scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers on "Curriculum published in 1996"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Constructive alignment as discussed by the authors is a marriage of the two thrusts, constructivism being used as a framework to guide decision-making at all stages in instructional design: in deriving curriculum objectives in terms of performances that represent a suitably high cognitive level, in deciding teaching/learning activities judged to elicit those performances, and to assess and summatively report student performance.
Abstract: Two lines of thinking are becoming increasingly important in higher educational practice. The first derives from constructivist learning theory, and the second from the instructional design literature. Constructivism comprises a family of theories but all have in common the centrality of the learner's activities in creating meaning. These and related ideas have important implications for teaching and assessment. Instructional designers for their part have emphasised alignment between the objectives of a course or unit and the targets for assessing student performance. “Constructive alignment” represents a marriage of the two thrusts, constructivism being used as a framework to guide decision-making at all stages in instructional design: in deriving curriculum objectives in terms of performances that represent a suitably high cognitive level, in deciding teaching/learning activities judged to elicit those performances, and to assess and summatively report student performance. The “performances of understanding” nominated in the objectives are thus used to systematically align the teaching methods and the assessment. The process is illustrated with reference to a professional development unit in educational psychology for teachers, but the model may be generalized to most units or programs in higher education.

2,786 citations


Book
01 Feb 1996
TL;DR: Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice, Second Edition as mentioned in this paper is an invaluable resource for practicing teachers, teacher educators, and curriculum specialists in mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts.
Abstract: This enduring bestseller remains the most comprehensive examination of constructivism and its relationship to teaching and learning. Closing the gap between theory and practice, well-known scholars make constructivism accessible by showing its application in everyday classrooms. Building on the success of the first edition, the authors have completely updated this popular text and expanded its scope to include examples of constructivist teaching across all grade levels and disciplines. An ambitious revision of a now classic text, Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice, Second Edition is an invaluable resource for practicing teachers, teacher educators, and curriculum specialists in mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts.

1,599 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the motivation for the change to problem-based learning, its definition, and the educational objectives it can serve, and discussed changing an established curriculum to Problem-Based Learning and asked whether problembased learning is worth the trouble.
Abstract: This chapter reviews the motivation for the change to problem-based learning, its definition, and the educational objectives it can serve. It discusses changing an established curriculum to problem-based learning and asks whether problem-based learning is worth the trouble.

1,504 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the United States, curriculum materials dominate teaching practice as mentioned in this paper and are the stuff of lessons and units, of what teachers and students do, and that centrality affords curriculum materials a uniquely intimate connection to teaching.
Abstract: Commercially published curriculum materials dominate teaching practice in the United States (Goodlad, 1984).' Unlike frameworks, objectives, assessments, and other mechanisms that seek to guide curriculum, instructional materials are concrete and daily. They are the stuff of lessons and units, of what teachers and students do. That centrality affords curricular materials a uniquely intimate connection to teaching. Not only are curriculum materials well-positioned to influence individual teachers' work but, unlike many other innovations, textbooks are already \"scaled up\" and part of the routine of schools. They have \"reach\" in the system. At the local level, text adoptions are the primary routine in most districts for updating the curriculum every five to seven years (Carus, 1990). In our fragmented school system, textbooks are also one way that educators strive for a common curriculum across diverse settings. Despite their central role in the instructional system, however, curriculum materials have played an uneven role in practice.

1,169 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that African Americans and Hispanics exhibited both the lowest participation rates as well as the highest propensity to drop out from college, while white students were more likely to enroll and persist in college.
Abstract: College participation by minority students declined in the middle 1980s following a period of sustained growth [21]. This trend was particularly evident among African Americans and Hispanics [46] who exhibited both the lowest participation rates as well as the highest propensity to drop out from college. Porter's [45] analyses of the high-school senior class of 1980, for instance, revealed that Hispanic college students were 13 percent more prone to withdraw from college than were white students, whereas African American college students were 22 percent more likely to drop out than their white counterparts over a six-year period. These low persistence rates (even over extended periods of enrollment in college) are particularly troublesome from a policy perspective given the relationship that the attainment of a bachelor's degree has on subsequent occupational and economic attainment [44]. Several reasons have been advanced to account for these trends. Hauser and Anderson [21] explored the extent to which declines in college participation rates could be attributed to changes in college aspirations as well as to changes in high-school completion rates among African Americans. After analyzing college aspiration trends for both minorities and nonminorities over a period of thirty years and taking into account high-school completion rates and indicators of socioeconomic status, Hauser and Anderson could not find support for this hypothesis. Other researchers have speculated that the decline could be attributed to changes in the composition of federal assistance and to patterns of financing higher education exhibited by minority students. Porter [45] noted that declines in minorities' college participation rates correlated with the growth of student loans at the expense of grants. Olivas [41], Mortenson and Wu [31], and Mortenson [30] observed that African American and Hispanic students were less willing to go into debt to finance their college education than were white students. Moreover, Ekstrom [19] helped to establish and test the proposition that students willing to go into debt to finance their education were more likely to enroll and persist in college. An alternative explanation to the role of finances in the persistence process has stressed the influence of academic preparation for college. Tinto [56] argued that overall differences in persistence rates between minorities and nonminorities were primarily due to differences in their academic preparedness rather than differences in their socioeconomic backgrounds. Tinto further contended that these ability differences arise from prior educational experiences at the elementary and secondary educational levels which tend to favor the educational achievement of nonminorities relative to minorities. Some degree of support has been given to this hypothesis. St. John, Kirshstein, and Noell [50], for instance, reported that the effects of ethnicity disappeared once academic preparation for college was taken into account for the high-school class of 1980. The proposition that a lack of adjustment to predominantly white institutions and that perceptions of prejudice (racial climate) may lower the quality of college experiences of minority students has emerged as a competing explanation for the differences in persistence rates between minority and nonminority college students [for example, 1, 18, 23, 24, 28, 34, 35, 36, 53]. Fleming [18], in particular, has argued that adjustment problems with the curriculum, lack of support services, financial problems and the nature of interpersonal relationships with faculty, peers and academic staff are some of the experiences that negatively impact minority students attending predominantly white institutions. Likewise, Tracey and Sedlacek [57, 58, 59] have contended that noncognitive factors (that is, self-concept, an understanding of racism, and the ability to cope with it) play a more critical role in shaping academic performance in college and persistence decisions among minority students than do cognitive factors such as academic ability and study habits. …

