines how technology can be taught in the classroom. The five chapters establish the need for technology education, describe its status, develop a vision of what it could and should look like, and make suggestions and recommendations about how to achieve that vision. Vignettes, mostly from lessons and curricula used in existing programs, give specific examples of the ideas being discussed. Chapter 1 establishes the need for technology education by analyzing current educational practice in the United States and introduces a comprehensive vision for technology education. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the major difficulties that lie in the way of creating a place in the K-12 curriculum for the kind of technology education discussed in the first chapter. The five sections of chapter 3 contain the following: a statement of guiding principles for technology education; explicit goals for technology education; description of how technology should be taught, and general guidelines for curriculum planning and for teaching and learning strategies. Chapter 4 illustrates a range of specific curricular alternatives, and chapter 5 deals with implementation issues and makes recommendations for action designed to deal with them. Five appendixes include the following: (1) descriptions of technology education in various countries, including England and Wales, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands; (2) a slice of a K-8 technology program; (3) fictitious excerpts from a high school handbook and student transcripts that illustrate a linked set of science and technology programs for grades 9-12; (4) an annotated list of 89 additional readings and resources useful in planning and implementing technology education programs; and (5) a list of school sites and teacher education collaborative active in technology education. Contains 54 references. (KC)