Purpose: In the USA, as elsewhere, there is an ongoing need to improve quality in higher education. Quality improvement models from business have not been widely embraced, and many other approaches to accountability seem to induce minimal compliance. This paper aims to contend that learning communities represent a viable alternative in the quest…

This report explains the need for viable and effective partnerships between K-12 schools and institutions of higher education involving service and service-learning, and discusses the State of Washington's experience in this area. It is stated that both rural and urban schools have found service and service-learning to be effective methods of…

Estuaries are marine systems that serve as nurseries for animals, links in the migratory pathways, and habitat for a complex community of organisms. This curriculum guide intended for use at the middle school level is designed for use with the on-site program developed by the Padilla Bay National Esturine Research Reserve (Washington). The guide…

This booklet, based on school and community experiences in the state of Washington, was written to provide practical strategies to enable teachers and administrators to enrich instruction through service and service learning. Filled with vignettes and examples of service learning that is taking place in Washington schools, the booklet includes…

Describes the intent and content of environmental education camps in the Inland Northwest (Idaho and eastern portions of Oregon and Washington). Explains the major tenets of environmental education and relates how they were used in the survey. Results reveal a biological curricular emphasis and an absence of general program goals. (ML)

This document provides a framework for academic and career/technical teachers who want to raise students' achievement through real-life projects reflecting the rigorous academic and technical standards needed for further learning in the workplace and postsecondary education. The document begins with definitions of the six A's of project-based…

Designed to address the problems and solutions related to waste management, this curriculum guide contains interdisciplinary activities for K-12 students in Washington State schools. Listings of the activities are provided by concept categories (under the themes of revise, reuse, recycle, and recover); by waste management subject area (addressing…

To help students appreciate the real-life application of geometric constructions, two activities are presented applying boundary lines in geography. Geometric concepts are integrated with other disciplines by giving students historical information, maps, and activity sheets to study the Delaware-Pennsylvania border and the District of Columbia's…

This curriculum guide is designed as an aid for teachers and students of vocational agriculture to use in the teaching and learning of correct usage of parliamentary procedures. Addressed in the four sections of the unit are the following topics: parliamentary privileged motions (to fix adjournment times, to adjourn, to take a recess, to question…

This curriculum guide aims to provide a beginning process for developing a K-12 balanced, comprehensive, and sequential arts curriculum for all students. Dance, drama, music, and the visual arts are treated as distinct and separate disciplines although five common goals and corresponding learning process components have been identified. The goals…

Designed with the new teacher in mind, this kindergarten curriculum guide begins Part I with a statement of beliefs and goals guiding educational practice and lists needs and characteristics of kindergarten children. Part II focuses on preparing for the school year and offers information to help teachers become oriented to unfamiliar school…

The future ability of secondary students to interact in a progressively technologically-oriented society is the purpose of this curriculum guide on consumer education. The guide teaches consumer decision-making, resource management, and advocacy/action. The introduction discusses the future of society and technology. Each of three sections…

This guide is intended to serve as a resource for business education instructors who are teaching a course in information processing for the automated office. The following topics are covered: program goals, student learning objectives for production applications, an introduction to production applications, a curriculum outline, student learning…

Educating students in the arts provides benefits not available through any other means. This guide to essential learning requirements for the arts for Washington state students defines the arts as creative expressions using sound, image, action, and movement. The guide explains that the arts help students to develop intellectual, social, personal,…

These guidelines provide basic information to administrators, teachers, library media specialists and the general public for the evaluation of library media programs at the school and district level. They can also be used as a resource for establishing, developing and improving programs as well as for setting goals and objectives for the program…