799 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: In this paper, Joyce and Showers proposed peer coaching as an on-site dimension of staff development and found that as few as 10 percent of the participants implemented what they had learned even for those who had volunteered for the training.
Abstract: Fifteen years have passed since we first proposed peer coaching as an on-site dimension of staff development (Joyce and Showers 1980). In the 1970s, evaluations of staff development that focused on teaching strategies and curriculum revealed that as few as 10 percent of the participants implemented what they had learned. Rates of transfer were low even for those who had volunteered for the training. Well-researched curriculum and teaching models did not find their way into general practice and thus could not influence students' learning environments.

789 citations


Book
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: Interaction in the Language Curriculum offers an innovative theory of language education integrating curriculum practice, research and teaching It emphasises the interdependence of knowledge and values and stresses the central importance of learning as a social process as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Interaction in the Language Curriculum offers an innovative theory of language education integrating curriculum practice, research and teaching It emphasises the interdependence of knowledge and values and stresses the central importance of learning as a social processLeo van Lier argues that moral as well as intellectual and practical principles must underlie curriculum development and everyday teaching, captured in his triple focus on Awareness, Autonomy, and Authenticity In addition to its rich grounding in language education practice, the book draws support for his position from diverse sources in sociology, philosophy and cognitive science, from the work of Bourdieu, Giddens, Wittgenstein, Peirce, Vygotsky, Bakhtin, and Dewey In the current broadening context of language education this study makes an important contribution to research It presents a coherent philosophical theory as well as considering practical issues in implementation of a new language curriculum As such, it will be of great benefit to teachers, applied linguists and educationalists generally

768 citations


Book
04 Jun 1996
TL;DR: The authors of as discussed by the authors argue that the real problem with America's educational system is not a matter of school reform, diversity, mass media, or disadvantaged populations; rather, it is the disproportionate number of disengaged students.
Abstract: Beyond the Classroom: Why School Reform Has Failed and What Parents Can Do, by Laurence Steinberg, B. Bradford Brown, and Sanford Dornbusch. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996. 233 pp. $22.00, paper. Reviewed by William Franklin, California State University-Monterey Bay. Beyond the Classroom provides parents, students, teachers, and administrators with a thought-provoking analysis of out-of-school factors that lead to academic underachievement. The authors of this book contend that the "real" problem with America's educational system is not a matter of school reform, diversity, mass media, or disadvantaged populations; rather, it is the disproportionate number of disengaged students. They further claim that America's classrooms are primarily filled with students who have not made an investment in their education, who spend more time participating in extracurricular activities and after school jobs, watching television, and hanging out with friends than studying. Moreover, their parents are unwilling or unable to sustain interest in their youngsters' educational endeavors after their elementary school years. They draw these conclusions after conducting a 10-year longitudinal study that examined out-of-school factors contributing to low commitment and achievement levels in adolescents. A multidisciplinary team of scholars surveyed over twenty thousand adolescents from nine high schools in Wisconsin and California. They not only surveyed and interviewed students but also consulted teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators. Clearly written for a general audience, the book is organized in such a way that the authors are able to present their case using language unobstructed by statistical inferences, tables, graphs, and scientific nomenclature. However, Steinberg et al. assert in the opening chapter that their findings and recommendations are supported by legitimate scientific research procedures. Chapter one, entitled "The Real Problem," provides an alarming and disturbing overview of the state of education in the United States and the role of student disengagement. The authors define disengagement as typifying those students who "do not exert much effort in the classroom, are easily distracted during class, and expend little energy on inschool or out-of-school assignments. They have a jaded or cavalier attitude toward education and its importance to their future success or personal development" (p. 15). Engagement is defined as "the degree to which students are psychologically connected to what is going on in their classes" (p. 15). Engaged students, according to the authors, "concentrate on the task at hand. . strive to do their best when tested or called upon, and when. . given homework or other outside assignments. . .do them on time and in good faith" (p. 15). In chapter two, the authors argue that not only is the U.S. a nation at risk, but it is also a nation in denial regarding the long-term negative effects of underachievement. They examine educational indices such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and conclude that poor school performance is evident for students at all grade levels and in all social classes. When comparing educational achievement internationally, they find that U.S. students fare worse than their counterparts from nearly all other industrialized nations. They also cite research showing that even when comparing this nation's best students with their international counterparts, U.S. students fare worse. Beyond the Classroom contends that America's school reform efforts have been disproportionately directed at changing structural elements of the system such as curricula, pedagogy, school calendars, school choice options, teacher training methods, and so forth. Millions of dollars and hours have been directed at changing how we deliver services to students within schools, without any substantial regard to factors outside the classroom that contribute to underachievement. …

