The purpose of this paper is to define a rationale for use in the refinements of daily curriculum operations in a school district, and establish a general understanding about policy and non-policy matters in curriculum. It is concluded that the area of curriculum should be guided by written policies which demonstrate that appropriate attention has…

Research on understanding school effectiveness has identified several characteristics of effective schools. Some of them include instructional leadership by principals, collaborative planning by teachers, consistency among teachers, a clear purpose, high academic expectations, positive school climate, and systematic evaluation. Many schools are…

Once a school system has resolved to introduce suicide awareness education into the curriculum, many philosophical and pragmatic questions about program goals, content, and format must be addressed. This document discusses several of these issues, including: (1) who should receive suicide awareness programs; (2) who should conduct suicide…

The political implications of decisions on curriculum content are discussed. A review of the literature on school policies is analyzed with particular consideration of who determines what will be studied in the classroom and what bias may be reflected in textbook selection. It is argued that while it is generally assumed that boards of education…

The mission, philosophy, and goals of the Fountain Valley School District (California) and their implementation in the areas of curriculum and evaluation and assessment, are detailed in this report, which is the result of an organizational self-study in order to improve the quality of the district's instructional and managerial services. Specific…

To provide a focus for citizens to identify needs and to mobilize resources to support a process for community development, the Toronto Board of Education initiated a number of policies and community-school programs during the 1970s. These policies and programs also provided an opportunity for the neighborhood school to actively participate in…

Staff development is a school district activity that is generating more activity and becoming more expensive. As the amount of dollars spent increases, so will the demands for accountability and results. Traditional methods for determining staff development programs are inadequate or incomplete. A more effective method is to relate the staff…

A study was done to determine whether any community school districts within the purview of New York City Board of Education had been able to integrate the Chancellor's call to action for multicultural education at the Social Action-Decision Making level, which had been designated as the highest level of multicultural curriculum approaches. The…

This report summarizes the evaluation of a rural school district in Pennsylvania and offers recommendations reflecting the district's goals for school improvement and construction. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to identify curricular needs of the district and individual schools; review and assess district facilities with respect…

This presentation describes a curriculum revitalization project begun in Spring, 1983 in Baxter Springs, Kansas. The cooperative "effective schools" effort used a broad base of support to establish a director of curriculum, create new school-university ties, focus a reading K-12 curriculum improvement effort, and hold instructional…

Historical and philosophical tensions between Ontario's central provincial educational system and local school boards have been mitigated by division of administrative responsibilities. The province's vastness and cultural diversity are persistent sources of tension. Historical tensions are significant, for colonial schooling standards and French…

This report presents findings from a survey of Indiana school superintendents' and school board members' attitudes about the school's role in sex education. Data were obtained for the study by means of a questionnaire; 645 completed "Family Life and Sex Education Questionnaires" were returned. Data, presented in tabular form and followed…

Chief executive officers of school districts and facility planners must assume the role of change agent to meet the information needs of the 21st century. Public school learning, which will serve more groupings of people on a continual basis, will be disseminated through media learning centers. Management should follow six steps in planning…

This paper traces the evolution of curriculum reform in Mississippi from a state level, norm-referenced accountability system to a performance-based, centralized accreditation system that integrates instructional management requirements into improvement standards. Accountability legislation has primarily been concerned with quality of student…