This book provides beginning teachers and educational leaders with a series of articles that can help them build their curriculum knowledge base. Features include: (1) Provides a historical context of the curriculum field, giving educators a solid foundation for curriculum knowledge; (2) Describes the political nature of curriculum and how we must be attentive to the increasingly diverse populations found in our schools; (3) Connects the readings to traditional course goals, providing practical applications of curriculum topics; (4) Covers co curricular issues, which have become a major contemporary topic within school systems; and (5) Enhances the articles with a strong pedagogical framework, including detailed Internet references, questions for each article, topic guides tying each article to course topics, and article abstracts for the instructor. Forty articles are included in ten sections: Section One: Where Do We Begin?: (1) Why Education is So Difficult and Contentious (Kieran Egan); (2) Questionable Assumptions About Schooling (Elliot W. Eisner); Section Two: What is Curriculum?: (3) Research Note: What is Really Important in the Curricular World? (Judith Dziuban and Marcell Kysilka); (4) Curriculum Alignment Revisited (Allan A. Glatthorn); (5) Knowledge Alive (David Perkins); Section 3: How Do We Think about Curriculum: (6) The Curriculum-Curriculum (William H. Schubert); (7) Human Agency and the Curriculum (Hanan A. Alexander); (8) Adolescent Needs, Curriculum and the Eight-Year Study (Robert V. Bullough, Jr. and Craig Kridel); (9) Toward a Renaissance in Curriculum Theory and Development in the USA (William G. Wraga and Peter S. Hlebowitsh); (10) The Information Age: A Blessing or a Curse? (Neil Postman); Section Four: How Can Curriculum Be Organized?: (11) The Memories of an All-Black Northern Urban School: Good Memories of Leadership, Teachers and the Curriculum (Adah Ward Randolph); (12) Integrating High School and the Community College: Previous Efforts and Current Possibilities (Carrie B. Kisker); (13) Building a Plan While Flying It: Early Lessons From Developing Charter Schools (Noelle C. Griffin and Priscilla Wohlstetter); Selective Five: What Is The Status Of The Academic Curriculum?: (14) Learning to Read in Kindergarten: Has Curriculum Development Bypassed the Controversies? (Bruce Joyce, Marilyn Hrycauk, and Emily Calhoun); (15) Literacy Education and Reading Programs in the Secondary School: Status, Problems, and Solutions (Freya M. J. Zipperer, M. Thomas Worley, Michelle W. Sisson, and Rhonda W. Said); (16) A Deeper Sense of Literacy: Curriculum-Driven Approaches to Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom (Cynthia Scheibe); (17) War, Critical Thinking, and Self-Understanding (Nel Noddings); (18) The Math Wars (Alan H. Schoenfeld); (19) Chemistry, The Central Science? The History of the High School Science Sequence (Keith Sheppard and Dennis M. Robbins); (20) School days (Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll!) (Rich Mitchell); Section Six: What Is The Extra- Or Co- Curriculum?: (21) Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Development (Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Bonnie L. Barber, Margaret Stone, and James Hunt); (22) After-School Programs Are Making a Difference (Marianne Russell Kugler); (23) The Effect of Interscholastic Sports Participation on Academic Achievement of Middle Level School Students (Larry J. Stephens and Laura A. Schaben); (24) Hearts and Minds: Military Recruitment and the High School Battlefield (William Ayers); Section Seven: Are There Political Aspects To Curriculum?: (25) Curriculum Matters (W. James Popham); (26) Cashing In On the Classroom (Alex Molnar); (27) Politics of Character Education (Robert W. Howard, Marvin W. Berkowitz, and Esther F. Schaeffer); (28) No Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow (Murry R. Nelson); (29) A Contemporary Controversy in American Education: Including Intelligent Design in the Science Curriculum (Vicki D. Johnson); Section Eight: How Does The Curriculum Meet The Needs of Diverse Populations?: (30) The Plains City Story (Marcela von Olphen, Francisco Rios, William Berube, Robin Dexter, and Robert McCarthy; (31) How Global is the Curriculum? (Andrew F. Smith); (32) Designing Appropriate Curriculum for Special Education Students in Urban Schools (timothy E. Morse); (33) Urban Public High School Teachers' Beliefs About Science Learner Characteristics: Implications for Curriculum (Glenda M. Prime and Rommel J. Miranda); (34) Tried and True: The Rural School Curriculum in the Age of Accountability (Aimee Howley); Section Nine: What Are Current Hot-Button Issues in Curriculum?: (35) Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Amiable Allies or Phony Friends? (W. James Popham); (36) It's the Curriculum, Stupid: There's Something Wrong with It (Dave F. Brown); (37) Teaching for Social Justice, Diversity, and Citizenship in a Global World (James A. Banks); (38) Beyond Zero Tolerance: Restoring Justice in Secondary Schools (Jeanne B. Stinchcomb, Gordon Bazemore, and Nancy Riestenberg); and Section Ten: Where Are We Now?: (39) It's Time to Start the Slow School Movement (Maruice Holt); and (40) The Lure of Learning in Teaching (Daniel P. Liston). Internet Resources and an index are included.