This digest describes the development of the standard middle school and its impact on rural areas, discusses the original goals of middle schooling, and suggests how rural schools can meet these goals despite their small size. The earliest middle schools were innovative rural junior high schools that enriched their programs with additional…

Intended for administrators and policy makers, as well as teachers, this digest examines the current state of humanities instruction and the evolving place of humanities in the high school English classroom. The digest first explores differing definitions of the humanities, and discusses reasons for the decline in emphasis on humanities…

This ERIC Digest discusses heritage education in terms of: (1) what it is; (2) why it belongs in the core curriculum; (3) how it relates to social studies education; and (4) the qualities of exemplary heritage education programs. Heritage education is defined as an approach to teaching and learning about history and culture that uses information…

Small schools can provide an environment well suited to new and improved forms and models of teacher professional development. A compact faculty size can support close interpersonal relationships, resulting in greater teacher collaboration on interdisciplinary units and personalized teaching plans for all students. Thus, the necessity and…

This brief paper summarizes issues and strategies in early intervention with infants and toddlers who have visual impairments. Characteristics of exemplary early intervention services are identified including collaboration with families and other professionals in the Individualized Family Service Plan process and home visits that promote…

Curriculum integration has long been proposed as a way of organizing the "common learnings" or life skills considered essential for all citizens in a democracy. Curriculum is organized around real-life problems and issues significant to both young people and adults, applying pertinent content and skills from many subject areas or…

After more than a decade of intensive experimentation and development, the field of interdisciplinary language and business studies is firmly established in U.S. higher education. Academia has responded to national needs, as evidenced by such programs as the Language and International Trade program at Eastern Michigan University. Various…

The comprehensiveness and effectiveness of school-to-work transition activities are limited by staff and time. The unique and complicated counseling needs of students with disabilities require the involvement of other actors, primarily parents. Youth with disabilities and their parents must be knowledgeable about vocational opportunities and…

Many educators believe the role of vocational education is to prepare students for work in a given trade or vocational area with the focus on job skill training. Some contend vocational education should concentrate more broadly on all aspects of students' career development, including lifelong learning, employability, and cognitive skills. One way…

Environmental Education (EE) is described as a process of moving individuals toward stewardship and ultimately a union view of the relationship of people with nature. This document presents a general tenet of EE and explores some prevalent precepts that can be a guide to fully incorporating EE into all teaching settings. The percepts are explored…

Noting that college-level critical thinking instruction is now an interdisciplinary movement coordinating such fields as English, rhetoric, philosophy, and developmental psychology, this digest surveys the history of critical thinking studies in these converging disciplines and argues that literature study preeminently encompasses the mental…

This information digest provides an overview of some areas of agreement between the fields of gifted education and middle school education, some areas of tension, and some promising directions that could engage educators in mutual planning of appropriate services for all middle school students, including the gifted. Shared beliefs include the…

The gold-collar worker has problem-solving abilities, creativity, talent, and intelligence; performs non-repetitive and complex work difficult to evaluate; and prefers self management. Gold-collar information technology workers learn continually from experience; recognize the synergy of teams; can demonstrate leadership; and are strategic thinkers…