"Developing Creativity in the Classroom" applies the most current theory and research on creativity to support the design of teaching and learning. Creative thinking and problem solving are at the heart of learning and application as students prepare for innovation-driven careers. This text debunks myths about creativity and teaching…

Now that the Common Core standards are coming to just about every school, what every school leader needs is a straightforward explanation that lays out the benefits of the Common Core in plain English, provides a succinct overview, and gets everyone thinking about how to transition to this promising new paradigm. This handy, inexpensive booklet…

"Next Generation Science Standards" identifies the science all K-12 students should know. These new standards are based on the National Research Council's "A Framework for K-12 Science Education." The National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science,…

Educational reforms and standards have been a topic of public debate for decades, with the latest go-round being the State Common Core Curriculum Standards. But time and again those reforms have failed, and each set of standards, no matter how new and different, has had little impact on improving student achievement. Why? The textbooks. Textbooks…

"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…

As the new English Language Arts Common Core State Standards take hold across the United States, the need grows for pre-service and in-service teachers to be ready to develop curriculum and instruction that addresses their requirements. This timely, thoughtful, and comprehensive text directly meets this need. It delineates a literacy practices and…

What if your professional learning community was available 24 hours a day, every day of the year? Would you like to have a place to share lesson plans, student work, a new curriculum, and to provide a discussion forum for all stakeholders? You can, even with only a basic understanding of technology. The authors explain how they created an online…

This comprehensive book offers a practical pathway for developing twenty-first-century skills while simultaneously strengthening content-area learning. "Digital Learning" contains a wealth of research-based practices to integrate the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for both…

This book speaks to all those teachers who teach the "gen ed" literature course that their students must take to complete a general education or core curriculum requirement. These students--the 95 percent who are not English majors--are the students educators hope will become active and reflective members of a reading public. Given this goal,…

In response to some educators' advocacy of a return to a "core curriculum" (a specific set of courses required by all degree-bound college students), this book maintains that the simple acquisition of broad-based knowledge is not the solution to the complex and difficult problems in higher education today. It presents views of the "educated…

This book stresses that the social studies curriculum in U.S. elementary and secondary schools is the basic core for conveying to new generations the concepts, values, and abilities that will allow the society to survive and prosper. In the 1950s, the concern was over the adequacy of courses being taught and the lack of a cohesive structure that…

The debate over teaching the "canon," a collection of great books authored by Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Kant, Darwin, and others that has traditionally represented the Western intellectual tradition, as a core of the college curriculum, is examined. Discussion begins with a description of how the canon has been taught from ancient…

Stereotypes of the overall character of the college student population are seen to have persisted, inaccurately, for several decades. The dangers of such stereotypes are pointed out and educators are warned against policies and practices based on misconceptions about today's students. Information from national surveys of over 95,000 undergraduates…

The Paideia Program is an integrated liberal arts curriculum implemented in elementary and secondary Chicago, Illinois, public schools. This report highlights its operation in Sullivan High School. Program components include the following: (1) didactic teaching; (2) coaching; and (3) Socratic questioning of guided discussion. Students must acquire…

Essays are collected on faculty development programs that are felt to have positively affected both the institutions and individual faculty members. They include: Faculty Development: Promises, Realities and Needs (William C. Nelsen, Michael E. Siegel); Improving the Scholarly Climate on Campus through a Program of Small Grants (David Marker);…