In February 1990, the President and state governors proclaimed a set of six national education goals to prompt profound improvements in schools and student achievement by the year 2000. These six goals reflect widely held concerns that most Americans have not been receiving the kind of education they need to meet the challenges of twenty-first…

General education is the process of developing a framework on which to place knowledge stemming from a variety of sources. Its goals are to help students think critically, develop values, understand traditions, respect diverse cultures and opinions, and, most importantly, put that knowledge to use. Even though its goals parallel socially supported…

Middle schools embrace exploration as a guiding principle across the school curriculum. Noting that the research on exploratory courses is sparse, this digest discusses what is known about exploratory curriculum in middle schools. The digest first looks at the role of exploratory curriculum, pointing out that the purpose of exploratory courses is…

The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States. It is part of the social studies core curriculum in U.S. schools. By the time they graduate from high school, students are expected to know the main ideas in the Declaration of Independence and their significance. This digest discusses: (1) the origins of the…

This ERIC Digest discusses heritage education in terms of: (1) what it is; (2) why it belongs in the core curriculum; (3) how it relates to social studies education; and (4) the qualities of exemplary heritage education programs. Heritage education is defined as an approach to teaching and learning about history and culture that uses information…

Great ideas about law, government, and the rights of individuals, embedded in U.S. founding documents, are the connective cords by which national unity and civic identity have been maintained in the United States from the 1770s until today. To be a citizen is to understand and have a reasonable commitment to the ideas in the founding documents.…

In February 1990, the President of the United States and the 50 state governors proclaimed a set of six national goals to prompt profound improvements in schools and student achievement by the year 2000. These six goals reflect widely held concerns that most people have not been receiving the kind of education they need to meet the challenges of…

During 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported findings about elementary and secondary school students' knowledge of U.S. history, geography, and civics. In 1988, the Joint Council on Economic Education reported findings from its national study of high school students' knowledge of economics. The designers and…

The implications of six national reports for social studies are examined. These implications are compared with past and present practices in the social studies and the ways in which the reports fail to give useful guidance to teachers are noted. An introductory chapter presents a broad overview of the six reports: "The Paideia Proposal: An…

The changing tradition of liberal education in America is examined against the backdrop of Greek, medieval, colonial American and German expressions of the liberal tradition and its necessary humanistic disciplines and pursuits. After a historical discussion of various manifestations of liberal education through the ages, recent strains of liberal…

Various aspects of liberal arts education in the community college are discussed in the 11 articles in this monograph. First, Myron A. Marty presents an overview of current conditions and pressures affecting the liberal arts in the two-year college. Then, Jack Friedlander reviews the data on student participation in liberal arts courses. Ruth G.…

Sources in this annotated bibliography are intended to assist cooperative efforts by teachers, district language arts supervisors, communication consultants, reading specialists, parents, principals, teacher educators, and state education office personnel in their efforts at furthering the speech and language growth of elementary school students.…

This report discusses what should be taught in history and social sciences courses, and how the material should be taught. Differing views of educational leaders as well as results of recent research and studies are summarized. The following propositions are offered as stimulators of inquiry and as tentative guides to practice: (1) the greatest…

Presented as a practical guide and reference for reexamining or restructuring general education programs, this volume examines the aims of and rationale for general education at selected campuses and focuses on the process of curriculum reform at the campus and system levels. The 10 chapters are: (1) "General Education in the Heartland: Black Hawk…