Students need far more than traditional academic skills to succeed in school, work and civic life. Decades of discussion about the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that facilitate success in the information age have produced consensus that students should learn 21st century competencies. However, many schools struggle to meaningfully…

Even evidence-based instructional methods may not be sufficient for closing achievement gaps. If teachers are not maximizing instructional time, achievement gaps are likely to widen over time; therefore, instruction need not only be effective but efficient as well. The purposes of this article are to (a) provide practitioners with a broad…

The subtleties of instruction include interpretation, interaction, and longitudinality. Instructional leaders can help teachers make decisions about how to verbally mediate students' understanding during lessons. Includes references. (MD)

The Ainsworth-Lund transformation process model offers a framework for observing and assessing growth/development by identifying needs and matching them to available resources. The model's four phases are described and an annotated bibliography is provided which documents the engineering education experiences corresponding to each phase. (JN)

This chapter examines several aspects of the instructional development (ID) process as it occurs in higher education, and presents arguments: (1) in favor of using students in various aspects of the instructional development process; (2) in favor of "shotgunning" rather than taking on only large projects; and (3) against confusing instructional…

To help avoid past mistakes in attempts at curriculum and instructional improvement, this article offers five guidelines for secondary school curriculum change and innovation. (DCS)

At Camillus Junior High School, teachers who need extra time for instructional planning may apply for an inschool released day. This article outlines this program's procedures and cites examples of teachers' use of the planning day and their comments on the system. The program's application and evaluation forms are appended. (SJL)

Discusses how to develop a chapter based unit, a very brief planning scheme that enables a social studies teacher to organize instruction drawing upon content from a single textbook chapter. This involves identifying a focus generalization, describing major concepts and subconcepts, preparing performance objectives, and developing key questions.…

Discusses the use of assessment to guide instruction using individual interviews, good questioning techniques, observations, and student portfolios. (MKR)

This discussion of the current state of the art in the field of instructional development includes an integration of the points made by the authors of Chapters 1-12 in the book, "Instructional Development: The State of the Art, Volume I," together with additional material. A discussion of professional organizations, journals, and…

Focuses on incorporating feminist thinking into teaching to show the limitations of mainstream analyses of a theory. Uses a democratic feminist theory in discussing environmental problems, and suggests projects that involve students in political activity. Provides a course syllabus and a reading list with applications of feminist theory. (NL)

The National Commission on Social Studies in the Schools was formed in 1987 by the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the National Council for the Social Studies to study the state of social studies in the schools and to make recommendations for curricular change. The Commission's curriculum report,…

A practical approach is offered to incorporating desired instructional components into teaching styles of college faculty, in ways that increase their overall effectiveness. The first part of the book places the improvement process in a context, focusing on the impediments to improving college teaching, techniques for encouraging faculty…

A school system's testing program can be used as a tool in curriculum development and instructional improvement if the tests match the goals and objectives of the instructional program and what is taught in the classroom. Test-taking skills should be taught so that the test will accurately reflect certain knowledge. Test results should be an…

A symposium, held at King's Gap Environmental Education Center, focused on art education and art history and provided an opportunity for scholars and leaders in art education to discuss and react to current problems and future directions. All 21 participants prepared and presented papers in the general area of art history. Danielle Rice, Director…