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Emphasizes that middle school teachers can integrate writing strategies across the curriculum to enhance students' content understanding while improving their everyday writing skills. Key factor to good writing; Characteristics of the sentence synthesis strategy in writing; Process involved in the Question All-Write Strategy; Content of frames in writing.

The article presents the author's personal collection of artifacts which relates to instructional objectives in the U.S. These include used practice sheets from the classic book on instructional objectives by Robert Mager, a blue and gold bumper sticker which reads "Help Stamp Out Nonbehavioral Objectives!," and an original filmstrip entitled "Educational Objectives." With his years of experience in instructional objectives, the author asserts the necessity of operationality in education. He thinks that proposals for instructional objectives make teachers generate instructions in classroom rather than be a selector on the instructional goals.

The article presents a position paper on women in educational leadership issued by the Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development's Women's Leadership Project. The paper highlights the association's statement on cultural heritage related to equity and the beliefs of the project's members. The association views that by providing leadership training in women, related to staff development and curriculum, it can help bring changes that will aid in education. It also believes that educational leaders must evaluate curriculum materials and teaching methods to check on sex stereotyping and discrimination issues.

The article discusses the comparison of the proposed Mathematics curriculum administered by the Mathematics Curriculum Committee, as part of educational changes in the U.S. Gordon Mackenzie, an author, has observed that the curriculum change process undergo a series of phases, beginning with criticism of the old program and ending in implementation of a newly selected program. He conceptualized the phases in terms of six variables or determiners of the curriculum. These determiners include teachers and students for whom selection will be made, the content, methods, and materials involved in the proposal, and the element of time. After examining the possible effects of the proposed curriculum on each of the six determiners, the proposal with the most desirable profile will be selected.

This article discusses how high school mathematics teaching can be improved. The subject matter of mathematics consists of abstractions. Some teachers believe that learning proceeds most efficiently if one goes from the concrete to the abstract. A mathematical abstraction is not a symbol or a mark which someone makes on paper or on a chalkboard. A mathematical abstraction is an entity which has no physical existence. A person becomes aware of a given abstraction after dealing with several instances of it. Even though the proper subject matter of mathematics consists of abstractions, the teaching of mathematics is largely characterized by attempts to teach children efficient methods for manipulating symbols without giving children sufficient experience to become aware of the abstractions denoted by the symbols. The University of Illinois Committee on School Mathematics (UICSM) was appointed in December 1951 to investigate procedures for implementing the recommendations made by an earlier committee for improving the competence of beginning engineering students to the point where they would be able to study calculus in the freshman year. It was quickly decided that a realistic proposal for improvement would have to include classroom-tested instructional materials. The committee designed a new curriculum by using the concept of abstraction. The UICSM instructional materials are full of exploratory exercises designed to build awareness of abstractions.

The article focuses on the lack of pre-service programs for the training of core teachers in Alabama. Except at State Teachers College, Troy, Alabama, pre-service programs for the training of core teachers are presently nonexistent in Alabama teacher training institutions. Need for pre-service programs for the training of core teachers in Alabama is made further evident by the two- year study recently made by the writer which shows forty-three Alabama secondary schools in twenty-two counties now experimenting with the core curriculum. In a Teachers Colleges Curriculum Revision Program which paralleled the last four years of the state-wide Alabama Curriculum Development Program, the four white Alabama teachers colleges, working in conjunction with the Commission on Teacher Education of the American Council on Education, not only proposed to reorganize their own freshman and sophomore programs around "cores" but laid down, on paper at least, a comprehensive plan for the pre-service training of core teachers. The Alabama teachers colleges agreed that the first two years of the proposed experimental four-year teacher training program would be given over to the general education of the teacher. The primary responsibility of the core program is that the young core teacher needs to see clearly that the one central purpose of the core is education for the democratic common life.

The article reports news briefs related to education in 1946 in the U.S. The long range curriculum study program in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was directed by Walter A. Anderson. The Department of Education in Maine has conducted a robust curriculum program development. The State Teachers College in Towson, Maryland has studied for a program that would improve teaching through a greater understanding of teachers.

