This Digest explores the practice of looping, a pedagogical strategy in which a teacher advances from one grade level to the next along with his or class. It describes how teachers and students in looping classes need not start from scratch every fall, learning new sets of names and personalities. By spending several years with a class, teachers…

This fact sheet provides an overview of the potential effects of new communications technologies on education. The topics which are addressed include: (1) examples of communications technologies including television, teletext and viewdata, Instructional Television Fixed Service and Multipoint Distribution Services, videodiscs, direct broadcast…

This bulletin discusses the aspects of curriculum development that relate to environmental education. The first of five sections establishes the need for curriculum development that addresses the emotional, cultural, and sociological factors that influence the curriculum framework in view of the need for educational reform. The second section…

In global education programs, emphasis on commonalties shared by all peoples and the understanding and appreciation of differences within various cultures and subcultures may provide strong rationales for those who wish to teach art in a social context. Global education should not be viewed as a discipline with particular content or subject…

This digest reviews information in the science education literature on teaching about societal issues in science classes. Reasons for including a discussion of social issues in science classrooms are given, and instructional approaches for teaching about science and society are presented. Several Internet resources related to teaching about…

Lists some of the documents and journal articles on history education reform in the ERIC database. Includes items on the teaching of history, curriculum development, textbooks, student achievement, and constraints of teaching methods. Gives a brief summary of each work listed. (DK)

Provides a partial listing of documents and journal articles in the ERIC database on the status of U.S. history instruction and history education reform. Includes items concerning curriculum guidelines and development, the study of democracy, teaching methods, and history versus social studies. (DK)

Practitioners at all levels of education have begun to recognize that addressing the complex social and environmental problems of the future will require individuals capable of reflective and critical thought. Critical thinking has been defined as utilizing a number of cognitive processes and attitudes that undergird intelligent action in diverse…

The voyage of Columbus in 1492 is a turning point in world history. After 1492, people and civilizations of long-separated regions began to develop connections that have led to the incipient global community of the 1990s. It is their global significance that justifies a prominent place in today's curriculum for the four voyages of Columbus to the…

This digest briefly reviews major approaches to restructuring American schools and evaluates their potential for improving student learning and their feasibility--politically, financially, and administratively. The following reasons for restructuring are discussed: (1) poor educational performance; and (2) the changing skills needed for today's…

This digest describes faculty and staff development as crucial elements for institutional effectiveness and quality. These programs allow faculty to improve instructional material, keep abreast of new technology and methods, and network with colleagues. When change takes place, perhaps through reorganization, restructuring, or a change in…

Until 1993, the discussion of teacher education reform in the literature was limited to individual authors' suggestions for a vocational education response to reform initiatives and comments on the problems posed by pressures for reform. Debate on how to pursue excellence in vocational teacher education programs focused on vocational education's…

This digest presents recommendations for a staff development program for a multilingual multicultural teaching staff that has been tested and shown to be effective. Effective instruction in bilingual and multicultural schools requires that teachers combine a sophisticated knowledge of subject matter with a wide repertoire of teaching strategies…

Cognitive theory and research are relevant to vocational education. Three theoretical perspectives underlie cognitive theory-based curriculum and instruction: information processing, knowledge structure, and social history. A review of these perspectives in vocational curriculum and instruction suggests that instruction supporting higher-level…

This digest discusses strategies for providing students with disabilities with access to the general education curriculum. It begins by presenting educational principles that need to be accepted to ensure successful student access, including: (1) responsibility for learning outcomes of special education students should be equally shared by the…