Examines various permutations of the concept of "core curriculum" and then assesses the crucial planning, design, and development tasks in relation to the core curriculum. (TE)

Documents the emergence of interdisciplinary curriculum organization patterns as viable alternatives to the subject-centered curriculum field in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Early 20th-century approaches to the elementary curriculum included the project method, the experience curriculum, and the activity movement.…

Describes Progressive Education Association's Eight-Year Study conceived in 1930 and published in 1942. Attempts to correct subsequent misconceptions and misinterpretations of the study's findings. (Contains 43 references.) (PKP)

The curriculum conference is a specific, practical strategy for deliberative curriculum problem solving at the district or national level. This article explains the deliberation method and its two important characteristics, argumentation and interaction. An analysis of all three decision-making processes in one such conference showed that…

Describes Harold Alberty's curriculum design work, including his conceptual framework for general education. Alberty's designs, representing ever-increasing divergence from the traditional, subject-centered program, offer guidance for today's curriculum planners. Alberty's favorite was type-four core, based on adolescents' common problems, needs,…

Examines possible relationships between student achievement and implementation of middle-level program concepts within 10 middle/junior high schools of a large, urban school district. Middle-level programming was positively related to student achievement, although relationships were small, considering the overall influence of past achievement.…