In the article, the author discusses the importance of a coherent curriculum and high-quality education. Other topics include the evidence for the primacy of curriculum in student learning, the logic of coherent curriculum on student knowledge acquisition and science achievement, and how a good curriculum reduces teacher anxiety and teachers' workload.

The article reports on the curriculum improvement and teacher skill development in the middle school movement. The Educational Leadership Institute and ASCD's Working Group have created six new information packages to improve the offering and implementation of the middle school program. These packages include filmstrips, audio cassettes, records, library and reference cards, and position papers. These packages are designed to improve the middle ages instruction and revitalizing education for the emerging adolescents.

The article presents a list of new curriculum bulletin. Some of the bulletins are: "Inter-American Education," "Activities, Projects, Units of Work Cataloged for 1932-1939," "Living and Learning in the Elementary Grades" and others.

The article discuses how the educators can better connect with and support newcomer families in the schools of U.S. Topics include ensuring the school culture and curriculum are welcoming, inclusive, and anti-discriminatory; establishing and maintaining equitable socio-academic and behavioral policies; and having opportunities for all families to practice voice, choice, and collaboration.

The article presents information on the changes in Phoenix school curriculum in Arizona due to the World War II. The first major change was the setting up of the pre-aviation curriculum in which the requirements emphasize science, mathematics, and varying shop activities as well as the customary English and social studies. Meteorology and aeronautics were added to the science offerings, and aircraft instruments and aircraft construction, service, and repair were added to the regular high school shop program. The second important curricular change was the requirement of certain pre-induction courses for senior boy, including machines and electricity, fundamentals of gas engines, and fundamentals of radio.

In this article the author discusses the creation of a system that allowed her to intervene with students struggling with her 11th grade curriculum. The author describes a system of "red flags" that gave her early warning of a student headed for academic difficulty. The article offers three case studies of students assisted in this manner: a student disrupted by difficulties at home, an uncooperative and disengaged girl, and a student in severe academic trouble. In all cases the subjects responded to acceleration and remediation.

The article discusses what a 21st-century education requires and whether or not schools are using data to help or delay education, based on the New York Performance Standards Consortium. The influence of standardized-tests on data-driven decision making is considered. The hallmarks of a 21st-century education are explored, according to the article. It was found that test preparation activities rather than authentic teaching and learning were responsible for some schools' increased test scores. At the Consortium, students and teachers focused on work that culminated in end-of-year projects. How consortium schools analyzed data to inform instruction is discussed.

The article addresses U.S. high school students' preparedness for higher education. In 2004 approximately two-thirds of U.S. high school graduates continuing on to college, but research shows that only about one-third of students graduating high school in 1998 earned a college degree in four years. The National Research Councils suggests that gaps in education, potentially causing college students problems, include inability to draw inferences, interpret results, conduct research, and generally think deeply about subjects. The author suggests four strategies to help close the learning gap: aligning high school curriculum with college expectations, developing high-quality syllabi in all courses, implementing senior seminars, and adding missing content to high school courses.

The article reports on Douglass Elementary School in Boulder, Colorado, which noticed a significant literacy gap between boys and girls. Male students underperformed girls in grades 3-5, and were overrepresented in special education classes, prompting the school board to institute new curricula tailored to the needs of boys. By utilizing brain research data, teachers were able to introduce more boy-friendly teaching strategies in the classroom and close the gender gap in just one year, while improving girls' performance as well.

Presents an interview with Nicholas Tate, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England, discussing the educational curriculum in England. Reason the authority was established; Responsibilities of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; Reference to national tests in the curriculum; Views on the curriculum. INSET: Sample Test Item. 1998 English Paper 2 (Shakespeare) (levels 4....

The paper reports on emerging educational experiments that blend various programs that make social responsibility a core element of the curriculum and school culture. Young people in the U.S. are expressing a sense of powerlessness to affect constructive social or political change. Teachers must model the values and principles of care, justice, empowerment, community and social responsibility for their students. To help students see problems holistically, Jay Forrester and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been working with teachers in Brattleboro, Vermont, to integrate system dynamics into the curriculum. Community building means finding ways in which the community can affirm its members and acknowledge its own accomplishments. Community building and developing a sense of social responsibility demand basic social skills such as communication, cooperation, conflict management and perspective taking. Efforts such as Resolving Conflict Creatively Program, sponsored by New York City and Educators for Social Responsibility are improving students' conflict resolution skills. The form community service takes matters less than whether children see it as important and choose it for themselves. A number of schools and school districts have initiated comprehensive schoolwide and districtwide initiatives to educate for social responsibility.

