In his 2011 ASCD best-seller "Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning," author Mike Schmoker described a fresh approach to K-12 teaching built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum; clear, structured lessons; and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy. Now, in "Leading…

Consensus is growing that high-quality early education is a critical support to all subsequent learning. In early childhood education quality is generally considered holistically in terms of the physical environment, programmatic structure (e.g., length of the school day), curriculum and instruction, and the nature of interactions between teachers…

The "Surveys of Enacted Curriculum" (SEC) is a Web-based tool that provides K-12 mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies teachers with consistent data, both on current instructional practices and the content actually being taught in their classrooms (the "how" and the "what"). Survey results are presented in clear and…

This position paper of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) examines issues of educational technology that involve policy and implementation matters important to local academic senates. In particular it includes current information regarding separate curriculum review and instructor-student contact. In general, this paper…

School districts annually receive between 100 and 200 requests from outside groups to distribute information, raise funds, and add new units of instruction. Administrators should document the situation in their own districts, examine the procedures currently in use to handle requests, and design new ones if necessary. Contains a sample policy,…

The learning productivity approach to higher education attempts to gain productivity, not so much by reducing or cheapening inputs but by enhancing higher education's major output: student learning. In the learning productivity perspective, the principal problem is in teaching and learning inefficiencies such as excessive nonlearning time,…

Founded in 1943, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is an international, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents 160,000 educators from more than 135 countries and 66 affiliates. Its members span the entire profession of educators-superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of…

Online learning is growing rapidly as states and districts are creating new online schools, and existing programs are adding new courses and students. The growth reflects the spreading understanding that online courses and programs can serve a wide variety of students and needs. These include: (1) Creating opportunities for small and rural school…

This monograph focuses on the issue of the nature and purpose of the social studies curriculum. In the lead article, George Wood maintains that social studies as taught today is irrelevant and strives to produce citizens who are unquestioning supporters of U.S. political and economic institutions. Dr. Wood attributes this state of affairs to the…

Discusses the Bradley Commission on History in School recommendations as part of the 1980s curriculum reform movement. Examines the problem of too many social science disciplines competing for space within the limited core curriculum. Analyzes several major reports published on social studies curriculum reform. Concludes with further questions…

Describes the use of student focus groups to review and evaluate an interdisciplinary undergraduate program. Asserts that this technique reveals more significant information than using machine scorable tests. Concludes that the instructors' role is the most important factor in student attitudes toward a course. (CFR)

What is needed in graduate medical education is a curriculum built around learning experiences and valued activities, not performance objectives. The example of a curriculum for an ambulatory care block rotation illustrates the development of such a curriculum and how it can be used to frame the rotation experience. (MSE)

Reports on a study of the planned, written, and actual art curricula of 40 selected middle schools. Finds that, although design principles and art appreciation were identified as part of the curriculum, both the written and implemented curriculum was highly oriented toward art production. (CFR)

Describes a multimethod assessment of psychology student outcomes at the University of Northern Colorado. Nineteen goals and objectives for psychology majors were identified. Describes changes in the psychology program prompted by the assessment results. (CFR)

Fourteen computer-assisted pharmacy modules on self-care using guided design were compared with print-based counterparts in a 2-hour practice course with 20 students. Results indicated students were able to master content without the guided design format, and students preferred print-based exercises. However, computer-assisted instruction reduced…