The Austin (Texas) Science and Mathematics Consortium funded by a 4-year grant that has 2 basic goals: to improve the skills of K-12 teachers in science and mathematics and to increase student learning and performance in science concepts. Program activities, which began in 1990-91, focus on four components: curriculum development, staff…

The world of science education is rich with guidelines on what the science curriculum should include, but impoverished in time and money to create real programs for students that reflect these guidelines effectively. This handbook is designed to assist teachers and administrators in charting a course through the maze of new national and state…

This paper focuses on the development of a modified, zero-based curriculum review of programs at a land-grant research university in the southeastern United States which was directed toward demonstrating the viability, and justifying the existence, of current programs. A small group of faculty developed an eight-step process which was used by…

This book, based on higher education practices in the United Kingdom, attempts to synthesize the concept of "educating for capability," which focuses on integrating knowledge, skills, personal qualities, and understanding appropriately and effectively in new and changing circumstances. It seeks to link capability in education with the…

The "Criteria for Accreditation" (1991) and reaffirmation published by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools were validated through a survey of alumni. The criteria were developed to assist institutions in evaluating their effectiveness. In all, 2,300 survey instruments were mailed to college alumni in the United States. Of…

One of the five goals proposed in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics" is for students to become "mathematical problem solvers." To achieve this goal, the NCTM proposes fundamental changes in both the content of mathematics curricula and the…

This paper summarizes an ethnographic study conducted in 1989-1990 assessing the effectiveness of the Denver Indian Center's preschool program in preparing Native American children for the transition to public school. The Center, a fully licensed child care facility, serves an intertribal community of approximately 18,200 Native Americans. The…

Phase II of the research on the teaching and learning of higher order thinking and conceptual understanding in the elementary subjects, undertaken by the Center for the Learning and Teaching of Elementary Subjects, includes descriptions and analyses of commonly used and distinctive published curricula in each of the five subject areas. This report…

The Engineering Technologies Division of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Canada has developed a systems approach to program review called Competency Profile Development (CPD). This approach utilizes a combination of organizational communication, project management, management-by-objectives, a modified Developing A Curriculum…

An overview is provided of Arapahoe Community College's (ACC's) efforts to improve undergraduate education and the success of those efforts. After outlining changes made in the transfer, vocational education, and developmental studies programs, the report identifies new strategies that have been adopted to disseminate information about…

Consistent with school restructuring efforts and Kansas state standards of performance, this resource document provides direction and resources to practitioners preparing to move their schools toward an outcomes-based integrated curriculum. Following an introduction, the document presents discussions of: (1) the transition from a traditional to a…

This policy guide argues the need for improved indicators of student coursework, illustrates the information that different types of measures convey, outlines the key choices that need to be made about data collection, and suggests ways in which states might develop more valid and useful indicators of student coursework. In its broadest form,…

A self-study model used to assess the effectiveness of occupational/technical and transfer programs at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC) in Virginia is provided in this manual. First, an introduction discusses the intent of the evaluation process and describes revisions of the model which was initially developed between 1979 and 1981.…

Illinois State University and University of Illinois faculty collaborated to pilot test and evaluate Applied Academics curricula in Illinois. Three sets of pilot sites included the following: (1) 14 local education agencies that pilot tested Applied Communications and/or Mathematics; (2) 10 sites at which vocational teachers collaborated with…

Lack of variety in course offerings variety has been identified as one of the most detrimental aspects of today's school curriculum. The latest school reform movement's immediate goal is to increase enrollment in four core areas: math, science, computers, and foreign language. The movement's ultimate goal is to increase student achievement. To…