Employers are increasingly selecting and developing employees based on skills rather than qualifications. Governments now have a growing focus on skilling, reskilling and upskilling the workforce through skills-based development rather than qualifications as a way of improving productivity. Both these changes are leading to a much stronger…

This paper explores the continued cultural consecration of narrow forms of knowledge and literate practice in senior Australian English curricula. Despite the prevalence of Personal Growth approaches to English throughout Australia in the latter decades of the Twentieth century, the analysis of curricula reveals a contradiction between stated…

California's school system is under tremendous long-run fiscal pressure; allocating resources efficiently is therefore paramount. Economic analysis--making sure districts and schools are spending their budgets wisely--is the method used to identify effectiveness and efficiency. This method responds to the question educational professionals face:…

In the process of experiential learning, students acquire skills and values as the consequence of a direct experience. Experiential learning draws on senses, emotions, and cognition and appeals to learners' entire being. Such learning, by nature, enables the development of a variety of capabilities, such as planning, teamwork, coping with…

This booklet shows teachers and administrators how their school districts can use the Reading Authority List of the Reading Information System I (I-RIS), an analytic process for making decisions about language arts curriculum materials. Following an outline of I-RIS, pages of the Reading Authority List are accompanied by guidelines for using the…

Guidelines for the selection of teachers who will participate in the Thirteen-College Curriculum Program (TCCP) include a compilation of written materials and a list of recommended activities. The first part of this document provides a description of materials including the brochure, statement of the course, teacher selection criteria, ideal…

The education system in California today is unable to meet the needs of the state's economy or the expectations of its citizens. From school finance to ensuring the quality of teaching, from assessment and accountability to preparing students for college and careers, education policy today in California often works against the best interests of…

Discusses ways to select and evaluate CD-ROM programs. Various evaluation and review sources are described, results of recent evaluations are related, curriculum ideas for using interactive electronic books in elementary school classes are suggested, sources for CD-ROM classroom activities are provided, and an example of a network CD-ROM exercise…

This article deals with the selection process of social studies curriculum materials, introducing readers to the major ideas contained in the NCSS's Social Studies Curriculum Guidelines and SSEC's Curriculum Materials Analysis System. (SM)

A brief and flexible overview is presented of the steps that should be taken to revise social studies instruction. The booklet lists 10 steps in the revision process. Each step has a brief commentary followed by questions that a local curriculum planning group may want to consider. Some resources to help answer these questions are included. The…

TENTATIVE DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES, DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS, AND APPROPRIATE INTERVIEW FORMS THAT HAD BEEN DEVELOPED FOR USE IN A LATER SURVEY OF POST-SECONDARY TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS WERE TRIED OUT IN FIVE REPRESENTATIVE SCHOOLS. THE FOLLOWUP STUDY WAS PLANNED TO BE A LARGE-SCALE INVESTIGATION OF STUDENT-SELECTION PRACTICES, ADMISSION…

This paper explains the use of intrinsic analysis procedures developed, as part of the Pennsylvania School Improvement Program (PSIP), to evaluate and choose curriculum materials and instructional programs. An intrinsic analysis, as distinct from an evaluation using outcome measures or classroom processes, employs research criteria to make…

Reprinted from the "The Computing Teacher," this collection of nine articles presents information on computer software selection and evaluation. The articles include: (1) "The DISC Model for Software Evaluation and Support Material Design" (Shelley Yorke Rose and Carol Klenow); (2) "Selecting Computer Software--We Take It…

A project was conducted to collect, summarize, and evaluate instructional materials for use in the job survival skills program of the California Youth Authority. The materials sought were those which focused on any or all of eight general skill categories within the scope of job survival (e.g., seeking a job, maintaining a job). Two methods of…

This case study recounts the attempts of two school districts to improve decision making on the adoption of a new elementary social studies curriculum by using formal evaluation methodology. The study's main objective was to develop a series of criterion referenced (mastery level) tests from a list of social studies objectives to determine whether…