Amidst numerous curricular reforms across the USA that censor reading materials and promote standardized literacy policies, the authors ask in this article: What rights do early childhood teachers and students have in curriculum-making, and to the very materiality of their own classrooms? More broadly, they wonder: How do material regulations in…

Studies relating to the characteristics of instructional materials that are adopted for use by teachers are reviewed. Included in the review are studies about: (1) the importance of instructional materials in the classroom; (2) how teachers select instructional materials; (3) theories about instructional materials; (4) attributes of innovations…

Focuses on decisionmaking about delivery media, and introduces CADDI's Performance-based, Accelerated, Customer-Stakeholder-driven Training & Development(SM) (PACT) Processes for training and development (T&D). Describes the media decisions that correspond with the design three levels of PACT: Curriculum Architecture Design, Modular Curriculum…

This book is for teachers who wish to have a direct part in planning curricula. Part one discusses principles that teachers can use in making curriculum decisions in their classrooms and some concepts of the purposes a curriculum should serve. Part two outlines types of educational research studies and suggests ways of assessing them. A discussion…

Responses to a national survey of 233 high school principals about the degree of involvement of various school personnel in five decision areas suggest that only building administrators and teachers have high degrees of involvement in decision areas. (Author/MLF)

Selection of and search for appropriate instructional materials should begin while writing instructional objectives during the curriculum planning process. A five-phase system to help the teacher make selection decisions, in consultation with the school media specialist, is presented. (MF)

Reform-minded educators should examine business and medical models to construct a viable, research-based framework to validate proposed curricular programs before implementing them. Pursuing a reliable research base for math reform, several superintendents convinced the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement to let…

This manual is intended to help educators of students with disabilities select and implement a social skills program through a five-step decision process, either manually or by use of software (available in both PC-DOS and Macintosh formats). After an introductory chapter, the second chapter focuses on what social skills are, why they are…

The major objective of the National Science Foundation's Administrators' Conference in Elementary Social Studies was to provide knowledge of new developments in social science curricula. Parallel objectives were to develop knowledge in curricula analysis, improve decision making, and plan and accelerate changes in local social science curricula.…

This book presents principles for curriculum development in vocational and technical education (VTE). Section I focuses on curriculum development in a more general context. Chapter 1 conceptualizes curriculum as related to VTE. Chapter 2 provides contemporary designs for curriculum development. Section II deals with essentials of curriculum…

This training manual presents and examines alternatives in the use of instructional materials. The alternatives are based on a thorough knowledge of typical local district goals, school curriculum designs, and textbook selection policies and the way these factors affect the instructional process. An examination is made of how instructional…

Elementary and secondary school teachers were asked to rate the sources that influence their decisions on what they teach in their subject areas. Possible influential sources were identified as: (1) district consultants; (2) state or district recommended textbooks; (3) state curriculum guides; (4) commercially prepared materials; (5) teachers' own…

A brief and flexible overview is presented of the steps that should be taken to revise social studies instruction. The booklet lists 10 steps in the revision process. Each step has a brief commentary followed by questions that a local curriculum planning group may want to consider. Some resources to help answer these questions are included. The…

Procedures for revising a K-12 social studies program so that it includes thinking skill activities and for implementing the revised curriculum are discussed. Procedures are: the formation of a curriculum committee and sub-committees; current program assessment to determine needs regarding thinking skills; deciding on a rationale; selecting…