In the realm of literacy education, curriculum is driven by politics, finances, standardization, and accountability. How specified curricular materials make their way into the classroom often baffles educators. The one thing they know is it is "isn't the one we voted for." This study includes a review of literature on how curricula were…

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…

Historically, Australian higher education has been statist, uniform, and secular. Indeed, up until 1989, even communist Poland had more Christian universities than Australia. Only in the last 3½ decades have eight different Christian universities and colleges emerged. This article first explores the origins of these new institutions and the…

In 1966, David Baker, a Black man and esteemed jazz musician and composer, created and developed the Jazz Studies program at Indiana University (IU). The purpose of this study was to investigate how David Baker came to join the faculty and created the Jazz Studies program at IU through an examination of the school's course offerings and historical…

The vast majority of U.S. teachers supplement their officially adopted curriculum materials with unofficial materials. Despite this, the body of supplementation-relevant literature tends not to focus on supplementation specifically, so lacks cohesion, and sometimes fails to capture all aspects the phenomenon. I systematically review…

Practitioners use an expansive array of instructional design models. Although many of these models acknowledge the need for analyzing occupational roles, they do not define steps for conducting these analyses. This article reviews prominent models and provides prescriptive guidance for selecting appropriate models given a project's (a) Product…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the authority basis of compulsory school principals in Iceland by making a general comparison to the other participating countries in the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, as well as by using Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory. The study utilizes data from principals in 48 of…

California's school system is under tremendous long-run fiscal pressure; allocating resources efficiently is therefore paramount. Economic analysis--making sure districts and schools are spending their budgets wisely--is the method used to identify effectiveness and efficiency. This method responds to the question educational professionals face:…

This case study exemplifies an experimental design to measure the effectiveness of a new educational approach compared to the conventional approach. The researchers were interested in the impacts that reading culturally responsive Young Adult novels might have on eighth grade students' reading comprehension. Students were randomly assigned to the…

If the textbook and material selection process is to be adequately supported in school budgets, curriculum directors, teachers, and administrators must be able to defend their requests with high-quality information. This article offers nine suggestions to help build a leadership structure and a database for making appropriate textbook selections.…

The purpose of this "Handbook" is to bolster the effective implementation of the intervention models and strategies outlined in the "2010 School Improvement Grant" (SIG) program--section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)--in order to achieve the program's clear goal--rapid improvement of persistently…

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…

The decision-making process for choosing social studies instructional materials is outlined in five steps. (KM)

A survey of 112 higher education institutions in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Flanders (Belgium) sought information about governance and decision-making structures, including the involvement of faculty, administrators, and governing councils at different levels; areas in which these actors participate…

The third volume in a series designed to help school administrators to install new curriculum programs contains information about the selection process. It begins with a definition of just what a new curriculum program should be, then suggests the composition of the search/selections committee, and finally describes a search procedure that…