Planning for equitable accelerated learning is analogous to preparing a meal. Similar to a chef selecting the menu, gathering ingredients, and planning the occasion, educators choose aligned curricula to prioritize learning, organize and internalize instruction, and plan for opportunities to advance student learning. Grounded in research and…

In his 2011 ASCD best-seller "Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning," author Mike Schmoker described a fresh approach to K-12 teaching built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum; clear, structured lessons; and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy. Now, in "Leading…

The 2018 Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) quality framework is the latest step in ACTE's ongoing High-quality Career and Technical Education (CTE) Initiative--an initiative designed to answer the question "What is high-quality CTE?" The framework is designed to apply to individual, local CTE programs of study…

Describes one integrated curriculum classroom which was transformed into an Asian museum. Discusses how to develop an integrated curriculum, why curriculum integration is important, and myths of integrated curriculum. Encourages teachers to take the first steps toward an integrated curriculum approach to student learning. (SR)

School districts annually receive between 100 and 200 requests from outside groups to distribute information, raise funds, and add new units of instruction. Administrators should document the situation in their own districts, examine the procedures currently in use to handle requests, and design new ones if necessary. Contains a sample policy,…

This manual for secondary school teachers offers sample lesson plans that may be used to guide and stimulate experimentation and development of creative instructional units. Lesson plan components are defined, and various types of lessons and their significant characteristics are identified. These characteristic types of lessons are illustrated,…

A discussion of geography's place in the curriculum and suggested methods for teaching geography are presented in this paper. Geography may be included in the curriculum in a variety of ways, such as infusing it throughout the curriculum or designing an integrated curriculum with geography as the core. Principles of learning derived from…

The learning productivity approach to higher education attempts to gain productivity, not so much by reducing or cheapening inputs but by enhancing higher education's major output: student learning. In the learning productivity perspective, the principal problem is in teaching and learning inefficiencies such as excessive nonlearning time,…

Notes that the ways in which spelling has been conceptualized have evolved dramatically over the last few decades. Explores the evolution of this reconceptualization through a discussion of spelling as a system, as a subject of instruction, and as a psychological and linguistic process in writing and reading. Explains how instructional…

Discusses making integrated instruction at the middle school level more potent by focusing on key concepts rather than on topics (e.g., systems, interdependence, change). Describes differences in curricula based on concepts and topics; defines concepts and principles for integrated instruction and what makes them effective. Compares integrated…

This book describes how educators at Harrison Elementary School in Twin Falls, Idaho, used the Standardized Timed Curriculum (STC) to raise students' standardized test scores. The monograph, which is divided into eight chapters, opens with an overview of testing in schools, the growth of the test-preparation business, and the need for school…

Discusses academic failure and the role of curriculum design in either intercepting or exacerbating learning difficulties. Evaluates changing student demographics and the diverse needs of students, and reviews the principles of effective curriculum design, including big ideas, conspicuous strategies, mediated scaffolding, strategic integration,…

Instruction in thinking skills is possible and desirable, but educators must guard against assumptions that undermine the process. Eight fallacies that obstruct the teaching of critical thinking skills are presented. (MD)

Outcomes assessment is increasingly important to regional accrediting agencies, which are requiring self-study reports to not only analyze the outcomes assessment efforts, but also use assessment results to improve programs. This paper illustrates the process in a university-wide required business communications course by discussing the problems…

Discusses the Bradley Commission on History in School recommendations as part of the 1980s curriculum reform movement. Examines the problem of too many social science disciplines competing for space within the limited core curriculum. Analyzes several major reports published on social studies curriculum reform. Concludes with further questions…