The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

This K-12 sequential course of study is the result of one school district's efforts to improve continuity in the social studies curriculum. Following an introduction and statement of philosophy, the program is organized around four basic educational areas--knowledge, application, valuing, and participation. Specific program goals include promoting…

This resource book provides ideas, strategies, techniques, examples, and resources for organizing, implementing, sustaining, and assessing character education programs in K-12 schools. The text is organized into several topics: (1) historical and theoretical bases for character education; (2) a description of a comprehensive character education…

The superintendent claims an advanced placement (AP) European history course was eliminated and an AP course in comparative government was added to provide a little more coherence, not to create a multicultural approach. A parents' committee claims they formed over the issue of academic rigor, not multiculturalism. (MLF)

The lack of U.S. students' knowledge of history and geography has been portrayed on television and in the newspapers as a national problem. California's public schools are taking significant steps to ensure that all students have a well developed understanding of their society and the world. This guide for parents answers some of the most commonly…

This compilation of learning activities, essays, songs, and poems provides a framework for reevaluating and reorganizing a conventional K-12 physical education curriculum. Over one hundred inexpensive items and equipment for use in physical education instruction are listed and a formula for movement is offered. The paper emphasizes the shift in…

Summarizes "First Lessons," the author's 1986 report on elementary schooling. Acknowledges society's complexity, the nation's ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, parents' importance, and changing family structure. Examines curriculum content and quality, principal and teacher effectiveness, and school policy issues, including the need for rigorous…

Factors that influence and predict academic success of ESL students were studied to assist the Ministry with decisions related to curriculum development, resource allocation, and support provision. The comprehensive nature of this study is unique in that it presents the state of affairs of K-12 ESL education in Alberta. Best practice information…

This book offers teachers of all grades teaching/management strategies for providing gifted students in regular classes the enriched curriculum they need. Chapter 1 describes the learning and behavioral characteristics of gifted students, especially noting underserved groups such as gifted children from multicultural and low socioeconomic…

Presents the 1994 children's trade book recommendations of the Joint Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children's Book Council. Discusses the six criteria for book selection. Includes an annotated bibliography of more than 140 books categorized by primary, intermediate, and advanced grade levels. (CFR)

This guidebook provides behavioral-instructional strategies for teaching essential personal safety skills and promoting overall well-being to persons with developmental disabilities. Case studies demonstrate these strategies in practice, and detailed curriculum goals are included to guide intervention efforts. To ensure that learners both…

This book is a guide to infusing multicultural education into the classroom at the elementary and secondary levels. It includes curriculum strategies and extensive resources for immediate application. Section 1 presents activities to introduce teachers, students, and parents to the concepts of multicultural education. This section includes a…

There is a growing consensus among educators that a major reason why traditional curriculum approaches have failed is that they are not based on knowledge of what is age-appropriate or individually appropriate for young children. This book provides practitioners with a practical framework for making curriculum effective and responsive for children…

Addressed primarily to elementary school teachers working with children in grades one through three and grounded in developmentally appropriate practice, this book provides a practical framework for making teaching effective and learning meaningful for children in these early grades. Chapters in Part 1 of the book each present one of six teaching…

Work-based education (WBE), including traditional vocational education and other career-focused programs, was an important curricular component in American schools for most of the 20th century. The 1990s was a period of substantial change for work-based education (WBE). Spurred on by a concern about the international competitiveness of the…