The most fundamental curriculum question is "What is most worthwhile to know and experience?" A democratic orientation leads to answers to nine other questions relating curriculum planning to a goal of personal and social growth. (nine references) (MLF)

Principals cannot be experts in all content fields but should understand, as curriculum generalists, how the curriculum is organized and how learning activities and materials are related to instructional outcomes. Secondary principals can facilitate curriculum enactment by effectively managing school governance and by making sound decisions…

Implementation of professional knowledge in school settings is process involving deep, substantive philosophical considerations. Philosophical leanings are central in shaping school's mission and overall program direction. Summarizes results of study examining Texas secondary school principals' philosophical leanings in areas of curricular…

Factors providing rewards for principals and their importance in the development of instructional leadership are discussed. The understanding of individual learning styles is also stressed as an important component in effective instructional leadership. Includes references and a diagram. (MD)

This article suggests that secondary schools offer upperclassmen the opportunity to inquire objectively into the language and structure of morality. (Editor)

Reviews two court decisions relating to religion-based objections to public school instructional materials. Includes discussion of the issues involved in the court decisions as well as recommendations to schools about how to deal with such objections. (MD)

Education, the author believes, falls far short of the goals set for it by our society. The humanities receive insufficient emphasis in the schools, and the quality of life in America is poorer because this is so. (Editor)

Our schools can no longer afford to be uncritical transmitters of historical traditions, values, and mythologies. To make the present and future world relevant to today's youth, the teaching of social studies and history must be reexamined and revised. Teachers must present developing young minds with an authentic panorama of New World development…

To combat negative effects of the AIDS epidemic, violence, and adolescent sexual behavior, schools must broaden their curricula to include character and values education. Schools can actively help youngsters by providing an integrated curriculum that encourages decision making, problem solving, and conflict resolution; a teaching staff dedicated…

The demographics of school-age children will change dramatically by the year 2000. Currently that year's gradutes are five-year-olds, of whom one-third are minorities, one-fourth are below poverty levels, and half live with a single parent. Educational curriculum must change to meet the needs of this future generation. (MD)

Describes examples drawn mostly from urban areas that required the building of coalitions between schools and communities to create a new, more democratic context for curriculum development. Cited are the nationwide Vocational Education Project, the Southern Coalition for Educational Equity, and the "Rethinking Schools" progressive newsletter in…