747 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that reform in curriculum and instruction should be based on allowing students to problematize the subject rather than mastering skills and applying them, and argue that such an approach would facilitate students' understanding.
Abstract: We argue that reform in curriculum and instruction should be based on allowing students to problematize the subject. Rather than mastering skills and applying them, students should be engaged in resolving problems. In mathematics, this principle fits under the umbrella of problem solving, but our interpretation is different from many problem-solving approaches. We first note that the history of problem solving in the curriculum has been infused with a distinction between acquiring knowledge and applying it. We then propose our alternative principle by building on John Dewey’s idea of “reflective inquiry,” argue that such an approach would facilitate students’ understanding, and compare our proposal with other views on the role of problem solving in the curriculum. We close by considering several common dichotomies that take on a different meaning from this perspective

675 citations


01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: Action Research Methodology Observational and narrative research methods Non-observational, survey and self-report methods Discourse analysis and problem-solving methods reflective and evaluative methods.
Abstract: Historical and philosphical background The teacher as researcher and professional. Action Research Methodology Observational and narrative research methods Non-observational, survey and self-report methods Discourse analysis and problem-solving methods reflective and evaluative methods. Problems and Issues in Action Research Analysing action research data Towards critical communities of discourse: Networks dissemination and the ethics of action research.

630 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article conducted a cross-age study to find out and report the range and nature of school students' understanding of the nature of science and found that students often misinterpret information and experiences presented in the classroom and laboratory.
Abstract: This book should be of interest to all science educators, whether they teach students, advise or inspect or are involved in planning a science curriculum. The content is essentially an account of a research project undertaken to find out and to report the range and nature of school students' understanding of the nature of science. The authors designed a cross-age study, giving the same task to samples of pupils of three different ages: 9, 12 and 16 years. The collected data were analysed to see the ways in which understanding seemed to change with age and experience. The researchers' interest in students' ideas about science has grown from their observation that learners' responses to observations and ideas are constrained and limited in significant ways by their perception of the nature of scientific work and of scientific knowledge. The result is that students often misinterpret information and experiences presented in the classroom and laboratory. The authors hope that, by knowing more about these misperceptions, we may understand better the processes of science content learning and hence achieve more effective teaching. The book is divided into three sections. In the first 70 pages the authors set out the arguments for giving the nature of science a more prominent place in the curriculum. Next they present an overview of the major schools of thought about science and scientific knowledge, followed by a summary of previous research on students' ideas about the nature of science. The section concludes with the questions, methods and tools used in the research. In the next 60 pages the main findings of the study are presented and discussed. In the final chapter the authors bring together the theoretical arguments for the place of teaching about the nature of science with the results of the research study and consider the possible implications for science teaching in schools, discussing ways in which the curriculum could be adapted to assist students to become better citizens in a modern technological world. The book is well laid out, carefully planned and argued at every stage, with excellent clear headings and summaries. It is possible to read it on a superficial level, dwelling more on the conclusions, or to select sections for closer study using either the index or section headings. There are several appendices, one of which contains the 174 references to other publications quoted in the text. There is considerable food for thought and/or discussion or debate, not only for new teachers but as timely reminders to those who have been in the classroom, laboratory or management for many years, about their aims and objectives and whether they are being realized. This is a volume which should find its way into the resource library of every science teaching department.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of abstract symbolic procedures is characterized as progressive abstractions of students' attempts to model action and relations depicted in problems, and the authors argue that understanding students' thinking provides a basis for teachers to reconceptualize their own knowledge more broadly.
Abstract: In this article we propose that an understanding of students' thinking can provide coherence to teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and their knowledge of subject matter, curriculum, and pedagogy. We describe a research-based model of children's thinking that teachers can use to interpret, transform, and reframe their informal or spontaneous knowledge about students' mathematical thinking. Our major thesis is that children enter school with a great deal of informal or intuitive knowledge of mathematics that can serve as the basis for developing much of the formal mathematics of the primary school curriculum. The development of abstract symbolic procedures is characterized as progressive abstractions of students' attempts to model action and relations depicted in problems. Although we focus on one facet of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, we argue that understanding students' thinking provides a basis for teachers to reconceptualize their own knowledge more broadly.

Book
30 Sep 1996
TL;DR: In this paper, the Ehrlich Foundations and Principles of Good Practice in Service-Learning are presented, along with a survey of service-learning experiences in higher education, including one-time and short-term service learning experiences.
Abstract: Foreword, Thomas Ehrlich FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF SERVICE-LEARNING 1. Service-Learning in Today's Higher Education - Barbara Jacoby 2. Principles of Good Practice in Service-Learning - Suzanne D. Mintz & Garry W. Hesser 3. Enhancing Student Learning and Development Through Service-Learning - Marylu K. McEwen 4. Developing Campus-Community Relationships - Catherine R. Gugerty & Erin D. Swezey DESIGNING A SPECTRUM OF SERVICE-LEARNING EXPERIENCES 5. One-Time and Short-Term Service-Learning Experiences - Mark D. McCarthy 6. Ongoing Cocurricular Service-Learning - Cesie Delve Scheuermann 7. Service-Learning in the Curriculum - Sandra L. Enos & Marie L. Troppe 8. Intensive Service-Learning Experiences - Gail Albert 9. Integrating Service-Learning Experiences into Postcollege Choices - Irene S. Fisher ORGANIZATIONAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND POLICY ISSUES 10. Starting a Service-Learning Program - Diana A. Bucco & Julie A. Busch 11. Administering Successful Service-Learning Programs - Penny Rue 12. Issues Related to Integrating Service-Learning into the Curriculum - Keith Morton 13. Institutionalizing Service-Learning - Sharon Rubin 14. Securing the Future of Service-Learning in Higher Education: A Mandate for Action - Barbara Jacoby.

