Describes the development and impact of a fine arts high school graduation requirement. Discusses how music, drama, and art teachers relinquished some of their independence to form a fine arts department. Includes six strategies that might be used to institute a fine arts graduation requirement in other schools. (CFR)

A national survey of 172 colleges and universities was conducted to determine the topical content of exceptional children curriculum for preservice regular education teachers. Of 15 content areas, the most heavily emphasized were characteristics of exceptional children, mainstreaming, facilitating positive attitudes toward exceptional children,…

Transcript data were analyzed to determine changes in course taking among graduates of high schools including mostly lower achieving students in California, Florida, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, which adopted high graduation requirements in the 1980s. Average credits per student increased in all academic subjects, as did the courses' difficulty…

This study examined whether concept-based or experience-based training designs and their subsequent execution would create different training effects in teachers (depending on whether trainers took into account diagnostic information on existing teacher beliefs and preconceptions). Pretraining and posttraining data indicated that teachers' beliefs…

Describes the University of California (Irvine) one-year humanities core course as hermeneutically and contextually oriented. Explains course development, structure, and organization and provides the reading list. Students assignments include essays and a dialectical notebook. Provides a three-day fall seminar for the teaching staff. Finds course…

Describes Erie Community College's computerized system to help curriculum advisors better assess each student's reading and writing competency level and track their completion of required courses. Illustrates the system's provision of information on placement tests and developmental courses taken, and whether a required composition course has been…

The recent focus on the effects of early childhood education on future academic success has caused many early childhood teacher educators to examine the relevance of the instruction they give to early childhood professionals for meeting the educational goals for the 21 st century. This study examined the effects of a set of core courses in an…

Many colleges and universities require incoming students to demonstrate a prescribed level of computer proficiency. Currently, many educational institutions offer introductory computer courses to assist students in meeting this requirement. Other institutions are considering eliminating introductory computer courses with the expectation that…

American children are gaining weight at an alarming rate. Since the 1960s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of American six- to eleven-year-olds who fall into the CDC's highest weight classification for children has almost quadrupled. Requiring more physical education (PE) seems like a logical…

Background: Comprehensive school-based physical activity programs consist of physical education and other physical activity opportunities including recess and other physical activity breaks, intramurals, interscholastic sports, and walk and bike to school initiatives. This article describes the characteristics of school physical education and…

Mandatory introductory level college courses, or "service courses," tend to be taught in lecture format, in a linear order from the instructor's point of view, and to classes of anywhere from 50 to 600 or more students. Students have individual differences and diverse learning styles which are difficult to address in a large class.…

In January 1993, the Illinois Articulation Initiative was launched to facilitate the transfer of students among Illinois colleges and universities through the development of a general education core curriculum and agreements on the courses essential for students transferring to baccalaureate majors. This report provides an overview of the…

One hundred forty-three Eastern Kentucky University college students majoring in education and enrolled in an introductory education course were surveyed to determine their understanding of and knowledge about multicultural education and to discern the extent to which these students appreciated and valued multicultural education. The study also…

The free appropriate public education (FAPE) of handicapped learners in the least restrictive environment as well as the Regular Education Initiative (REI) have resulted in many states requiring introductory level special education coursework for all preservice teacher education. This study was conducted to determine if minimally required…

This paper describes an inservice teacher education program--its development and its attempts to prepare teachers for urban environments. As the result of a collaborative venture between the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), the American Federation of Teachers Local 59, and the Minneapolis (Minnesota) school district, a distinctive master's…