Reviews late 19th-century work of the Committee of Ten and the Committee of Seven to transform the social-studies curriculum. Argues that these efforts were precursors to the progressive movement in education beginning formally in 1919 with the founding of the Progressive Education Association. (Contains 82 references.)(PKP)

During the 1970s, the curriculum field underwent a "reconceptualization," shifting from commitment to developing curriculum toward interest in understanding curriculum. This article presents an alternative rationale: disillusionment with traditional institutions/preoccupation with private interests, fascination with "interesting…

This section presents 27 abstracts of selected doctoral dissertations in curriculum from 1986. Categories are as follows: curriculum goals, influences on curriculum, curriculum change/implementation, curriculum leadership, curriculum theory, and miscellaneous. (TE)

Describes Progressive Education Association's Eight-Year Study conceived in 1930 and published in 1942. Attempts to correct subsequent misconceptions and misinterpretations of the study's findings. (Contains 43 references.) (PKP)

This article looks at the legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, discusses the formative stages of multicultural education, and explains the shifting contours of multicultural education, along with some reasons for these developmental changes. It explores two specific domains of multicultural education--curriculum desegregation and…

Fifty years ago the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board, declaring education to be the foundation of good citizenship and preparation for occupational success, rejected the doctrine of "separate but equal" as applied to schools. The Court extended the American ideal of common education for common citizenship to black school children.…

Examines major assumptions of curriculum alignment and standards-based reform. Both reforms are potentially long on political expediency but short on educational efficacy. Improved test scores do not necessarily signal curriculum improvement. Educators should become more politically active, practice professional disobedience, or pursue…

Examines the origin of expressive writing, briefly reviewing Britain's language-across-the-curriculum reform movement and expressive writing's debt to that movement. Describes a conference where British and American educators exchanged ideas about language and learning. Explains how pyscholinguistics has provided the intellectual framework for…

This study examines whether three school-level factors identified in Fullan's theory of educational change would affect implementation levels in a curriculum change process. Effects of task-relevant interactions among teachers and between teachers and administrators were analyzed, along with teachers' sense of efficiency. (TE)

Presents the author's recommendations, based on both broad visions and practical concerns, for reconceiving and improving curriculum. (MCG)

This article considers common dilemmas faced by schools undergoing change. The dilemmas are related to three areas: autonomy, focus, and acceptance. How teachers and administrators resolve these dilemmas is fundamental to the way change in schools is implemented. This study examines the way curriculum leaders in a regional Australian government…

During the past few years, several Dutch curriculum and assessment specialists have been developing proposals for national attainment targets for various education sectors (primary education, lower secondary education, secondary vocational education, and teacher training colleges). This article analyzes this development activity according to…

Describes reasons for the recent demise of the full employment goal in today's society. Predicts that the present and future reality of high unemployment will necessitate a change in the curriculum of public schools to include three main categories of "education for unemployment": (1) survival skills; (2) contextual awareness; and (3)…

Summarizes Dewey's essay "The Educational Situation: As Concerns the Elementary School" and discusses implications for today's elementary school curriculum. (PKP)

Deficiencies in mathematics achievement in the United States have spurred calls for reform in K-12 curricula and pedagogy. Based on contemporary learning theories, numerous curriculum programs have been developed that emphasize problem solving, critical thinking, mathematical connections, and mathematical communication. These innovations require…