Book
28 May 1996
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the complexity and challenge of children's learning in play and develop a model for developing children's play in outdoor environments. But they focus on the complexity and challenge in play.
Abstract: List of figures About the Author Preface A Note from the Author Add-on Material Understanding Play: Complexity and Challenge Understanding Children's Learning: Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives Play in National Policies: International Perspectives Play and the Curriculum Play and Pedagogy Play and Learning in Outdoor Environments Assessing Children's Learning in Play Developing Play Appendix Bibliography Author index Subject index

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A practical teaching tool is described that delineates and structures the skills which aid doctor‐patient communication, and provides detailed references to substantiate the research and theoretical basis of these individual skills.
Abstract: Effective communication between doctor and patient is a core clinical skill. It is increasingly recognized that it should and can be taught with the same rigour as other basic medical sciences. To validate this teaching, it is important to define the content of communication training programmes by stating clearly what is to be learnt. We therefore describe a practical teaching tool, the Calgary-Cambridge Referenced Observation Guides, that delineates and structures the skills which aid doctor-patient communication. We provide detailed references to substantiate the research and theoretical basis of these individual skills. The guides form the foundation of a sound communication curriculum and are offered as a starting point for programme directors, facilitators and learners at all levels. We describe how these guides can also be used on an everyday basis to help facilitators teach and students learn within the experiential methodology that has been shown to be central to communication training. The learner-centred and opportunistic approach used in communication teaching makes it difficult for learners to piece together their evolving understanding of communication. The guides give practical help in countering this problem by providing: an easily accessible aide-memoire; a recording instrument that makes feedback more systematic; and an overall conceptual framework within which to organize the numerous skills that are discovered one by one as the communication curriculum unfolds.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The work of professional development is as uncertain as practice itself, as Ball points out in this article, and suggests that we take a closer, more skeptical look at what we think we know about teacher learning and about the teaching envisioned by the reforms and that we consider what scaling up might mean.
Abstract: The work of professional development is as uncertain as practice itself, Ms. Ball points out. Our challenge is to experiment, study, reflect on, and reformulate our hypotheses. All of these are necessary if we are to successfully engage a wider community - to "scale up" reform by sowing ideas. These are times of ambitious efforts to reform curriculum and instruction in mathematics. Reformers have invested time and energy in the creation of new mathematics standards and state curriculum frameworks.(1) A host of innovative curriculum projects are under development, and many states are in the midst of changing their state assessments.(2) Now there is increasing talk of "scaling up" the reform effort, of developing ways to reach more teachers.(3) As one who has been engaged in mathematics reform at several levels - as an elementary teacher, as a district-based resource teacher, as a teacher educator, as a researcher, and as a contributor to the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics, published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) - I suggest that we take a closer, more skeptical look at what we think we know about teacher learning and about the teaching envisioned by the reforms and that we consider what "scaling up" might mean. A central tenet of my argument is this: because the mathematics reforms challenge culturally embedded views of mathematics, of who can - or who needs to - learn math, and of what is entailed in teaching and learning it, we will find that realizing the reform visions will require profound and extensive societal and individual learning - and unlearning - not just by teachers, but also by players across the system.(4) What might such ambitious learning entail? In this article I focus on the learning of teachers. I examine four questions: 1) What do we think we currently know about how teachers learn? 2) What do we know about the thing to be learned - this new approach to the teaching of mathematics? 3) What do we know about teachers and what they bring to learning about such teaching? 4) What don't we know about teaching and teacher learning that might matter in trying to "scale up" the mathematics reform effort, and how could we go about learning more? What Do We Think We Know About Teacher Learning? Over the past decade, research and practice have yielded a mass of working ideas about teacher learning.(5) Some of these ideas have been investigated in studies of teacher learning and teacher education. Some have emerged from the practice of experienced teacher educators. Others are part of the current ideology. I use words like "ideas" and "beliefs" deliberately here. To call these tenets "knowledge" seems problematic, for they are unevenly inspected and warranted. For example, the proof of some of these ideas about teacher learning is circular. That is, professional development projects are designed with these ideas in mind; then, when the project is judged "successful" by some standard, this result is taken as validation of the ideas. Other ideas about teacher learning are not supported with evidence at all but are advanced as moral positions. They are seen as an inherent good. This does not automatically reduce their potential value, but it should shape our understanding of what they represent. I am not saying that any of the ideas we currently have are wrong. But I am urging that we be more skeptical of what we think we know. Some of the ideas in the following list are so vague as to need considerably more development, while others may be true only in certain ways or in some situations. Despite their varied genesis, a small number of ideas about teacher learning show up repeatedly - in discussions, in professional development projects, and in the literature. They concern teachers, what teachers need to know, and the conditions and arrangements that support teacher learning. * Prior beliefs and experience. What teachers bring to the process of learning to teach affects what they learn. …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, the authors proposes a curriculum reform that replaces one set of established results by another one (perhaps newer or more fashionable) by turning the priorities around, which is a bad idea.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: The importance placed on the enhancement of selfconcept is usually based on the premise that high self-concept will lead to feelings of self-worth and self-acceptance as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Publisher Summary Self-concept enhancement activities are included as a component of the school curriculum in some school districts. Also, teachers are sometimes called on to make judgments about the self-concepts of their students as part of the normal classroom assessment and school reporting practices. The importance placed on the enhancement of self-concept is usually based on the premise that high self-concept will lead to feelings of self-worth and self-acceptance. The research summarized in this chapter suggests that the attainment of a positive academic self-concept affects academic behavior, academic choices, educational aspirations, and subsequent academic achievement. The purpose of the chapter is to summarize research on the structure, assessment, measurement, and enhancement of academic self-concept in educational settings. It provides an overview of the theoretical structure of self-concept and the nature of valid and reliable self-concept measurement instruments. It also discusses the relationship of self-concept to other constructs and self-concept enhancement interventions. This discussion focuses on a model of self-concept originally developed by Richard Shavelson and his colleagues and subsequently revised by Marsh in collaboration with Shavelson and other colleagues. Throughout the chapter, the classroom implications of recent advances in self-concept theory and research are discussed.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTF) as mentioned in this paper proposed a framework for recruiting, preparing, supporting, and rewarding excellent educators in all of America's schools.
Abstract: The report of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future offers a blueprint for recruiting, preparing, supporting, and rewarding excellent educators in all of America's schools, according to Ms. Darling. Hammond. For the details, read on. We propose an audacious goal . . . by the year 2006, America will provide all students with what should be their educational birthright: access to competent, caring, and qualified teachers.(1) With these words, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future summarized its challenge to the American public. After two years of intense study and discussion, the commission - a 26-member bipartisan blue-ribbon panel supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York - concluded that the reform of elementary and secondary education depends first and foremost on restructuring its foundation, the teaching profession. The restructuring, the commission made clear, must go in two directions: toward increasing teachers' knowledge to meet the demands they face and toward redesigning schools to support high-quality teaching and learning. The commission found a profession that has suffered from decades of neglect. By the standards of other professions and other countries, U.S. teacher education has historically been thin, uneven, and poorly financed. Teacher recruitment is distressingly ad hoc, and teacher salaries lag significantly behind those of other professions. This produces chronic shortages of qualified teachers in fields like mathematics and science and the continual hiring of large numbers of "teachers" who are unprepared for their jobs. Furthermore, in contrast to other countries that invest most of their education dollars in well-prepared and well-supported teachers, half of the education dollars in the United States are spent on personnel and activities outside the classroom. A lack of standards for students and teachers, coupled with schools that are organized for 19th-century learning, leaves educators without an adequate foundation for constructing good teaching. Under these conditions, excellence is hard to achieve. The commission is clear about what needs to change. No more hiring unqualified teachers on the sly. No more nods and winks at teacher education programs that fail to prepare teachers properly. No more tolerance for incompetence in the classroom. Children are compelled to attend school. Every state guarantees them equal protection under the law, and most promise them a sound education. In the face of these obligations, students have a right to competent, caring teachers who work in schools organized for success. The commission is also clear about what needs to be done. Like the Flexner report that led to the transformation of the medical profession in 1910, this report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, examines successful practices within and outside the United States to describe what works. The commission concludes that children can reap the benefits of current knowledge about teaching and learning only if schools and schools of education are dramatically redesigned. The report offers a blueprint for recruiting, preparing, supporting, and rewarding excellent educators in all of America's schools. The plan is aimed at ensuring that all schools have teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to enable all children to learn. If a caring, qualified teacher for every child is the most important ingredient in education reform, then it should no longer be the factor most frequently overlooked. At the same time, such teachers must have available to them schools and school systems that are well designed to achieve their key academic mission: they must be focused on clear, high standards for students; organized to provide a coherent, high-quality curriculum across the grades; and designed to support teachers' collective work and learning. We note that this challenge is accompanied by an equally great opportunity: over the next decade we will recruit and hire more than two million teachers for America's schools. …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors trace the evolution of learning outcomes through rational curriculum planning to the development of expressive outcomes, and suggest a definition of learning outcome which includes subject-based, personal transferable and generic academic outcomes.
Abstract: The design of learning experiences in higher education is becoming increasingly outcome-led, but there is confusion regarding what constitutes these outcomes, disquiet concerning their ostensible association with behaviourism, and apprehension concerning their implementation. This article traces the evolution of learning outcomes through rational curriculum planning to the development of expressive outcomes, and suggests a definition of learning outcomes which includes subject-based, personal transferable and generic academic outcomes. The three principal criteria of behavioural objectives are analysed in relation to learning outcomes. Outcomes may subsume learning objectives, but the two are not synonymous and learning outcomes are not fettered by the constraints of behaviourism. Learning outcomes represent what is formally assessed and accredited to the student and they offer a starting point for a viable model for the design of curricula in higher education which shifts the emphasis from input...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is a revolution taking place in education, one that deals with the philosophy of how one teaches, the relationship between teacher and student, of the way in which a classroom is structured, and the nature of curriculum.
Abstract: There is a revolution taking place in education, one that deals with the philosophy of how one teaches, of the relationship between teacher and student, of the way in which a classroom is structured, and the nature of curriculum. At the heart is a powerful pedagogy, one that has been developing over the past hundred years. It embraces social issues, the culture of the classroom, life-long learning concerns, and perhaps both last and least, technology.

