Appeals to reform science education by policy makers are not new phenomena. To be sure, while science reform efforts have been ongoing occurrences for nearly six decades, perpetual educational reform efforts as a whole have been evolving and gaining momentum in number for more than a century. The general motivation for continual reform appears to…

Differentiating music instruction can be done well with a bit of forethought and creativity. When strategically used, music educators can better meet students' needs and make great strides in individual and overall student achievement. A variety of K-12 choral, instrumental, and general music examples is included. (Contains 7 notes and 2 tables.)

How to Differentiate Learning provides guidance for schools and districts to start or improve the effort to differentiate instruction. Based on what educators know about the differences among children they teach, and based on what is known of brain research, teachers must find and embrace ways to differentiate curriculum, assessment and entry…

The author asserts that there can be no single curriculum for all gifted students because any curriculum must be modified for particular needs. The proliferation of commercial curricula and identification processes which do not stress differences among gifted students are two reasons for the myth of a single curriculum. (CL)

Acton (Massachusetts) Public Schools' open enrollment experience shows that a system can develop a common curriculum while allowing individual schools and teachers considerable instructional latitude. Confronting open enrollment pitfalls such as intensified competition, pressures for curriculum standards, and enrollment dilemmas helped this…

This book presents a model of curriculum development for gifted students and offers four parallel approaches that focus on ascending intellectual demand as students develop expertise in learning. The parallel curriculum's four approaches include: (1) the core or basic curriculum; (2) the curriculum of connections, which expands on the core…

Describes the Planning Pyramid, a framework to help regular and special education teachers cover required curriculum while modifying learning requirements to meet individual differences. The pyramid's base represents "what all students will learn," the middle portion "what most students will learn," and the top portion "what some students will…

Traces the development of outcome-based education and mastery learning, highlighting the work of Ralph W. Tyler and Benjamin S. Bloom. OBE is principally a goal-driven curriculum reform model with definite implications for assessing student learning. Mastery learning is primarily an instructional process to help teachers enhance their teaching…

Competing notions of education are reviewed. The progressivist notion is individualistic and aims at self-actualization, whereas the more conservative perspective emphasizes a mechanistic approach in which some students' full potential may not be realized. To accommodate student differences, curricula must be treated as useful guidelines to…

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences offers educators a comprehensive framework for identifying giftedness in diverse student populations. A definition of problem types is presented that, when combined with varied intelligences, forms a problem-solving matrix for designing assessment procedures and developing curriculum. (JDD)

Ten years ago, founders of the Key School, in Indianapolis, Indiana, studied Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and applied it to curricula for gifted and talented students. Present school benefits wide range of students and boasts seven classroom generalists and numerous full-time specialists. The model stresses all seven…

The United States has been engaged in school reform for three decades. The federal government as well as all fifty states have passed numerous versions of reform legislation to mandate and regulate the process. Educators have adjusted their practices to the policy created by this legislation. They have also allocated hundreds of billions of…

This book is concerned with reinventing the learning process from a multiple intelligences perspective and urges explicitly teaching students about multiple intelligences to further their metacognitive understanding. The multiple-intelligence-based curriculum is intended to interface with the regular academic curriculum. An introductory chapter…

A model which describes the major decisions a teacher makes during instructional planning is discussed. The theory presented is derived from human learning research that addresses itself to individual differences. (RM)

Community attitudes can profoundly reinforce or virtually neutralize the work of teachers and school administrators. Young people's motivation for learning will be weakened if high standards are not valued by classmates, parents, and the community. The community is obligated to provide comfortable school buildings, provide the best teachers…