Declining academic performance, along with a growing apathy of students toward the value of education, demonstrates that students in the United States public education system do not recognize the value of a positive experience in middle schools. A plethora of research and writing has been done on elementary schools and secondary schools, but…

This enlightening handbook offers current, international perspectives on the conditions in communities, contemporary practices in schooling, relevant research on teaching and learning, and implications for the future of education. It contains diverse conceptual frameworks for analyzing existing issues in education, including but not limited to…

Effective, "schoolwide" inclusion ensures the best outcomes for all students--but how can school teams knock down the barriers to inclusion and make sure it's happening across all classrooms? This concise book gives principals and other school leaders the solution they've been waiting for: a clear framework for leading inclusion efforts,…

A tongue-in-cheek look at methods used for curriculum development by many colleges and universities compares the process to two others: destruction of trees and trial by ordeal. Forests are destroyed to produce large quantities of paper for printing of curricula in many versions, followed by Kafkaesque committee scrutiny. (MSE)

Discusses problems in evaluating artistic ability, changing views on the appropriate content and methods for art education, and new research that reveals relationships between artistic and other intellectual abilities; briefly notes several studies on art programs for the gifted and talented. (MCG)

Nassau Community College (NCC) is currently working with a program evaluation model in which faculty from one department serve as peer evaluation consultants to direct the self-evaluations of other departments. The four functional objectives initially motivating the development of NCC's plan directed that: real decisions about academic programs…

This book explains what professional portfolios consist of, who their audiences are, why teachers and administrators should use them, and how they are structured. Using excerpts from actual portfolios, the book illustrates how to select a range of artifacts that will lead portfolio developers to evaluate and improve their work. It also discusses…

Discusses efforts by the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) to develop introductory college level courses in geographic information systems (GIS). Explores a year-long evaluation of the curriculum development project. Describes the objectives, components, and results of the evaluation. (SG)

This study, which resulted in a revised music curriculum for the Snohomish, Washington, School District, addressed the problem of relating the measurement and evaluation of students in music courses to established student learning objectives. Part 1 establishes student learning objectives based on a proposed curriculum for a comprehensive K-12…

A model for program evaluation at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College is presented in this report as a guide for faculty and administrators in developing a campuswide evaluation program. First, introductory material provides an overview of the history of the college, the effects of recent cutbacks, and the goals and mission of the college. Next, a…

An outline of evaluation guidelines for multicultural education is provided as an aid to local Washington state school districts. The guidelines are divided into sections on curriculum, instruction, and staff development. Within each section, a goal statement is followed by specific recommendations. For example, to achieve the instructional goal…

This workshop was designed to provide opportunities for health professional schools to gain from an understanding of: (1) the major issues which face nutrition education; (2) promising practices in nutrition education from leaders in the field; (3) the need for nutrition education for all health professions; and (4) nutrition education curriculum…

Following a literature review on policy development and decision-making--their participants, processes, innovative directions, and contexts--this study develops a series of analytical questions exploring the aspects of curriculum innovation. (JW)

This paper describes a higher education assessment process of the general education program at Longwood College, Virginia. A list of the attributes of a good general education program is presented. This is followed by a description of Longwood College's assessment methodology starting with the development of a list of goals that were considered as…

This paper presents a short outline for evaluating the curriculum of post-16 noncompulsory education in the United Kingdom. The first, introductory section establishes a rationale for curriculum evaluation. The second section discusses a manageable sequence events for curriculum evaluation. It points out that the curriculum should only offer…