Outlines the inadequacies of conventional curriculum guides. The emerging emphasis on the use of curriculum alignment is presented as a promising alternative with four major advantages: (1) local control of the curriculum, (2) textbook adoption by local needs, (3) better pupil achievement, and (4) simpler curriculum monitoring. Includes a…

Most social studies methods course textbooks concentrate on planning, assuming the teacher will operate as his own curriculum developer and packager. Curriculum development projects prepackage materials and often include specific instructions on how to use them. Only a few textbooks and projects incorporate selecting/adapting skill development the…

This essay is written for the secondary school teacher who is organizing that first course hoping to suggest some of the answers to the question: where to begin. The author begins by very briefly describing the discipline in terms of its central concerns with some history and some prediction for tomorrow. Against this historical background,…

An ever-increasing constraint upon the freedom of the teacher and the curriculum is developing. Specifically, the curriculum development going on inside the confines of state legislatures. Suggestions for insuring professional involvement in curriculum matters were offered. (Author/RK)

Most speech communication curricula have room for only three organizational courses: (1) business and professional speech communication (B and P), usually offered to freshmen and sophomores; (2) an introduction to organizational communication, presented to sophomores and upper-class students; and (3) a seminar in organizational communication, for…

Argues that there are special problems associated with designing and teaching a course about authors outside of the literary canon. Traces the development of a course on Victorian women writers from initial development difficulties to final thoughts on restructuring the syllabus. Notes works used in the course. (DSK)

Developing a curriculum is a task that is often discounted in many school corporations during the course of selecting new textbooks. Most school corporations simply adopt a publisher's text and design a curriculum around it. This paper describes some fundamental elements of an effective public-relations program and ways in which the elements can…

In 1985, California launched a 2-year curriculum reform initiative in history and social science that could eventually bring new standards of learning in these areas. Professional studies and student surveys relate a common message: a more extensive, literature-based, issue and idea-oriented curriculum, and better teaching methods would increase…

The political implications of decisions on curriculum content are discussed. A review of the literature on school policies is analyzed with particular consideration of who determines what will be studied in the classroom and what bias may be reflected in textbook selection. It is argued that while it is generally assumed that boards of education…

A description is provided of the development of "The History of the Modern World," a one-semester course offered at Bronx Community College (BCC), which was designed to survey the major aspects of the significant events that are part of the political, economic, social and cultural heritage that have shaped the course of world history since 1850.…

An extensive review of the literature and a survey of nursing faculties revealed the incompleteness and obsolescence of current texts to meet the needs of the Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) course in current trends. It became evident while researching course content materials for the current trends course that the personal and vocational…

As economics becomes a school subject for a wider variety of secondary school students in Great Britain, instead of being limited to a few higher ability boys, the need for more appropriate texts also grows. Texts and sources which use a greater variety of approaches and material are discussed. (IS)

Questions content of many introductory courses in political science, pointing out most courses focus on the U.S. political system, not the discipline and its basic theoretical and conceptual elements. Argues for a generalist approach that gives students a better understanding of political systems and the global world. Includes authors, choices,…

Discusses the impact of Marxist geography on course content and textbooks in college geography. Reviews three textbooks. Identifies four persistent problems in the representation of Marxist geography. Suggests a template through which teachers can offer students a more discriminating account of that model. (CFR)

Presented in outline form, this curriculum guide lists the educational goals and objectives for Arizona elementary and secondary courses of study in United States history and Arizona history. The purposes of the guide are to present the minimum content of study for the individual subject areas and to serve as the educational content criteria for…