Productive changes in schooling throughout the 1980s are contingent on emphasis being placed on school effectiveness rather than on curriculum adjustments. Today's curriculum sprawl, caused by the state and federal legislatures' penchant for creating courses to cure newly-emerging social ills, must not deplete resources that should be directed…

If competence is the outcome of a set of carefully designed behavioral objectives, then the form, generality, and focus of these objectives must be impeccable. Eight guidelines that eliminate the weaknesses in existing competency statements are presented. (CMJ)

The need for improved accountability has led to more competency-based testing. This provides test makers with the opportunity to have greater impact on the curriculum. Several strategies are suggested for measurement-based instructional improvement. (Author/PN)

The District of Columbia's Student Progress Plan (SPP) was designed as the delivery system for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), and regulates student promotions based on skill attainment and mastery of the instructional objectives. An evaluation of SPP was conducted in the second semester of school year 1985-86, and its findings are…

Reviews history of the use of the concept "core curriculum" and its decline. Includes a discussion of educational ethics and excellence centering on the need to evaluate the push toward a more academic curriculum and the effect it is having in pushing some students out of the system while developing excellence for a smaller group of…

Nearly all high school students in the Choctaw School System (Mississippi), which operates without a curriculum or a comprehensive evaluation program, function below grade level. Minimum competency evaluation revealed that as many as 50 percent of those entering high school need remedial instruction. There are implications for educational change.…

Intended to introduce educators in secondary schools and colleges to discussion promoting economic literacy for all students, this paper offers a critique of the typical economics curriculum, a rationale for economics education, and a working definition of economic literacy. The first section reviews and critiques current curriculum planning in…

Effects of assessment on curriculum and instruction were studied in an investigation that considered local educators' reactions to statewide minimum competency testing, the instructional effects of implementing these tests, and variations within each state. The two states examined were Pennsylvania, a low-stakes situation with relatively minor…

In 1988, the Basic Skills Task Force was established to assess the effectiveness of four academic policies in addressing the needs of California community college students with skills deficiencies. The policies define the scope and content of Adult Basic Education and of Precollegiate Basic Skills Instruction in nondegree-applicable credit…

The role of statewide testing programs and the direction Pennsylvania should take in statewide educational assessment are discussed. The major purposes proposed for statewide testing programs are: (1) informing state policy; (2) curriculum reform; and (3) accountability. The ultimate purpose of statewide testing programs is to improve student…

The first section of this paper on educational standards considers the nature of the school curriculum as the shaper and delimiter of what is demanded of students. Debates over the desirability of a common or core curriculum for secondary schools as opposed to different programs are discussed. Demands for traditional academic disciplines and for…

Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) originated in 1984 with a recommendation for review every 5 years. In 1996, teachers, administrators, parents, and business leaders throughout Georgia reviewed and analyzed the existing QCC in an effort to update the curriculum, reflect technological advances, and create a more effective base for teaching.…

Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) originated in 1984 with a recommendation for review every 5 years. In 1996, teachers, administrators, parents, and business leaders throughout Georgia reviewed and analyzed the existing QCC in an effort to update the curriculum, reflect technological advances, and create a more effective base for teaching.…

Schools are legally responsible for delivering to all children what the state and school boards mandate in a prescribed curriculum, while teachers are held accountable for its delivery. A major part of this responsibility relates to the teaching of the basic skills of reading, writing, and computation. A current trend to assure the teaching of…

Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) originated in 1984 with a recommendation for review every 5 years. In 1996, teachers, administrators, parents, and business leaders throughout Georgia reviewed and analyzed the existing QCC in an effort to update the curriculum, reflect technological advances, and create a more effective base for teaching.…