In this brief article, John Wertman describes the evolution of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, the role the American Association of Geographers (AAG) played over the last decade in getting it passed, and the impact the Act has on funding for K-12 geography education. The legislation, while not perfect, includes promising new…

Consider the high-priority challenges facing education stakeholders today, such as measuring teacher effectiveness, implementing the Common Core State Standards, aligning K-12 and postsecondary education efforts with workforce demands, efficiently allocating resources, and ensuring that students stay on track to success. These efforts all rely on…

From the inception of public education, the curricula of schools have been debated. As early as 1893, higher education and governmental committees sought to establish what, when, and how cognitive level curricula would be taught. In times of national need, as when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the educational system was called upon to help…

If social studies is going to contribute to the overall qualitative improvement of public schools, educators must agree on a social studies core curriculum for all students. Social studies educators can take credit for having had a role in the maintenance of one of the world's oldest constitutional democracies, and as a national assessment…

An information-rich environment is a sharing environment with standards, rules, conventions, and ethical codes different from those created to manage the zero-sum bargains of market trading and traditional international relations. Societies must give all their people a chance at relevant education or be left behind by those that do. (MBR)

One in a series devoted to the topic of careers in transportation, this guide, which is intended to aid in curriculum development for transportation career education in elementary through high school, provides information and models for career education and the transportation field. The four sections that comprise the guide are the following: (1)…

The goal of this guide is to provide information, support and practical tools that may help educators design, implement, and evaluate their school's standards-based education program. In order to work, a comprehensive, standards-based educational program must, by definition, be the organizing structure upon which the school program operates.…

Suggests a core curriculum for information access skills in automated school library media centers. Student activities are described for six main areas: designing an effective research question, understanding a database, designing a simple search strategy, more advanced search strategies, understanding a computer citation/abstract, and documenting…

This report argues for renewed attention to the teaching of history in the schools and provides suggestions for improving the state of history in our educational system. Much of history's trouble in the schools derives from a misunderstanding about what the subject is and what it is not. History is not social studies; it is essentially narrative.…

Learning factors that are improved by K-12 arts programs include perception, awareness, concentration, uniqueness of thought style, expression, inventiveness and problem solving, confidence and self worth, and motivation. The arts have been taught as an addition to the basic curriculum, not as part of the basic curriculum. This will continue…

The Utah State Board of Education established a policy requiring the identification of specific core curriculum standards that must be completed by all kindergarten through grade 12 students as a requisite for graduation. The core curriculum consequently represents standards of learning that are essential for all students. This document presents…

A study conducted in 1981-82 examined program organization in the secondary division of Western Australia's district high schools. Because small secondary schools throughout the Western World are increasing in number, the study had as its genesis a concern for such schools and an appreciation of the difficulties they face in maintaining viable…

Based on the realization that the arts humanize the teaching process, motivate learning in all areas of the curriculum, and answer the need for creative expression, the Oklahoma plan was instituted in 1976 to provide a comprehensive arts program for the public schools. Its approaches include in-depth instruction by arts specialists, integration of…

During the summer of 2003, a statewide committee of representative educational stakeholders on "cooperative rulemaking" was convened jointly by the Department of Education and the Education Law Center. The Supreme Court in "Abbott X" had directed the establishment of this committee to develop new regulations more consistent…

In 1999-2000, over one-third of all students in the 30 Abbott districts spoke a native language other than English, and more than one-tenth were considered limited English proficient (LEP). The proportions of LEP students varied considerably across the districts, but they comprised between 5% and 29% of total enrollments in 18 of the districts.…