The National High School Center's goal is to encourage researchers, policymakers, and practitioners at all levels to engage in comprehensive, systemic efforts to maximize attainment for all high school students, with a focus on those students who have been historically underserved. To this end, it has developed a framework that consists of eight…

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,…

This manual for secondary school teachers offers sample lesson plans that may be used to guide and stimulate experimentation and development of creative instructional units. Lesson plan components are defined, and various types of lessons and their significant characteristics are identified. These characteristic types of lessons are illustrated,…

A discussion of geography's place in the curriculum and suggested methods for teaching geography are presented in this paper. Geography may be included in the curriculum in a variety of ways, such as infusing it throughout the curriculum or designing an integrated curriculum with geography as the core. Principles of learning derived from…

A social skills training program for deaf adolescents was developed which stresses (1) observable positive social behaviors and (2) social problem-solving thinking skills. Pilot evaluation of the eight-week program with 35 male adolescents revealed that the experimental group scored significantly higher than controls on a test of social skills and…

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,…

Noting that just as some children learn to read with little instructional assistance, some will learn to spell accurately with little or no help from their teachers, this teacher's guide presents activities and suggestions that serve as a resource for instructional planning rather than a recipe to be followed in precisely measured steps. After an…

The study interviewed 20 university teachers of architecture recognized for excellent studio teaching. Fourteen factors contributing to effective studio teaching were identified, including teacher vitality, a match between teacher interests and the course, the frequent use of questioning techniques, use of students' interests, encouragement of…

Educators increasingly realize that longer life expectancies and changing demographics require literacy about the why's and how's of aging across the lifespan. While other contemporary issues are routinely addressed in schools, aging-related issues are often ignored or presented in stereotypical ways. This reference book suggests practical ways to…

This article reviews some ways of differentiating classroom methods for special needs students in Great Britain, including differentiation of content, interests, pace, level, access, response, sequence, structure, teacher time, teaching style, and grouping. The most effective methods of differentiation are felt to be grouping, structure, and…

Discusses academic failure and the role of curriculum design in either intercepting or exacerbating learning difficulties. Evaluates changing student demographics and the diverse needs of students, and reviews the principles of effective curriculum design, including big ideas, conspicuous strategies, mediated scaffolding, strategic integration,…

The article presents an approach to curriculum modification based on analysis of both the needs of the individual special needs learner and the structure of the curriculum. Using the effective teaching literature as a model, the article considers curriculum scope and sequence, organization, presentation, guided practice, independent practice, and…

Discusses the "Make a Difference Program" designed to respond to the changing interests of students and the changes in curriculum and methodology in the California schools. Outlines and elaborates on the 10 aspects of the program. Stresses the development of critical thinking skills and active student participation. (RW)

This booklet delineates the actions and attitudes of successful teachers who typically produce skilled readers. Presenting a variety of approaches, the booklet emphasizes that needs created by beginning readers' diverse backgrounds can only be met through a curriculum marked by equal diversity. The booklet outlines those identified characteristics…

After implementing changes in language arts instruction, the principal--who is in a key position to sustain or institutionalize the changes--faces several responsibilities. Factors involved in directing innovations to become "built in" to school programs include solving specific problems, sharing decision-making responsibilities, upgrading and…