Search

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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The article focuses on educational training programs for schools in the U.S. It is proposed that schools, while accepting a minimum number of training responsibilities, should take as their major purpose one of involving students in activities which have no preset objectives, but which meet other specified criteria. Regardless of the underlying bases on which curricula are selected for inclusion in a program, a major problem is that of justifying the activities children are asked to experience. It is the training paradigm perfected during both World Wars and utilized extensively in the armed forces and in industry to prepare persons for specific responsibilities. The ultimate training program is the research-based IPI model used experimentally in a few schools throughout the country. This observation is not meant to fault teachers as a group but merely to observe that in terms of the ways schools are organized. While carrying out a program composed of such activities, a teacher must perform many important and difficult tasks, but the functions seem less perfunctory and more challenging than those carried out under the training regimen.

The article presents an account of the author's visit to the U.S. to attend conventions on international cooperation in education. The author made her first visit to the U.S. in November 1965 when she attended the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English. After this, she went on a whistlestop tour, coast to coast, in which, in just under three weeks visited Chicago, Madison, Illinois, Oregon, San Francisco, Washington, Delaware, and New York. In the autumn of 1966 the author spent a whole month at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, at a seminar on the teaching of English. The author's another visit to the United States was in the spring of 1967. In 1965, she had seen a number of the Curriculum Development centers of the Federal Project English and had come away with a number of impressions of the drive in the teaching of English toward a new academicism in revolt against the intellectual thinness of the "life-adjustment" period--a new academicism which emphasized the body of knowledge that can be subsumed under the subject heading of "English."

This article focuses on recent education curriculum development in the U.S. With so many curriculum development projects spawning throughout the U.S., the local curriculum director and the school administrator certainly find it increasingly difficult to keep up-to-date and to decide which developments offer possibilities for their school system. The leadership of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is well aware of the significance of the task of curriculum decision making in this era of rapid educational change, and of the problem of helping curriculum workers keep abreast of new developments. In the fall of 1961 the Executive Committee of ASCD appointed a new commission. The object of this commission was to establish closer relationship to curriculum projects now under way sponsored by various groups and foundations, to establish liaison with these projects, and to define some standards for evaluating the projects in ways that would be helpful to members of ASCD who must make decisions for use of all or parts of the projects in local school systems. In considering membership for this commission the Executive Committee of ASCD decided that it should be made up of generalists, public school curriculum people who deal with curriculum day by day, and specialists in subject fields.

A knowledge of all the resources at our disposal, planning to insure their readiness for use, and adaptation to needs of learners are three of the guides to use of materials in this article by Thelma Thorne, assistant professor of Home Economics Education at Washington State College, Pullman. Miss Thorne gives practical suggestions for the guidance of supervisors, in their capacity as resource persons, and classroom teachers as they work directly with children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the pamphlet "What Popular Magazines Say About Education," by William Van Til in the U.S. The pamphlet is designed to help educational writers to be known to the public. This booklet contains summary of the opinion of several writers in 334 magazines and editorials. Most of these writers focused their works on the development of liberal education curriculum. Proposals like using films, radio and field trips to enrich communication skills were proposed. In addition, the writers applied present and past literature in their work.

Reports on the approach developed by school administrators in Aurora, Colorado to monitor the implementation of the curriculum. Process of the curriculum development; Implementation of the process; Outcome of the process.

Emphasizes the important task that lies ahead for the curriculum developers for a pluralistic society in the U.S. Multicultural curriculum utilizing a cultural perspective; Schools' responsibility in setting the stage for conserving the country's resources; Use of the living use philosophy in teaching.

Presents news related to education in the U.S. Information on a socio-economic study made by the Georgia State Department of Education; Engagement of Samuel Everett, director of the Junior Red Cross in southeastern Pennsylvania, in curriculum development studies; Program of individualized instruction in reading.

The article deals with the impact of computers on U.S. education. The common curriculum in the average U.S. schools was originally developed to meet the requirements of an industrial economy. Employees in such economy were required to develop basic skills, to be prompt, to work on routine and repetitious tasks and to follow instructions. As that economy developed, the requirements of the workforce also evolved. In this regard, the education sector suggested the addition of new courses such as the inclusion of algebra and information technology in the curriculum of U.S. schools.

Focuses on the development of an ethics course at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut. Subjects discussed; Evaluation system; Required discussions in papers written by students; Reactions to the course. INSET: Suggestions for teaching ethics..

Presents an update on trends in the English language curriculum in the U.S. as of December 1983. Use of computers in language arts education; Status of the test-curriculum gap; Commission established for reading educators.

The article presents information on teachers unions, teacher accountability, and curriculum in the U.S. as of October 2013. The author also looks at the role of teachers organizations including the U.S. National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), in addition to educational reform and test-based accountability systems.

The article addresses the anxieties felt by many third graders in U.S. education. It focuses on increased academic demands in the third grade, emphasizing anxiety caused by end-of-grade (EOG) exams. Other aspects of third grade curricula are addressed including independent reading, core content learning, formalized writing assignments, and standardized testing. The authors present examples of how educational collaboration can help students succeed in the third grade, focusing on the use of teacher teams at Hilburn Drive Elementary School and other schools in the Wake County Public Schools district in North Carolina. Other topics include school outreach, tutoring programs, and student instruction on test-taking.

The article discusses the condition of education in the world. According to the author, school disengagement is a major problem in education worldwide. Many countries in the world suffered the problem including, Hong Kong and Pakistan, which has a literacy rate below 50 percent. Also, South Africa is the country where violent crimes are threatening the students on their way to and from school. However, the education system in Finland is considered successful because it offers a free education from nursery through university and their teachers are well paid. In addition, Australia and the U.S. are also successful in engaging young people at risk of leaving school by integrating arts into the curriculum and service learning.

