Reacting directly to the fact that even the best syllabus is worthless to the student who does not read it, this essay draws inspiration from research of the past decade, especially from the learning-focused syllabus concept that was introduced by three researchers at the University of Virginia, and uses a questionnaire to gauge our community…

As the arts are integral to shaping our culture, rigorous education that will prepare art students to create compelling artworks is necessary. Employing a tool such as Bloom's Taxonomy aids instructors in creating assignments that fulfill high-order concerns in the art-writing classroom. Because writing is one way for would-be artists to shape…

Ideal for faculty and administrators looking to blend business education and the liberal arts, this toolkit combines exemplary syllabi from 26 leading institutions with step-by-step strategies to advocate successfully for curricular innovation. Conceived with comprehensiveness in mind, these resources cover both inspiration and implementation for…

Virginia's "College and Career Ready English Performance Expectations" grade 12 capstone course contains high-interest contextualized content designed to give certain students an additional boost for competent and successful entry into college and careers. The course will add to students' preparation for critical reading, college and…

West Springfield High School sits on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in Fairfax County, Virginia. WSHS is home to a thriving and growing technology education program. In recent years, the program has exploded from less than 175 students to well over 425. These numbers are expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future. In 2002, the…

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is increasingly offering more Web-based, online orientation courses to students. Since the fall semester of 1999, the community college campuses throughout the VCCS have offered over 100 sections of online orientation courses. However, no assessment data or research for these courses or students exists.…

The standards in this document resulted from a statewide effort to identify a scope and sequence of content, concepts, skills, and attitudes in social studies from kindergarten through grade twelve. The goals embodied in the standards include: (1) providing experiences that enable students to participate in society effectively and responsibly; (2)…

This final report contains a three-page narrative and extensive appendixes, including correspondence, surveys, field test evaluation and guide, and the Competency-Based Curriculum Guide for Practical Nursing Education in Virginia developed by the project. The over 200-page curriculum guide presents a suggested master curriculum for a twelve or…

The Fine Arts Standards of Learning in this publication represent a major development in public education in Virginia, emphasizing the importance of instruction in the fine arts (dance arts, music, theatre arts, and visual arts) as an important part of Virginia's efforts to provide challenging educational programs in the public schools. Knowledge…

A report on the social studies curriculum in Virginia is the result of a study of the social studies program, kindergarten through grade 12, undertaken over a four year period. Special focus was placed on the four following areas: proliferation of elective course offerings in social studies at the senior high level; course offerings at grades…

This guide contains information and hands-on activities to guide students through the problem-solving process needed in engineering (problem solving, presentation, and impact analysis) and information to help the instructor manage the program or courses in Virginia. Following an introduction, the guide contains a program description that supplies…

This curriculum guide was developed as a model for schools in Virginia to prepare local programs of studies in business education. The Business Program contains 21 courses plus a 4-year sequence of courses for office specialist and a local option for students with disabilities. This guide contains an overview of the Business Program, information…

The course of study represents the second of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to the subject of physical features of the soil. Upon completing the two day lesson, the student will be able to determine the texture and structural types of soil, list the structural classes of the soil and where they…

This curriculum guide was developed as a model for schools in Virginia to prepare local programs of studies for the marketing program. In addition to marketing competencies for developing occupational expertise, this curriculum includes foundational competencies important for successful performance in marketing. These baseline competencies address…

The course of study represents the first of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to the topic of soil management. Upon completing the two day lesson, the student will be able to define "soil", list the soil forming agencies, define and use soil terminology, and discuss soil formation and…