An overview is presented of an elementary-level social studies core curriculum at Fieldston Lower School (in New York City) in which the moral and ethical development of students is seen as a priority. Fieldston Lower School is one of three branches of the Ethical Culture Schools. Article 1 focuses on the modification of the traditional elementary…

Efforts are currently underway to adjust the focus of industrial arts instruction to concentrate more on the study and understanding of technology and its role in our lives. For many years industrial arts programs have been industry-based; however, many professionals support a curriculum that will relate industrial arts instruction more closely to…

This issue of Changing Schools explores what algebraic thinking is and why students need algebraic thinking. The efforts of Kansas and North Dakota to incorporate algebraic thinking into their state mathematics standards are described. Contents include: (1) "Algebraic Thinking: Preparing Students for Mastering Algebraic Concepts" (Vicki…

Recent reports by the National Science Teacher's Association, the National Science Foundation, and the National Education Goals Panel indicate that the science preparation of American children is deficient. In 1990 the State of California published the "Science Framework" guide to curriculum and materials in an effort to address these…

There are two currents of social studies reform. One involves the search for an appropriate social studies core and is spearheaded by state governments and scholarly organizations. The second reform movement flows toward a social studies curriculum based on urgent domestic issues and the realities of global interdependence. The cross-purposes of…

The elementary secondary curriculum in the United States could benefit from redefining the arts as a discipline to be interwoven into the school's curriculum. Four essays in this issue explore the question of the arts in education. John Holdren comments in "Will the Band Play On?" that music educators must stress the serious study of music as its…

The appearance of a graduation requirement in the arts has focused attention on public school systems to provide comprehensive music education coursework. As a result, this report discusses trends in secondary music education course requirements, suggests strategies for implementing a meaningful music curriculum, cites obstacles to expanding music…

Faculty development through peer observation, faculty revitalization through curricular change, and interdisciplinary work are addressed in this newsletter issue. The peer observation process is primarily directed toward fine-tuning or adjusting existing competencies, and usually focuses on factors such as questioning, clarity, organization,…

This volume focuses on four North Carolina school systems that have developed strategies for improving teaching and learning environments in arts education. Article 1 discusses the challenge of providing adequate levels of visual arts instruction for exceptional children in Dare County and describes a specific art project for handicapped students…

Focusing on the issue of culture and its impact on education in California, this document offers glimpses into the lives of individuals who ask the question, "Is there now or will there ever be a common American culture?" Organized into 10 articles, the first article, "Whose Culture is This? Whose Curriculum Will It Be?"…

The 10 essays and reports collected here offer various perspectives on elementary and secondary curricula most appropriate to a future of rapid technological change. Articles by the National Science Board, Secretary of the Air Force Verne Orr, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), Shirley McCune for the Education Commission of the States…

The main purpose of this special issue is to suggest strategies for meeting the mathematical needs of two-year college students in the decade of the 1990s. Since the 20 contributors were free to write about topics that they considered to be appropriate to the intellectual and personal development of all students their papers represent a broad…

This journal presents a collection a essays that offer several new perspectives on teaching practice; give descriptive and narrative accounts of curricular and teaching innovations; and discusses a range of shared learnings obtained from public university, community college, and private college multicultural change processes. Chapters and their…

The evidence from research using expectancy theory is synthesized to develop a contingency model of incentives for involving teachers in professional development. Research findings that focused on the administrative challenge of motivating teachers to engage in curriculum development tasks are used to test the model. (MLF)

A two-issue volume presents articles describing innovative schools, classrooms, and alternative learning arrangements found in some of today's schools. Issue one contains three articles offering glimpses of an elementary school committed to the Core Knowledge curriculum of E. D. Hirsch, a renovated school devoted to early childhood learning…