Book
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a set of guidelines for teaching science in the classroom, including: 1. Becoming a Science Teacher, 2. Beginning Instructional Theory, 3. History of Science Education, 4. National Standards and Scientific Literacy, 5. The Goals of Science Teaching, 6. CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVES.
Abstract: I. INTRODUCTION. 1. Becoming a Science Teacher. 2. Beginning Your Instructional Theory. II. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONTEMPORARY TRENDS. 3. Historical Perspectives on Science Education. 4. National Standards and Scientific Literacy. III. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. 5. The Goals of Science Teaching. 6. The Objectives of Science Teaching. IV. CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVES. 7. Designing School Science Curriculum. 8. The Middle School Science Curriculum. 9. The High School Science Curriculum. 10. Science and Other Disciplines: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Curriculum. V. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES. 11. Inquiry and Conceptual Change. 12. Questions and Discussion. 13. Investigation and Problem Solving. 14. Demonstration and Laboratory Work. 15. Models for Effective Science Teaching. 16. Planning for Effective Science Teaching. 17. Controversy in the Classroom. VI. ASSESSMENT. 18. Assessing Student Learning. 19. New Models for Assessment. VII. UNDERSTANDING AND WORKING WITH STUDENTS. 20. The Psychological Basis for Effective Science Teaching. 21. Individual Differences in Science Classrooms. 22. Teaching Science for Cultural and Gender Differences. 23. Classroom Management and Conflict Resolution. VIII. TEACHER RESOURCES. 24. Incorporating Educational Technology into the Science Classroom. 25. Materials for Science Teaching. IX. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 26. Student Teaching and Professional Growth. 27. Being a Science Teacher. Appendixes. Appendix A. Interesting Web Sites for Science Educators. Appendix B. Teaching Science Activities. Appendix C. Daily Lesson Plans.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results of this study underscore the need for more robust prevention programming targeted specifically at risk factors, the inclusion of booster sessions to sustain positive effects, and greater attention to interrelationships between developmental processes in adolescent substance use, individual level characteristics, and social context.


