The Common Core State Standards, released in June 2010, offer an opportunity to shift education away from shallow, test-prep instruction and toward a focus on key cognitive skills, writes Conley. Two consortia of states are now developing common assessments to measure these standards--assessments that will be designed to capture deeper, more…

When teachers prepare their own curriculum outlines, crucial issues come to the surface, promoting examination of what teachers believe about themselves, about children, and about teaching. (Author/MLF)

Five short articles describe curriculum planning achievements in selected schools, including establishment of goals for a program for gifted and talented children; the use of learning charts, curriculum guides, and content lesson plans to make expectations public; establishment of subject area coordination; and two curriculum models. (MLF)

What people mean when they use the phrase "content standard" varies all over the lot. In some states, content standards are little more than category labels describing collections of curricular aims in particular content areas. If a state's content standards are too numerous, then teachers do not know where to aim their instructional efforts. This…

Article stresses the need for a new look at curriculum negotiation, and for more thought to be given to young people when professionals are dealing with curriculum efforts. (ML)

Among the factors preventing effective curriculum management are that schools do not state their missions in specific terms or utilize their resources, and neglect systematic use of feedback. (Author/MLF)

Authors look at some of the issues that must be faced by local educators who must conceive and manage career development programs. (Authors/CB)

Provides a critique and a defense of Maryland's Project Basic, a curriculum design that uses adult activities as the source of objectives for the curriculum. (Author/MLF)

Examines what kind of curriculum is needed for the next quarter-century, using a survey of the past two decades, 1955-65 and 1965-75, as a guide. (Author/MLF)

The history of curriculum development provides insight into the problems of improving instructional content and classroom learning experiences. (MM)

Author offers suggestions for broadening the scope of education and educator. (RK)

The strengths and weaknesses of the fields of curriculum development and instructional development are discussed in a father-and-son letter exchange. (MLF)

Examines a number of questions related to the role of structure in curriculum development. Available from Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1701 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20006, single copies, $2.00. (JG)

Once corporate-sponsored material gets into the classroom, teachers can use it to teach critical thinking skills, such as analyzing and drawing conclusions from statistics and graphs; identifying and labeling examples of bias, propaganda, and racial and sex stereotyping; detecting and recording fallacies; and identifying "pro" and "con" arguments.…