This book provides a detailed account of a year-long curriculum development project by an interdisciplinary team to create an inclusive, democratic curriculum at a suburban Georgia middle school. The first chapter is an overview of the study and lists the eight components deemed essential to a "coherent" curriculum. A separate chapter,…

Noting that academic failure begins early and that the focus of school reform should be at the elementary level, this book describes the Basic School, an idea based on best practice in elementary education. A Basic School pushes school reform back to the first years of formal education; gives priority to language and suggests a coherent core of…