The 1936 curriculum was an important innovation in the history of Belgian primary education. According to a recent study, educational practice did not fundamentally change. Personal tensions and rivalries, lack of continuity in educational policy, and failure to involve teachers in the decision-making process greatly inhibited the new curriculum's…

The Governor's School of North Carolina (West) serves 400 gifted high school students each summer with a curriculum of cognitive development, conceptual development, and personal and social development. This paper describes the theory of the school, student selection, and plans for the future. (JDD)

To find out about learning styles programs and instruments, educators can contact the Arizona State University's Educational Information System, perform an ERIC search, or request information from educational associations, organizations, and experts. This article advises on choosing learning style models, designing supportive environments,…

Presents guidelines designed to help teachers using whole language for the first time. Addresses a variety of concerns, including staff development, the change process, and implementation. (SR)

Offers tips on producing high school musical revues. Discusses selecting a theme, choosing the music, dealing with copyright, creating the narrative, and designing the sets, lights, and costumes. (SR)

Describes Getting on the Right Track Project, pilot program in which counselors provide African-American high school students with opportunities to esteem their African roots. Describes selection of students to participate in the project, activities in the program, and benefits of participation for the students. (NB)

Charged with their own planning and development activities, developing nations have amassed a record of failed undertakings. In this category is Trinidad and Tobago's policy for "de-shifting" its bisessional schools to serve only one group of pupils daily. Experiences with "war on poverty" programs indicates that implementation…

Critics of outcomes-based education and proponents of vouchers, school choice, creationism, and tax limitation measures often seem to be advocating publicly funded private education. School leaders attempting to implement OBE or other improvement programs should describe programs properly, involve the community, develop and implement a…

Describes how the Orange County (Florida) Library System separated walk-in and phone-in reference services. Discusses telephone reference services, the Quest Line database, staffing and resources, results, and keys to success. Includes the Quest Line work flow chart. (PEN)

Addresses curriculum and course design by organizing some important considerations of elementary school history and social-science study into a three-step plan for implementation that discusses the selection and organization of topics, their classroom presentation, and the resources available to help align the elementary curriculum with the…

Examines the limits of what constitutes "school improvement." Critically assesses whether large-scale reorganization initiatives in two (British) local education agencies embody elements of a school-improvement initiative. Policy makers could maximize such initiatives' potential by incorporating a school-improvement focus into their…

The behavior-audit concept was developed in 1992 to help teachers organize their thoughts, beliefs, and concerns before a seriously disturbed student returned from an off-campus setting. Over 100 Minnesota schools and districts have conducted behavior audits to get fundamental agreement on what works or needs improvement in student behavior. (MLH)

Examines issues in monitoring students' growth and performance as they progress through a training program. These include ensuring faculty and advisor access to evaluation information; demonstrating student growth while remediating weaknesses; and tracking trends in student work. A model for developing a continuous assessment project at one…

Summarizes ongoing economic impact assessment activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for its Measurement and Standards Laboratory Program. Explores designing economic impact studies for integration into assessments of broader programmatic objectives. (SLD)

Although educational improvements have occurred over the past 30 years, few have had optimal effects. Three functional areas (teacher-organization-intervention) jointly influence an innovation's success. Realization of innovations appears to be more influenced by subjective experiences and culturally bound opinions than by well-managed…