In the last issue of "American Educator," several scholars argued in favor of a common core curriculum. By common core, they meant that the curriculum should be broadly adopted (enabling improvements in instructional materials, student tests, and teacher training), but also limited (preserving instructional time for districts, schools,…

The discipline of education is a multi-faceted system that must constantly integrate new strategies and procedures to ensure successful learning experiences. Enhancements in education provide learners with greater opportunities for growth and advancement. "Open Learning and Formal Credentialing in Higher Education: Curriculum Models and…

"Something in Common" is the first book to provide a detailed look at the groundbreaking Common Core State Standards and their potential to transform American education. This book tells the story of the unfolding political drama around the making of the Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts, which were adopted by…

Argues that universities are failing to prepare students for responsible citizenship in a world being rapidly changed by biotechnology. Calls for bringing together biology and the social sciences in more core courses. (TW)

This document presents an updated version of a publication that originally appeared in print in 1970. The original document raised a number of issues and questions which, despite notable advances, are still problematic. In this revision, marginal notes up-date the original text with information concerning subsequent efforts to address raised…

This analysis is the seventh of a series of seven reports on the ways that the urban fiscal crisis has affected children. The fiscal containment imposed on California schools after the enactment of Proposition 13 in 1978 has resulted in changes in urban high school curricula over the past five years. A telephone survey of school personnel and…

This document consists of two critical papers on schooling in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), followed by reports on specific subject areas. The first paper, "If Wishes Were Horses: The Parent Role in a Participative System of Schooling," by C. Blakers, is a comprehensive examination of concepts, relationships, and issues…

This document is one of three related volumes. They present the rationale, background, and framework for a comprehensive monitoring system being developed for the National Science Foundation. The system is being designed to gather information about the effects of national, state, and local policy actions designed to change the teaching and…

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…

An extensive study of humanities education in the nation's public schools, commissioned by the United States Congress, concludes that history, literature, and languages are inadequately taught, and most students fail to learn important knowledge about their shared past and culture. Data from a nation-wide survey reveal gross ignorance of major…

On account of concern about declining achievement levels of high school graduates and proposed state legislation increasing graduation requirements to address this concern, this report analyzes current and proposed high school graduation requirements in Illinois, based on data compiled from local school documents, and compares the data to…