The article explores the influence of test result expectations on overall education practices in U.S. schools, as of 2007. The authors refute certain "myths," which they state are inconsistent with both research and common sense and support misconceptions about the need for a broad curriculum. The myths include: that arts, recess, physical education, and second languages are frills; that a standardized curriculum is essential to student success; that teaching critical thinking and social consciousness is political; that a student's failure to learn results from deficient aptitude or parental failure; and that ability grouping is the most effective setting for student learning. They follow with suggested strategies for engaging children in social and intellectual aspects of school.

The article explores the various facets of teaching in U.S. schools, comparing the needed blend of strong curriculum, presentation, energy, and interest, for example, to the blend of sounds, traditions, techniques, and theories that make up jazz music. The authors present four elements of quality teaching: curriculum that engages learners at the appropriate developmental age, personal connections with students, differentiated instruction or connecting content to the person learning it, and assessment for the purpose of learning. An example of quality teaching is provided through the description of a 9th-grade biology class, in which the teacher is attuned to both individuals and ideas, curriculum is centered on a search for meaning, and assessment informs the process.

The article presents information on the "High Schools That Work" model of blending career and college-preparatory education in U.S. schools. The author suggests that offering all students the same challenges and opportunities that often are offered to only the "best" students could result in increased student engagement and preparedness for success after graduation. The Southern Regional Education Board has been implementing the Schools that Work model for 20 years, as of 2007. It uses 10 key practices, including a rigorous program of study, application of content to real-world problems, emphasis on mathematics, science, literacy, and problem-solving, and interdisciplinary teaching teams.

The article discusses the concept of rigor in education, which is being championed by education reformers. Rigor is the lead component of the new three "Rs" in education, joining relevance and relationships. School districts, in efforts to promote a more rigorous high school curriculum that can better prepare students for colleges, are mandating specific aspects of curricula. The authors discusses the "Big Picture" school reform design, which is committed to providing quality education for underserved urban students, and strategies that teachers can use to bring rigor to student work.

The author asserts that the content of the tests required by the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has become the focus of teaching and learning in public school classrooms throughout the nation. He explains that this is problematic in that states don't usually administer the kinds of tests that measure the skills and knowledge that would lead to quality education for every public school student, and as a result, many of the tests that states have introduced under NCLB are leading instruction in the wrong direction. He explores the demands placed on the testing industry, issues surrounding insufficient state budgets, and problems resulting from tests that measure lower-order competencies, and he suggests steps towards correcting the problems of poor test quality.

This article presents information on the qualities a teacher should possess who are teaching poor and homeless students in the U.S. The best teachers never lose sight of the potential of students. Such teachers hold all they know, all they worry about, all they see of kids in thin jackets or dirty clothes and they continue to believe in the brilliance, creativity, and ability of all their students. There is no condescension or sentimentality in their work with these young people, but there is compassion for them. When teachers teach students who come from shelters across town or who walk to school from a temporary living arrangement with a relative nearby, they do not lower their expectations in terms of class participation or work. But they do show compassion and flexibility in helping such students succeed. Teachers need a relevant curriculum, a pedagogy that puts students' voices at the center of learning; time to listen to and guide students; and a safe place where issues central to students' lives can be explored respectfully. U.S. schools need committed and creative teachers who will find paths around the obstacles that prevent economically disadvantaged students from getting a rich, varied education. INSET: Strategoes for Teaching Economically Struggling Students.

Analyzes the impact of standardized achievement tests on curriculum and student achievement in the U.S. Findings of a research on state testing programs; Socioeconomic factors that influence achievement testing; Concept underlying achievement tests.

Reports that U.S. schools need to change their curriculums to reflect the changes technology is making in the workplace. Evolution of computers and telecommunications; Impact of technological changes on occupational skills; Implications of technological advances for school curriculum and instructional practice.

Discusses various suggestions for revising the curriculum of social studies in the U.S. as of January 1983. Recommendations of the Project SPAN report on social studies published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Requisites for development of a local social studies curriculum that focuses on important concepts and skills; Precautions to be taken while revising the curriculum.

Looks at the efforts of the University of Hawaii through its Curriculum Research and Development Group to improve curriculum development. Comparison between the U.S. national projects in curriculum development and the Hawaii projects; Combination of writing and teaching roles; Teacher training.

Addresses the question of who owns the curriculum in a democratic society. Inclusion of the U.S. government's disbursement of educational funds; School administrator's retention of decision-making responsibilities; Teacher's view of the curriculum; Elements included in the student view of curriculum; Formation of citizen groups to deal with schools on issues related to the treatment of minorities and poor children.

Focuses on the role played by accountability in the improvement of curriculum development for secondary education in the U.S. Consideration of several theories of accountability; Characteristics of curriculum that define responsibilities of teachers and students.

Discusses the increased monitoring and dissemination capabilities of multidisciplinary thinking in the field of curriculum development in the U.S. that facilitate coherence and minimize confusion. Characteristics of society that emphasize on curriculum reform; Criticism of traditional disciplinary approach used by curriculum scholars.

Discusses how an empirical research model affect the adoption of curriculum platforms which reflect social change. Decker Walker's model to guide empirical research into the process of curriculum development; 'Platform' element of curriculum; Primacy of platform components in Walker's model of curriculum development.

Describes the development of a personalized competency-based doctoral program for curriculum leaders. Basis of further study and experiences; Definition utilized by the faculty; Features of the program.