The reputed merits of the interdisciplinary curriculum movement are explored in this collection of works by leading educators. Context is laid out in the introduction, "When Theory Meets Practice in the World of School," by Pam Grossman, Sam Wineburg, and Scott Beers. The chapters are as follows: (1) "On Disciplinary Lenses and…

In the business community an understanding of the workings of government is essential. Most undergraduate business curricula do not include political science courses even though the subject can make major contributions to the student's education. Three areas of the business core would be particularly enriched by political science: organization…

This report examines whether a high school curriculum organized around the five "new basics" suggested by the National Commission on Excellence in Education is likely to enhance student achievement. Data from the ETS Growth Study reveals that completion of the core curriculum has sizable effects on senior-year test performance, even when…

This analysis is the seventh of a series of seven reports on the ways that the urban fiscal crisis has affected children. The fiscal containment imposed on California schools after the enactment of Proposition 13 in 1978 has resulted in changes in urban high school curricula over the past five years. A telephone survey of school personnel and…

Argues that geography is an academic discipline, not a profession, and that one of its traditional contributions to British higher education lies its assistance in the development of critical intellectual skills. Maintains that efforts to create a core curriculum are short-sighted and open the field to political interference. (MJP)

This study presents a process used to assess the general education component of the undergraduate curriculum, focusing particularly on the components of the methodology that provided the data used to suggesting changes in the program. The study was undertaken at an urban institution with an undergraduate population of 6,000, and involved analysis…

Outlines some of the main reasons given in support of a core curriculum in British higher education and challenges these arguments with particular references to geography. Arguments against a core curriculum include the changing nature of knowledge within the field and the strength of geography as a broad discipline. (MJP)

This study examined curriculum procedures and the roles, decision-making processes, and perceptions of central administrators, building administrators, and teachers in five school districts. Qualitative data collection included taped interviews using a focused indepth interview schedule, field notes, observation, and document collection. The study…

Describes the University of California (Irvine) one-year humanities core course as hermeneutically and contextually oriented. Explains course development, structure, and organization and provides the reading list. Students assignments include essays and a dialectical notebook. Provides a three-day fall seminar for the teaching staff. Finds course…

This document is one of three related volumes. They present the rationale, background, and framework for a comprehensive monitoring system being developed for the National Science Foundation. The system is being designed to gather information about the effects of national, state, and local policy actions designed to change the teaching and…

The overall goal of this project was to identify a core curriculum in gerontology for seven allied health professions (radiologic technologist, radiation therapist, respiratory therapist, dental hygienist, dental assistant, physical therapy assistant, and occupational therapy assistant). The project also identified the current state of gerontology…

The U.S. public high school should return to a core curriculum which is defined as a broad consensus on the basic information and skills to which most young students should have been exposed by the time they graduate from high school. The duty of educators is to teach the skills and general information that enable educated persons to continue…

Five years ago Los Angeles Unified School District administrators began efforts to ensure that teachers teach students what they are expected to learn and test them accordingly. The initial stage of this projected curriculum alignment was first of all to define the essential skills to be taught in the elementary grades and provide a list of these…

An extensive study of humanities education in the nation's public schools, commissioned by the United States Congress, concludes that history, literature, and languages are inadequately taught, and most students fail to learn important knowledge about their shared past and culture. Data from a nation-wide survey reveal gross ignorance of major…

Over recent years there has been an increasing amount of public and political discussion of educational directions and educational accountability in relation to Australian primary and secondary schools. The study reported in this monograph attempted to address these concerns through a four-stage process: a review of literature exploring community…