The Role of Curriculum Resources in Three Countries: The Impact of National Curriculum Reforms in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Australia.

This paper summarizes the findings of a study examining the impact of standards-based and curriculum reforms on the role of curriculum materials in educational systems in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Australia. Concepts derived from a model of decision-oriented evaluation were applied to define a typology to classify various activities relating to the development, selection, and use of curriculum resources. The study focused on identifying activities to develop, select, and use materials by investigating two areas. First, the activities of publishers' associations and publishing companies in developing new materials to meet the needs of schools in implementing standards-based and curriculum reforms were analyzed to determine their impact on changing practices for selecting and using curriculum resources in educational systems. The findings of the study in the form of various activities relating to the development, selection, and use of curriculum resources were then classified according to categories defined in the typology. Data on the findings are presented in this report. (Contains 17 tables and 6 references.) (SLD)