The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and understand the impact of standardized testing on educational practice in an urban, Title I school community, and to determine solutions to improve the utility of standardized testing in supporting student learning and achievement. The specific areas of focus are diagnosing…

Outlines nine steps to curriculum planning: specify learning outcomes; identify constraints; assess physical environment needs; identify classroom practices required to do the job; orient the pupils; select teaching materials; organize the learning experience; get daily feedback from classroom observations; and evaluate the outcomes. (ED)

The authors cite a need to foster happiness in young people, which they feel can be partially accomplished by teaching students to solve problems. They briefly describe their implementation of curriculum developed by the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC) to promote logical thinking through philosophy instruction. (SJL)

States that principals need to be leaders in guiding teachers to provide the best objectives, learning activities, and appraisal procedures to guide optimal pupil progress. Contends that each pupil is unique in learning style and needs a variety of experiences, and that the school curriculum needs frequent evaluation so that changes and…

The intent of this booklet is to stimulate interest in individualized education, to promote study of it, and to encourage educators to experiment with the idea in ways appropriate to their local situations. Chapter 1 analyzes the concept of individualization. The chapter includes paradigms that may be helpful for examining some of the current…

Presents developmental approach to career guidance consistent with the developmental philosophy of contemporary elementary school counseling programs. Looks at program development and evaluation, and discusses these aspects of elementary school career development program: counseling with children, parent counseling and training, and developmental…

Teachers, supervisors, and administrators need to have perspectives pertaining to the future in a quality reading program. A forward looking reading program emphasizes the following aspects: (1) starting instruction where each student presently is in achievement; (2) teaching diverse word recognition techniques; (3) increasing the purpose for…

Readers' theater has much to offer at all levels of student development. When incorporating readers' theater into the curriculum, definite principles of learning from educational psychology need to be emphasized, including: meaningful experiences for students; provision for individual differences among students; and appropriate sequence in…

Notes that those cross-cultural classroom exchanges that yield the most energy, intensity, and recognizable change are those centered upon students' simple needs, feelings, and fears. Uses such exchanges as the focus for wide-ranging questions about how best to modify language arts curricula and teaching to meet students' needs. (HTH)

This paper addresses how educators can encourage elementary-age children to develop critical thinking skills and creativity while also meeting educational standards and maintaining learning goals. The paper notes that a comprehensive curriculum: (1) honors the role of all participantsteachers, children, and parents; (2) engages children in…

Lets the reader "listen in" as a group of four teachers search for a focusing question as they plan a focus study on the colonial period of American history. Organizes the authors' thinking, knowledge, resources, and predictions about what the students might bring to the table and what they might need from their teachers. (SG)

There is a mandate for teachers who are trained to meet the needs of the increasingly more culturally diverse populations, particularly in urban schools. General competencies which all teachers of urban learners should develop include respect for cultural differences and a belief in the abilities of culturally different learners. Additionally,…

The multicultural approach to teaching students about diversity is out of touch because it fails to represent American life adequately or teach techniques for dealing with bias. Instead of turning children into uncomprehending "tourist," the antibias approach spans the curriculum and emphasizes developmental appropriateness and…

A study examined elementary school writing instruction to determine (1) how frequently students are writing, (2) when in the curriculum writing occurs, and (3) in what forms the writing occurs. Data were collected in 75 elementary classrooms in 25 midwestern schools during a 15-day period. The data deviated little from what D. Graves reported in…