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…

The option for small high schools to consider non-traditional approaches to instruction may be a viable way to meet the instructional needs of individual students in Texas' rural communities and comply with the curriculum requirements specified in Chapter 75 (recently passed by the 67th Texas Legislature). Effective in 1985, school districts will…

This report summarizes the results of a study conducted to provide a complete and documented picture of public secondary education in Massachusetts. The study involved an analysis of questionnaire data and transcripts from about 3,000 graduates in the 1984 school year. Specifically, the study addressed the following questions: (1) How do student…

One of three related documents, this booklet for students contains the basic lists and course descriptions of the high school curriculum offerings. The introductory section includes information about the counseling services, graduation requirements, credits, promotion policy, curriculum areas, independent study, program opportunities for…

This report describes the 1981-82 activities of the Los Medanos College (LMC) general education project, which focused on the development of guidelines for the revision, review, and evaluation of the general education program's basic tier of courses (Tier One) in the subject disciplines. First, 1981-82 project goals are specified: (1) the…

A required second-year course in medical interviewing contains a module in managing the difficult interview. The content includes classification of difficult interactions, identification of specific interview problems, recognition and use of the interviewer's own feelings as information about the patient, and acquisition of accurate and precise…

Describes a compulsory computer education course for pre-service elementary and secondary teachers at the University of Calgary, Canada. Reviews the course content, laboratory topics, and provides an evaluative overview of the program's first year of implementation. (ML)

Reports on the new foreign language requirements at the University of Minnesota. These requirements include establishing entrance standards and strengthening the graduation requirements, both of which are based on language proficiency. Workshops to train teachers in testing under the ACTFL Provisional Proficiency Guidelines are described. (SED)

Results of investigation of M.L.S. degree students' needs for structure in required research methods course support hypothesis that, when exposed to such a course taught under low structure conditions, students with simple cognitive style would express demand for greater structure than would students with relatively complex cognitive style. (12…

Description of plans to institute a college bibliographic instruction program to be integrated into freshman and sophomore courses discusses transfer of learning, events which provided opportunity to shape programs, results of questionnaires assessing faculty perceptions of and students' ability to use library, and relevance of instruction. Eleven…

Suggestions for reforming K-12 art education are made. The arts must be seen as basic, not as extracurricular activities. Arts in the general education curriculum should teach content, concepts, and critical appreciation skills. An interdisciplinary approach to the arts should be used. (RM)

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a two-year project at Lynchburg College (Virginia) to develop an interdisciplinary program of classical readings in six required courses. Although originating in the college's senior symposium, the current program's emphasis is on remedying the dichotomy between basic skills and…

Assigning grades is an integral part of social work education. However, social work educators must decide whether to use norm-referenced or criterion-referenced measurements to grade exams and other assignments. This paper presents arguments for grading with both norm-referenced and criterion-referenced measurements. The benefits of…

The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) has been concerned about the disproportionately low rate of some racial/ethnic groups on campuses of the University of California (UC) and is committed to increasing the enrollment of traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups on UC campuses. To this end, course-taking …

The quest for the powers and skills of informed judgment, for the dual capacities of appreciation and criticism should stand as the goal of every level of the college curriculum. The fundamentals of a college education are seen as decisions between interpretations and the skill of understanding interpretations. (MLW)