This contribution aims at informing readers about a current education and training design approach which is based on theory building and practical experience. It is about the development of comprehensive competence-based education, which is different from earlier attempts to develop competence-based education. In many education development…

Even evidence-based instructional methods may not be sufficient for closing achievement gaps. If teachers are not maximizing instructional time, achievement gaps are likely to widen over time; therefore, instruction need not only be effective but efficient as well. The purposes of this article are to (a) provide practitioners with a broad…

Discusses the use of educational impact statements and presents a functional process model for change facilitation. A specific example of the adaptation of this process is provided, going through the steps of: preplanning, strategy selection, implementation, and adoption, evaluation, research, and modification, monitoring, and follow-up. (RAO)

To help avoid past mistakes in attempts at curriculum and instructional improvement, this article offers five guidelines for secondary school curriculum change and innovation. (DCS)

Types of changes being recommended by various national educational reports were compared with actual changes reported in a national sample of high schools. Implications for staff developers are offered. (DF)

Review of literature on instructional improvement services and the role of the media center concludes that such services will enhance media center value to postsecondary faculty and institutions. Five recommendations are offered to media centers and their management-level personnel to prepare them to take on this role. (MBR)

The feasibility of incorporating women's studies into the regular teacher education curriculum was explored. Suggestions and recommendations on developing the curriculum were made, focusing on considerations such as: (1) availability of adequate resource materials; (2) development of sample course syllabi for instructors of women's studies in…

This module (part of a series of 24 modules) is on adapting curriculum to the needs of mainstreamed students. The genesis of these materials is in the 10 "clusters of capabilities," outlined in the paper, "A Common Body of Practice for Teachers: The Challenge of Public Law 94-142 to Teacher Education." These clusters form the…

Trends in computer graphics include increasing speed of processing, higher-resolution computer displays, and easier-to-use software with expanded clip-art libraries and high-quality templates. In the 1990s, colleges and faculty should be preparing for the changes this will soon bring in the teaching/learning process. (MSE)

Subsequent to commentary that the most feasible locus for curricular change and instructional reform is the individual school, four models for change that implement the NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards are presented. These models are not offered as panaceas but rather as examples of efforts currently being utilized which may involve…

This guidebook shows how school district personnel from many areas--curriculum, instruction, supervision, staff development--can coordinate their activities to focus on instructional improvement. It reveals how data derived from tests, when properly used, can be useful in helping district personnel work with school and community people to assess…

"The Journal of Staff, Program and Organization Development" is published quarterly as a medium for the exchange of information, both practical and theoretical, regarding the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of practices and programs related to the effective and efficient functioning of institutions of higher education and the…

Multimedia instruction, a computer-based system incorporating video, audio, and digital storage media, provides educators with the tools to bring learning alive. With strategic planning, adequate funding, and faculty development, multimedia may become the most common form of instructional technology by the late 1990s. (Author/MSE)

This book presents a design for initiating, implementing, and institutionalizing a consultation-based service delivery system in school settings, based on the Instructional Consultation Teams (IC-Teams) model. It brings together the literature on school consultation and school change, for practitioners in general and special education and in…

Five years ago Los Angeles Unified School District administrators began efforts to ensure that teachers teach students what they are expected to learn and test them accordingly. The initial stage of this projected curriculum alignment was first of all to define the essential skills to be taught in the elementary grades and provide a list of these…