Professional development is a recognized approach to improving the quality of instruction in schools. The goal of professional development is to increase teachers' knowledge and improve their practices, which lead to enhanced student learning. The problem with providing staff development is the high cost incurred by presenters' fees, and…

Educators and experts say students still need to learn penmanship, even in a digital age. Handwriting still has a place in the digital age, its proponents say, and they hoped that what they billed as a "summit" on the subject at a conference would spotlight their case for the enduring value of handwriting in the learning process. The Washington…

The arts play an important role in human development, enhancing the growth of cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor pathways. Neuroscience research reveals the impressive impact of arts instruction, such as, music, drawing and physical activity, on students' cognitive, social and emotional development. Much of what young children do as…

Reported in this document are the Secretary of Education's personal recommendations for a sound elementary school core curriculum, presented by means of a report on a fictional "James Madison Elementary School." The report opens with discussion of the importance of commitment to course content and instruction in basic skills in…

This document presents the Secretary of Education's personal concept of a sound secondary school core curriculum. It is called "James Madison High School" in honor of President James Madison and his strong views that the people, in order to govern properly, must arm themselves with knowledge. The theoretical curriculum consists of four…

Drawn largely from the experiences of Bloomfield College (Illinois) with its Freshman Core Program, but citing other efforts to develop thinking skills as well, this essay considers several questions and issues concerning the cognitive skills approach to teaching. The paper begins by identifying some of the increasingly common learning problems…

The interpersonal communication course at an Ohio college is based on several assumptions about the nature of interpersonal communication. First, the course should emphasize both the ability to demonstrate knowledge of the communicative behavior appropriate in a given situation (cognitive domain) and the performance necessary for communication…

Educators can improve children's thinking skills through the following five steps: (1) identifying and defining the desirable thinking skills, (2) identifying the components of these skills, (3) providing systematic skills instruction, (4) integrating the teaching of thinking skills with various content areas, and (5) improving skills testing.…

The Basic School Network, Housed at James Madison University in Virginia, plans lessons based on Ernest L. Boyer's Core Commonalities--a system of eight themes underlying all human experience aimed at renewing early childhood education. Commonalities include the life cycle, use of symbols, membership in groups, sense of time and space, response to…

A three-part teacher's guide outlines methods of incorporating active art education and art appreciation into the elementary curriculum. The section on Arts and Learning contains readings on art and culture, art in education, and art as active learning as well as an introduction to the guide. The Arts and Teaching section contains four groups of…

Presents four hands-on activities to teach geometric concepts to both honors and non-college-bound students. The activities are adaptable to various levels and use manipulatives and technology to explore the concepts of enlargement, area, maximum volume, and figure duplication in a cooperative setting. (MDH)