Book
15 Jun 1996
TL;DR: Rallying the Whole Village: The Comer Process for Reforming Education, edited by James P. Comer, Norris M. Haynes, Edward T. Joyner, and Michael Ben-Avie as mentioned in this paper addresses the role and responsibility of the educational community, neighborhood community, the business community, and families in promoting the academic, psychological, social, ethical, and physical well-being of students.
Abstract: Rallying the Whole Village: The Comer Process for Reforming Education, edited by James P. Comer, Norris M. Haynes, Edward T. Joyner, and Michael Ben-Avie. New York: Teachers College Press, 1996. 185 pp. $21.95 paper. Reviewed by Donna Y. Ford, The University of Virginia. As its name implies, Rallying the Whole Village addresses the role and responsibility of the educational community, the neighborhood community, the business community, and families in promoting the academic, psychological, social, ethical, and physical well-being of students. In rallying these various communities, the editors and authors also highlight the importance of focusing on the whole child. They further recognize that effective teaching is a multidimensional enterprise that must be grounded in a holistic educational philosophy. The primary objectives of this book are to close the gap between theory and practice, and to guide educators, parents, and decision-makers through the process of developing educationally relevant and sound programs for minority and economically disadvantaged students. The authors encourage readers to stop finger-pointing and share the responsibility of helping all children reach their optimal potential. Their overarching perspective is that consensus, collaboration, and no-fault philosophies promote healthy learning environments for students, which in turn lead to success in the academic, psychological, social, ethical, and physical realms. Toward these goals, Rallying the Whole Village delineates how educators can optimize minority student outcomes. As such, its contributors note generally that educators must attend to the following: (a) provide integrated services; (b) teach children to respect themselves and others; (c) recognize the centrality of the family in children's development and self-definition; (d) develop curricula and pedagogical approaches that are sensitive and responsive to the diverse needs of children from different cultural and racial groups as well as those with special cognitive, psychological, and physical needs; and (e) prepare school staff more substantively in child development and in recognizing individual differences. Various aspects of the Comer Process are discussed in the seven chapters of this book. The majority of chapter one describes the diagnostic and prescriptive approaches adopted by Comer and colleagues to address the poor education and negative educational outcomes of students. In it, the authors lay the historical foundation for the Comer Process's School Development Program (SDP), which focuses on the overall well-being of children in the context of the home, school, society, and social networks. Also stressed is the influence of these contexts on the social, cognitive, psychological, language, and ethical development of students. The interconnectedness and balance of these developmental pathways are discussed relative to designing appropriate prevention and intervention strategies and programs for individual students. This chapter also reminds readers that children fail to thrive in schools for many complex reasons, the majority of which can be overcome in a healthy school climate. Also noted are the shortcomings of the fragmentary approaches often adopted by schools to address school problems and the inadequate training provided school staff on helping children from a developmental perspective. Chapter two presents an overview of the theoretical models underlying Comer's philosophy of school reform. Key theories discussed include field theory, human ecology, social action, and population adjustment. Most importantly, the contributors to this chapter effectively bridge theory and practice by stressing the holistic perspective needed to reform schools for minority student achievement and empowerment. Chapter three goes a step further by urging educators to move away from a mechanistic educational philosophy and toward student-centered education. Also discussed are family involvement and the benefits school members (families, children, teachers) receive when family involvement is substantive, meaningful, and relevant. …

Book
13 Jun 1996
TL;DR: This work explored the influence of background characteristics on college enrollment, the social scaffolding supporting academic placement, and peer group influences supporting untracking in the context of a youth-services agency.
Abstract: How can we bolster the academic success of low achieving students and provide a more egalitarian classroom setting? This book describes the process of 'untracking', an educational reform effort that has prepared students from low income, linguistic, and ethnic minority backgrounds for college. Untracking offers all students the same academically-demanding curriculum while varying the amount of institutional support they receive. Helpful institutional 'scaffolds' teach the hidden curriculum of the school, allowing students to develop an academic identity and build bridges between high school and college. There have been many plans and attempts to reform schools, but few detailed investigations of such efforts. This book is a highly readable account of a successful school reform effort. It provides systematic research results concerning the educational and social consequences of untracking previously low achieving students.

