Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Curriculum Quality and includes: (1) IDRA's Community of Learners Approach to Instructional Quality: Three Critical Questions that…

In this article, the authors comment on Douglas Downs and Elizabeth Wardle's "Teaching about Writing, Righting Misconceptions." As Downs and Wardle note, a one-year academic writing course will not prepare students to write in all fields, and evidence suggests limitations on the transfer of skills. The authors agree, in addition, that the study of…

Prior to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, scientific research to support development of curriculum materials or to demonstrate curricular efficacy was not required. NCLB transformed the development and publishing process for K-12 educational materials by prompting publishers to increase funding for experimentally based research on educational…

Mandatory numeracy tests have become commonplace in many countries, heralding a new era in school assessment. New forms of accountability and an increased emphasis on national and international standards (and benchmarks) have the potential to reshape mathematics curricula. It is noteworthy that the mathematics items used in these tests are rich in…

Colleges of education have come under scrutiny in their preparation of principals. Even professors of education have joined in the criticism characterizing these programs as bankrupt, fragmented, and going down a road to nowhere (Norton, 2002). This article is part of a collaborative research effort of the University Council for Educational…

This essay explores the nature of the curriculum content of liberal studies--a core school subject in the new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong--with reference to the curriculum-making processes entailed in the formation of that subject. The central thesis is that a school subject is introduced to schools and classrooms as a distinct…

While "general education" is a phrase heavily used in higher education, Leskes and Wright note that it has multiple meanings: it can refer to those courses that a college or university requires all of its students must pass as a condition for graduation, a common curriculum, a distribution requirement, or even core texts. This analysis of general…

The purpose of this study is to investigate in what ways the inquiry task of teaching and learning in earth science textbooks reflect the unique characteristics of earth science inquiry methodology, and how it provides students with opportunities to develop their scientific reasoning skills. This study analyzes a number of inquiry activities in…

Owing to national emphasis on accountability, teacher education programs are under close scrutiny by federal and state-level entities to justify their purpose and usefulness in preparing future teachers. Accrediting agencies have set high standards, which ask for systematic assessment of teacher education programs and their candidates. The purpose…

School heads and assistant headteachers in Cyprus attend in-service training programmes as part of their professional development, after they are promoted to their new leadership post. A review of the literature highlights the significance of a needs analysis when designing and/or reforming in-service training programmes. Nevertheless, there seems…

This study reports on findings from a survey of Massachusetts' school principals that examined their perceptions of the nature and quality of certification programs. Results indicate that "when" participants were certified (pre or post NCLB) and "where" they were certified (public, private, alternative programs) has a…

Current preservice teacher education students are tomorrow's teachers and what they believe about the priority and challenges of music education in elementary schools is important, as it will impact on their attitudes and practice when they are teaching in schools. This study examines the state of primary music education and investigates the…

Nearly 100 students were given a Pre-Test in psychology on the first day of class without warning in order to assess their knowledge of basic course content derived from the prerequisites of the course (PSYC-100 Introduction to Psychology or PSYC-220 Child Development) and other life experiences. This was intended as a low-stakes testing…

The study highlighted the Nigerian Universities' new sustainable development strategies: emphasizes the role that entrepreneurship education can play in both raising awareness among young people about sustainable development and giving them the skills to put sustainable development into practice. Universities place priority on the development of…

This study was conducted to describe a high school engineering curriculum, identify teaching strategies used to increase math and science literacy, and discover challenges and constraints that occur during its development and delivery, as well as what strategies are used to overcome these obstacles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with…