Recent research on student achievement conducted by the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) indicates that American students are deficient in reading, mathematics, writing, and other skills. To reverse this trend, the Accountable Curriculum, a program that raises expectations for students was created. The program is a departure…

Some of the difficult questions surrounding intensive scheduling, along with examples of successful applications of this approach, are described in this document. This book offers a blueprint from a practitioner's perspective and is intended for educators and lay people interested in improving secondary schools. Chapter 1 demonstrates how to…

Increasingly, adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners have access to computers, whether it is in a language lab once or twice a week or in the classroom. This report provides an overview of the types of ESL software and includes guidelines for the appropriate use of software in the adult ESL classroom. Individual sections address the…

Public relations writing curricula must accurately reflect the writing responsibilities of public relations (PR) practitioners. This study provides descriptive information on the types of writing tasks conducted by PR practitioners. The study also investigates whether the type of writing and overall time spent writing vary with years of…

One of the major problems with the English curriculum is that literature, language, and composition, the three major strands of the curriculum, have been separated rather than integrated within the curriculum. This inservice program, which was given for English teachers at Niles High School in Skokie, Illinois, advocates the use of conceptual or…

This activity is designed to teach about hydrothermal vent ecology. Students are expected to describe how hydrothermal vents are formed and characterize the physical conditions at these sites, explain chemosynthesis and contrast this process with photosynthesis, identify autotrophic bacteria as the basis for food webs in hydrothermal vent…

This digest offers community college academic leaders a synopsis of the key components necessary for building a successful developmental education instructional framework. Specific emphasis is placed on program structure, faculty, and program improvement. Developmental education is defined as "courses or services provided for the purpose of…

Cyberlearning provides opportunities to many individuals who may not be able to participate in traditional campus-based counselor preparation programs. However, these opportunities will only be fruitful for the students if the online learning experience is of the highest quality. Thus, planning is an essential component of developing a high…

This facilitator's manual is part of a curriculum to help special educators teach paraprofessionals to support individual students with disabilities effectively, especially students with moderate to severe disabilities who require individualized support. Special aspects of the curriculum include its site-based and job embedded approach as well as…

The paper outlines a number of processes that have been implemented by Learning Services at Deakin University (Geelong, Australia) to gain significant and sustained cultural change among staff in a blended organization, comprising the university library service, the curriculum design and development functions and those of academic staff…

This paper introduces the concept of a reusable assessment framework (RAF). An RAF contains a library of linked assessment design objects that express: (1) specific set of proficiencies (i.e. the knowledge, skills, and abilities of students for a given content or skill area); (2) the types of evidence that can be used to estimate those…

The goal of this booklet is to help teachers re-examine education for students with disabilities. It is intended to help clarify issues related to developing adaptive processes to include students with disabilities in general education classrooms. It begins by explaining the difference between mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion, how a…

The outline for a reading course based on both intensive and extensive reading of short stories is presented. The 11-week course focuses on five stories, three selected by the teacher and two selected by the students as a class. A course overview details the sequence of reading and classroom activities, and the procedures for a typical four-week…

This article explores the interdisciplinary course offerings at 164 institutions that participated in a 1998 curriculum analysis by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges. It examines interdisciplinary courses in the context of the total curriculum, and discusses examples of existing interdisciplinary programs, the benefits and…

The report describes the work of an American Association of Colleges of Nursing task force charged with defining the central elements of master's education for advanced practice nursing. The task force formed a consensus for two separate but related components: a statement of the essential core curriculum content for master's-educated nurses and a…