A small rural high school initiated an 8-period day to offer students the increased number of credits required for graduation. Elective offerings, elective enrollments, and participation in extracurricular activities increased. Teachers and students liked shorter classes, grades improved, dropout rates declined, and teacher-pupil ratios dropped in…

American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy guidelines for required and elective instructional content concerning substance abuse for pharmacy students is presented. Recommended required content includes psychosocial aspects of drug use; pharmacology and toxicology; identification, intervention, and treatment of addiction; and legal issues.…

In response both to interests within the foreign language teaching profession and to a new Texas law mandating oral proficiency standards for foreign language teachers, Tarrant County Junior College developed a number of curriculum changes in French, German, Spanish, and English for Speakers of Other Languages. The primary first-year emphasis and…

Describes the political machinations resulting in Manitoba's downgrading of Canadian history from a compulsory to an elective subject. Argues that this reflects a broader nationwide educational trend rejecting the humanities in favor of science and technology. Criticizes a view of society dominated by market forces and self-interest. (MJP)

Maintains that geography occupies a prominent position in the Chinese secondary curriculum. Describes the current course content, which includes both physical and human geography. Concludes by discussing barriers to further development, including lack of qualified staff and poor textbooks. (CFR)

The U.S. public high school should return to a core curriculum which is defined as a broad consensus on the basic information and skills to which most young students should have been exposed by the time they graduate from high school. The duty of educators is to teach the skills and general information that enable educated persons to continue…

An innovative, flexible scheduling technique for advanced levels of a foreign language program is described. The technique, predicated on individualized pacing and continuous progress, is generalizable to all elective programs, and offers a workable solution to satisfy the enrollment "numbers game" and to lend breadth and depth to the curricula of…

In 1976 Richard Gross surveyed state social studies specialists and local supervisors to determine the status of the social studies. To determine whether the generalizations from his study are still applicable today, a questionnaire was sent to Council of State Social Studies Specialists. Results of the two studies are compared. (RM)

This guidebook, a resource for both college academic advisers and advisees, is designed to assist the undeclared student attending Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in the decision making process of selecting a major area of study with attention to the question: How do I want to live my life? The guidebook first presents an overview of the…

A teen mother is likely to be out of school for several weeks following childbirth and will probably spend many hours caring for and bonding with her child. Schools may take this opportunity to allow her to earn elective school credit. This document is comprised of a textbook for use in such a course, a study guide, and a teacher's guide. The…

This report describes a program that was designed to provide non-academic disaffected students as well as college-bound high school students with a meaningful and positive educational experience in science in order to bridge the gap between science and the citizen in a technological world. The program, designed as a full year elective course,…

The Integrated Occupational Program (IOP) enables students in Alberta (Canada) who have experienced difficulty in learning to develop essential concepts, skills, and attitudes in the context of one or more occupational clusters. The IOP has four levels: occupational awareness (grades 8-9), career exploration (level 16), occupational orientation…

This guide was prepared for a program designed to provide non-academic disaffected students as well as college-bound high school students with a meaningful and positive educational experience in science in order to bridge the gap between science and the citizen in a technological world. The program, designed as a full year elective course,…

Guidelines are presented to help promote excellent arts education in independent schools. Following an introduction in chapter 1, there are six major chapters. Chapter 2, "Curriculum," discusses goals, suggests teaching patterns, and recommends interdisciplinary cooperation. The focus of the third chapter is administrative strategies. Discussed…

The collection of essays on teachers as course developers is designed to help teachers understand how to develop courses or modify existing ones using their own experience and the experiences and theories of others. It attempts to capture this process through the stories of six teachers who have developed courses. Each narrative focuses on a…