This brief provides an overview of the Instructional Improvement System (IIS) models for State education agencies in Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island, along IIS goals in the following areas: (1) Standards and Curriculum; (2) Instructional Practices; (3) Assessment and Growth; (4) Learner Profiles; (5) Data…

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S.…

Involving two or more academic subjects, interdisciplinary studies aim to blend together broad perspectives, knowledge, skills, and epistemology in an educational setting. By focusing on topics or questions too broad for a single discipline to cover, these studies strive to draw connections between seemingly different fields. Cases on…

An emerging body of research suggests that a set of broad "21st century skills"--such as adaptability, complex communication skills, and the ability to solve non-routine problems--are valuable across a wide range of jobs in the national economy. However, the role of K-12 education in helping students learn these skills is a subject of current…

This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of a task force that studied the role of the National Institute of Education (NIE) regarding curriculum development activities in the United States. Primary purpose of the report is to identify and recommend policy options to guide NIE's curriculum development activities. Part 1 contains a…

PT3 implementation grant funds have been used to restructure a teacher education program to meet the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) defined by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). The Brigham Young University PT3 implementation grant supported design teams of teacher education and content area faculty who…

Each edition of the "IDRA (Intercultural Development Research Association) Newsletter" strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on curriculum quality and includes: (1) Quality Curriculum and School…

As part of a larger project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education, the Center on Education Policy prepared this compendium, which summarizes the findings of major studies of the implementation and effects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) conducted by various organizations and agencies. The brief summaries are…

Concern about curriculum materials and behavior modification techniques being used in local schools continue to be expressed by individuals, groups, and organizations. One concern is the belief that federal funding for development and dissemination of material and techniques is an encroachment on local curriculum decisions. Although existing laws,…

There are no major efforts at curriculum reform in process and no sense of urgency about remedying the lack. (Author/IRT)

The forces which stimulated the social science curriculum reform movement to both its accomplishments and its decline are observed and reported. (Author/GK)

The author traces the rapidly accelerated federal involvement in education, with emphasis on issues in curriculum and teaching. He examines the economic and political context that has favored this development and suggests that its effects in the classroom are not always positive. Condensed and reprinted from "Daedalus," Summer 1980. (Author/SJL)

Recommends the establishment of a national, federally funded and directed program modeled on the successful Physical Science Study Committee to provide curriculum materials, provide appropriate tests, evaluate current tests, and begin soon. (Author/IRT)

In his critical response to TM 506 654, the author points to three major strengths of the aforementioned. These include: (1) breadth of perspective; (2) significance of federal presence; and (3) recommendations concerning the future role of the federal government in education. Also discussed are areas deemed questionable by the author. (GK)