This author contends that contemporary issues classes no longer have currency, as standardized test results are the litmus test for education. In many schools, students are isolated from firsthand accounts and formal study of events that textbooks will one day proclaim as defining experiences of their generation. According to Doyle, schools tend…

Offers suggestions for integrating robots into existing curriculum or creating after-school programs to help students gain content knowledge and hands-on experience. Lists robotics websites. (JOW)

One of the most important educational objectives of high school is to teach critical-thinking skills, and no class does this better than strategic debate. Professor Mike Allen, lead author in a definitive study on debate and critical thinking, lauded debate's promotion of critical-thinking skills. Additionally, researcher Joe Bellon discusses the…

It is time for a capstone course in business principles and management, drawing from basic business curriculums and teaching varying aspects of the course in grades 11 and 12 to average and above-average business students. Major emphasis should be on planning, organizing, staffing, directing, communicating, and human relations. (CT)

Although textbooks summarize large quantities of data and have some advantages, they may discourage conceptual thinking, critical analysis, and evaluation. Comprehendability and its elements (coherence, sequence, match, transition, and self-monitoring) should be major criteria for textbook adoption. (SK)

Describes the usefulness of including historical fiction on reading lists in high school history courses. Lists criteria for selection and instructional use of historical fiction, and provides a list of historical fiction appropriate for use in studying certain topics in United States history. (KH)

The author presents a rationale and specific techniques for teaching grammar in the high school. (SJL)

Details the concept of transactional writing and clarifies why it belongs in the high school English curriculum. Defines transactional writing, relates it to expressive writing, and shows how it might be used by English teachers. (HB)

Two groups leading the charge against dissection are People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Student Action Corps for Animals (SACA). Protests by student and community members remain the movement's strongest weapon. (MLF)

Reflects upon theoretical and applied challenges and needs in incorporating sexual orientation issues into communication studies. Argues that communication courses need to explicitly include material related to the life experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people; and that reducing homophobia and heterosexism among high school…

Agricultural education encompasses basic sciences and business management principles. Critical curriculum components are (1) technical agriculture (basic principles, functions, and technical specialties of agriculture); (2) experiential learning; and (3) human development. (SK)

Recounts events surrounding a superintendent's decision to confiscate an anthology from a senior English literature course because of a few words in one of the poems. (TB)

Provides suggestions for studying the gay and lesbian subtexts that exist in numerous literary works often taught in high schools. Argues that teachers can benefit from discussing these issues. Shows how Tennessee Williams's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was taught in such a context. (HB)

Examines the problems of course content in a biology class at a large metropolitan high school in the Southwest that teaches students the major ideas of biology rather than specific topics, but uses specific topics to develop the major themes and unifying principles. (Author/CCM)

Sustainable agriculture is a multidisciplinary approach to food and fiber problems. Its inclusion in the secondary curriculum would enrich and align it with social concerns. Research is needed in the scholarship functions of discovery, integrative approaches, and teaching. (SK)