Several barriers may prevent teachers from using an integrated curriculum, including insufficient preparation and an individualistic or accountability-driven school culture. A Farmington, Connecticut, middle school encourages its teachers to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum aligned with performance assessment. Teachers receive training in a…

The results of a survey sent to members of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) asking what they believed to be the essential topics to be covered in the introductory high school biology course are provided. Interpretations of the data and recommendations are included. (KR)

Discusses the value of multicultural dance education in the core curriculum. Multicultural dance provides a means of understanding cultural differences and helps students understand and clarify their own value systems. Educators communicate values to students through their educational structures which, in dance, cross barriers of language,…

Reviews current thinking about middle school physical education and raises questions about its place in middle schools. It is suggested that physical education be integrated into the core curriculum of middle schools, and five conceptions of middle school physical education are offered. (GLR)

Outlines a newly designed foundations of sociology course at Mount Saint Mary's college (California) that attempts to integrate the course into the College's liberal arts core curriculum. Suggests teaching this integrated, sociohistorical curriculum furthers students understanding and attraction to the discipline. (NL)

Describes Harold Alberty's curriculum design work, including his conceptual framework for general education. Alberty's designs, representing ever-increasing divergence from the traditional, subject-centered program, offer guidance for today's curriculum planners. Alberty's favorite was type-four core, based on adolescents' common problems, needs,…

Describes the Key Skills, which will be established across the revised National Curriculum being introduced by the British government in September 2000. Discusses ways in which the Key Skills--communication, information and communication technology, application of number, problem solving, working with others, and improving own learning and…

Highlights some professional associations' statements regarding education and the place of technology in educational programs. Examines the content of core curricula of a set of library and information science programs. Suggests content elements of an ideal core, designed to meet the intellectual and practical needs of information professionals of…

Describes three different types of curriculum organization (activity curriculum, general education, and core curriculum) and identifies curriculum development principles that emerged from these past practices that are important to issues-centered education today. Discusses ways to apply the curriculum development principles to contemporary efforts…

One element in debates over core college curricula, balancing breadth and depth of reading, is addressed from the point of view of Paulo Freire and his theory of critical literacy. Three levels at which a college course based on Freirean principles might be developed are outlined. At each level, the aim is to enhance breadth of perspective through…

Suggest ways library education must change in order to prepare its graduates for technology-rich careers. Topics include technology skills and knowledge as core competencies; computer literacy; teaching practical skills as well as theory; field experience, practicums, or internships; and the rate of technological change. (LRW)

Today, the American system of higher education is the envy of the world, due in large part to the leadership provided by New England's colleges and universities. While American higher education has accomplished a great deal for New England and the nation, the system faces several challenges as it seeks to train the citizens and workers of…

What does a high school diploma do for new graduates? For decades, Americans have come to expect a diploma to do at least two things: (1) offer a chance at jobs that support a family; and (2) qualify its holder for entrance into the military. But today, most young people and their parents also expect it to open the door to postsecondary education,…

While researchers have paid a lot of attention to dimensions of quality transcending the content of education, in the course of the last decade a lot of attention has been invested by policy makers in the description of the kind of learning that is expected from schools (not in the least in the early years). That is why the topic of curriculum…

The time has come to improve the quality of core courses so that all students have equal opportunities to become prepared for postsecondary education and for work. The purposes of this report are to examine the gap between secondary and postsecondary education in the U.S. and to focus on successful strategies for eliminating this gap so that all…