Book
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the need for a formal framework for defining and defining curriculum, and propose a framework for curriculum reform in higher education by defining curriculum as an academic plan.
Abstract: Preface. Need for a Curriculum Book. Audiences. Research Base. Supplementary Materials. Acknowledgments. I. DEFINING CURRICULUM. 1. From Influences and Assumptions to Actions. Purpose. Perspective and Organization. 2. Defining Curriculum: An Academic Plan. Defining Curriculum. Common Definitions of Curriculum The Need for a Definitional Framework. The Academic Plan as a Useful Definition. Elements of Academic Plans Advantages of Defining Curriculum as an Academic Plan. Constructing Plans: Curriculum Development. Influences on Curriculum Planning. Academic Plans in Environmental Context. 3. Curriculum Perspectives and Frameworks. Curricular Frameworks. Perspectives on Educational Purpose Perspectives on Content Selection Perspectives on Learners Curriculum Sequence Perspectives Instructional Process Perspectives Perspectives on Evaluation and Adjustment. General Curriculum Frameworks. Precollegiate Curriculum Frameworks Frameworks from Higher Education. Curriculum Planning and Design. Linking the Elements: Toward a Theory of Curriculum. 4. Recurring Debates About the College Curriculum. Influences Create a Complex Educational Environment. Patterns of Curriculum Debate. The Educational Purpose Issue: Debating the Balance of General and Specialized Studies Learners: Periods of Emphasis on Access Content Debates: Prescription versus Choice in Courses and Programs Instructional Process: Occasional Innovation Evaluation Debates: Emphasis on Quality Control. Influences and Potential Reforms. 5. Calls for Curriculum Reform. The Reform Era of the Late 1900s. Critical Reports Constructive Proposals. Curriculum Reform and Academic Plans. Purpose and Content Sequence and Structure Learners Instructional Process Instructional Resources Evaluation and Adjustment Summary. Impact of the Reform Proposals. External Influences Organizational Influences Internal Influences The Pace of Change A Doubting Voice. Relation to Earlier Debates. General versus Specialized Education Prescription versus Choice Instructional Process Emphasis on Access Evaluation and Quality Control. New Approaches to Old Debates. II. DEVELOPING CURRICULUM. 6. Creating Academic Plans. Curriculum Planning: Realities and Prospects. Course Planning: A Faculty Role. The Course Planning Process Influences on Planning Courses Patterns of Involvement in Course Planning. Program Planning: A Group Endeavor. Program Planners The Program Planning Process Influences on Program Planning Patterns of Involvement in Program Planning. College Planning: A Matter of Mission. The Collegewide Planners The Collegewide Planning Process and Influences Evaluating and Adjusting. Systematic Design Models. Course Design Program Design College-level Design. From Plan to Design. 7. Influence of Academic Fields. Influences of Academic Fields on Planning. Defining and Characterizing Academic Fields Characteristics of Traditional Academic Disciplines Characteristics of Professional and Occupational Fields. Academic Fields and Course Planning. Content and Background Consideration Four Illustrative Profiles of Course Planning. Academic Fields and Program Planning. Disciplinary Major Programs in Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Professional Major Programs Occupational Major Programs. Designing Balanced Courses and Programs. Using Influence Well: Achieving Balance Negotiating Linkages among Academic Fields. Building on the Strength of Academic Fields. 8. Influence of Learners. Learners' Influences on Academic Plans. Learners' Influence on Course Planning Program Plans College Plans. Contemporary Views of Learning and Learners. What is Cognition? Cognitive Influences Motivational Influences. Considering Learners in Course and Program Design. Building on Student Goals and Enhancing Motivation Improving Learning through Involvement Encouraging Integration, Coherence, and Connectedness Fostering Intellectual Development Academic Plans for Diverse Learners Enhancing Students' Learning Strategies. Developing Intentional Learners. Establishing Two-way Communication with Learners. 9. Selecting Instructional Processes. Translating Content to Instructional Form. Selecting Instructional Processes for Courses. Educational Objectives: Product of Purpose and Content Teaching Style: Product of Content and Faculty Background Choosing Forms for Implementation Instructional Variations for Courses Influence of Educational Context and Environment. Selecting Instructional Processes for Programs and Colleges. Contextual Influences on General Education Programs Contextual Influences on Major Fields Organizational Structures, Traditions, and Adaptations. Expanding Choice among Instructional Processes. Fostering Intellectual Development Increasing Motivation, Encouraging Involvement, and Achieving Integration Creating Learner-Centered Academic Plans. Reflecting on Planning and Teaching. 10. Evaluating and Adjusting Academic Plans. Evaluating Courses and Programs. How Faculty Evaluate and Adjust Academic Plans. Course Plans Program Plans Collegewide Plans. Evaluation Models: An Overview. Expanding the Range of Useful Evaluation Models. Informal Assessment Student-Centered Evaluation Goal-Free Evaluation Goal-Focused Evaluation Evaluating Evaluation. III. ENHANCING CURRICULUM. 11. Administering Academic Plans and Guiding Change. Who Administers Academic Plans? Curriculum Leadership and Administrative Roles. Establishing the Educational Environment (Managerial Roles: Mentor Facilitator) Developing Academic Plans (Managerial Roles: Producer Director) Coordinating Academic Planning (Managerial Role: Coordinator) Implementing Academic Plans (Managerial Roles: Broker Coordinator) Encouraging Evaluation (Managerial Role: Monitor) Adjusting Academic Plans (Managerial Roles: Monitor, Facilitator). External Influences, Adaptive Development, and Change. The Influence Process and Stages of Internalization Leadership for Adaptive Development. Curriculum Change and Leadership: Past and Future. 12. Curriculum Changes in Progress. Curricular Challenges Colleges Face. Incorporating Diverse Perspectives. Multicultural Studies: Adoption Stage Pluralist Voices and New Paradigms: Screening Stage Globalization: Awareness Stage. Increasing Coherence. The Continuing Core Curriculum Debate: Adoption Stage Interdisciplinary Approaches: Screening Stage Connecting with Life and Work: Awareness Stage. Meeting Conflicting Expectations for Quality Education. Learning to Think Effectively: Adoption Stage Assessing and Adjusting Quality: Screening Stage Using Technology Effectively: Awareness Stage. Implications of Changes for Academic Planning. Purpose and Content Sequence Resources Instructional Process Learners Evaluation and Adjustment Educational Environments. The Dynamic Curriculum. 13. Shaping Curriculum Research and Practice. The Academic Plan Theory as a Guide for Research. What is Curriculum Theory? Testing and Extending the Theory. The Academic Plan Theory as a Guide for Shaping Practice. Assumptions and Advantages Intent and its Development Implementation Reflective Evaluation and Adjustment. The Academic Plan Theory as a Guide for Leaders in Enhancing Curriculum. Asking the Right Questions Asking the Questions in the Right Way. Guiding Responsiveness to Society. Anticipating Important Influences Basing Decisions on Analysis. Shaping Academic Plans for the Future. Bibliography. Appendix: Timeline of Trends in United States Curriculum: 1600s to 1994. Index.