This paper presents the author's reflections on his involvement in New York State's reform effort toward a curriculum of inclusion. In July 1987, I convened a task force on Minorities: Equity and Excellence. I asked the task force to review the curriculum materials prepared by the state Education Department to see if they are free of bias and if they faithfully represent the pluralistic nature of our society. And the task force reported no on both counts. In February 1990, the regents directed the commissioner and the staff to develop and to submit to the Board of Regents for review, a detailed plan for increasing understanding of American history and culture, of the history and culture of the diverse groups which comprise American society today, and of the history and culture of other peoples throughout the world. In order to ensure that the goals of this project would be met, therefore, the plan was to include training to familiarize teachers and administrators with the content, aims and uses of the revised syllabi. One of the central missions of the American public school is to develop a shared set of values and a common tradition to which we can all belong. A multicultural curriculum is appropriate for all children. INSET: Responsibility Is an Active Word, by S. Keister & H. Resnik..

The paper investigates the techniques adopted by various schools in the U.S. on community building. At Central Park East Secondary School in Harlem, New York City, every student is attached to an advisor. These advisors become the point of contact for students and parents with the school. Thayer Junior/Senior High School in Winchester, New Hampshire, has a similar advisory system. Throughout their Thayer careers, students will have only two advisors in six years--one for the two years of junior high, one for the four years of high school. The purpose of advisory at Thayer is the same as Central Park East's: to connect every young person with the school. At Chauncey Elementary in Ohio, students develop a sense of community through their Primary Forum. In their efforts to create a genuine community, each of these schools makes the time and space for every child to find a meaningful role in the classroom and school. To build community among young people these schools discover ways to create a common history for them in the school--Central Park East's and Thayer's advisories, Chauncey's Primary Forum and the multi-aged and heterogeneous groups in Hubbard Woods. Schools with a civic mission open their doors to the world around them. At Fratney Elementary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to organize the curriculum, teachers use schoolwide themes that connect the school to its neighborhoods.

This paper shows that democratic citizenship, in spite of the whole school's involvement in it, is the proper goal of the social studies curriculum in particular and highlights an entirely feasible plan for achieving it. The most important thing to understand about the citizenship goal is the kind of citizenship it entails: democratic citizenship. Its essence is transfer: Knowledge of history, geography and civics developed in social studies units is to be used and challenged in deliberation on public issues. Furthermore, democratic citizenship is not only a matter of preserving democracy--it is also a matter of creating it. Curriculum planning for democratic citizenship should begin by discussing the kinds of things high school graduates ought to be very good at that will serve as exhibitions of their understanding of democratic citizenship. By the end of fourth grade, students should be able to create maps of local places, with legends and sketch from memory a physical map of the world. A multiple-case study of community in the third grade should emphasize the ways people in selected communities, both in North America and elsewhere, govern themselves and confront public problems. INSETS: Fig. 1. Examples of Assessments of Democratic Citizenship;Presidential Classroom;A New Curriculum;Will Teaching More History Result in Better Citizens?

The article focuses on the efforts in the U.S. to make citizenship education in the schools more meaningful and relevant. Conventional citizenship education has lost its relevance, thus curriculum content and teaching methods need to be improved. Learning opportunities outside the formal classroom walls should be tapped. Students should be exposed to actual situations where their skills in resolving conflicts can be put to test. Cognitive and affective objectives must go hand in hand in teaching the subject.

Focuses on changes that need to be made to mathematics curriculum in order to improve understanding and reasoning skills of students towards the computational procedures. Techniques used by a mathematics teacher in Babylon, New York to teach fourth grade students in her school; Reasons to be understood before making changes to mathematics teaching.

Examines the computer curriculum in the U.S. Curriculum facets that can be seen as commonplace to all organizations of teaching and learning experiences; Discussion on curriculum and technology.