Journal Article
TL;DR: In the service of what as discussed by the authors is a question that inevitably merits the attention of teachers, policy makers, and academicians who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America's schools.
Abstract: "In the service of what?" is a question that inevitably merits the attention of teachers, policy makers, and academicians who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America's schools, Messrs. Kahne and Westheimer suggest. In his inaugural address, President John Kennedy challenged the nation with his well-known appeal: ". . . ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Two decades later, in a campaign speech, Ronald Reagan asked, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" If Kennedy's exhortation reflected the idealism and sense of collective mission that characterized the tumultuous 1960s, Reagan's question epitomized the individualism and materialism of the 1980s. In the 1990s, however, a glimmer of Kennedy's notion of service to the community and the nation is reemerging in schools in the form of service learning. Educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling. Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students. Students in a service learning project might analyze and monitor the composition of nearby swamplands or produce an oral history of their community. They might work with the homeless or initiate a cross-age tutoring project. In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning activities seek to promote students' self-esteem, to develop higher-order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences - all goals of current curriculum reform efforts. Recognizing the potential of service learning, policy makers, legislators, and educators have promoted initiatives at the local, state, and national levels. The National and Community Service Act of 1990 and President Clinton's National Service Trust Act of 1993 are some recent and far-reaching examples of this trend. Millions of dollars have been targeted for educators around the country, and many service learning programs are supported by city- and statewide initiatives.(1) As is commonly the case with new policy initiatives, however, more attention has been focused on moving forward than on asking where we are headed. While service learning advocates rush to forge coalitions and find a shared vocabulary that accommodates multiple agendas and while practitioners and researchers begin to work on difficult implementation and evaluation issues, educators from schoolhouse to university to state house are neglecting to answer the most fundamental question: In the service of what? Proponents of service learning have worked to find common ground between Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, business leaders and community activists. Edward Kennedy, Bill Clinton, George Bush, William F. Buckley, and Ralph Nader have all gone on record as strong advocates of service learning in American schools. Yet controversial issues surrounding the means and ends of service learning have been pushed to the background. What values do service learning curricula model and seek to promote? What kinds of social and political relations do they ask students to imagine? What kinds of relationships develop between students and those they serve? What kind of society does service learning lead students to work toward? With the current interest in and allocation of resources to service learning comes a growing need to clarify the ideological perspectives that underlie service learning programs. Drawing on our yearlong study of two dozen K-12 teachers who took part in a university-based effort to promote service learning in area schools, we propose a conceptual scheme that highlights different rationales for service learning. …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the changing nature of laboratory work from the 1960s to the present, from discovery learning to process-led science to contemporary constructivist approaches, and argue that each of these styles of lab work has seriously misrepresented and distorted the nature of scientific inquiry.
Abstract: The justification advanced by teachers and curriculum developers for investing so much time, energy and resources in laboratory work in school science courses almost invariably includes the claim that it provides students with insight into, and experience and practice of, the methods of science. This paper traces the changing nature of laboratory work from the 1960s to the present, from discovery learning to process‐led science to contemporary constructivist approaches, and argues that each of these styles of laboratory work has seriously misrepresented and distorted the nature of scientific inquiry. Some suggestions are made for the re‐orientation of laboratory work to ensure that it projects an image of science that more faithfully reflects actual scientific practice.

Book
10 Sep 1996
TL;DR: Teese as mentioned in this paper analyzed the scholarly ideal against which successive generations of Australian students have been judged and found that the most economically vulnerable populations of young people are also those most at risk of educational failure.
Abstract: A most significant text that says something new about how student achievement is shaped. Richard Teese cuts across much of the recent talk about reform and allows us to think about the issues afresh. His findings will fascinate all." Professor Simon Marginson, Monash University This eye-opening study of Australian secondary education looks beyond cliches about excellence' to analyse the historically specific nature of the scholarly ideal against which successive generations of Australian students have been judged. Drawing on a wealth of strikingly original research, Richard Teese offers a penetrating analysis of Victorian secondary schooling in the half-century after World War Two. This was a era in which higher secondary schooling ceased to be the preserve of an elite and emerged as a system of mass education. It was also a period marked by successive waves of reform in curriculum and assessment. Yet, at the end of it all, Australians have been left with a sharply polarised system of schooling in which the most economically vulnerable populations of young people are also those most at risk of educational failure. This book asks the hard questions. Are our systems