Compares preschool/kindergarten education in Malaysia and the United Kingdom, including curriculum and teacher training. Describes the Malaysian national preschool curriculum guidelines as using play as a vehicle for learning while incorporating a more formal reading and writing readiness program. Describes experiences in a teaching course for…

The UK Education Act 2002 furthers a sense of institutional fragmentation and scope for local enterprise. An emerging "decentralised" agenda enables schools that demonstrably meet accountability criteria to opt out of National Curriculum requirements in order to pursue individual interests, supportive technologies and new partnership…

This book stresses that the social studies curriculum in U.S. elementary and secondary schools is the basic core for conveying to new generations the concepts, values, and abilities that will allow the society to survive and prosper. In the 1950s, the concern was over the adequacy of courses being taught and the lack of a cohesive structure that…

"Te Whaariki," the "draft guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice in [New Zealand] early childhood services," constitutes a set of principles which can guide practice, rather than a structure for curriculum planning. The guidelines have the potential to provide a theoretical rationale for the application of the…

In 1988 the Education Reform Act was passed in England. Among its clauses, the one that laid the framework for a centralized, national curriculum represented the most significant change. One of the key aspects of the national curriculum concerned the way in which student achievement and progress were to be measured. Attainment was to be assessed…

The Graded Objectives in Modern Languages (GOML) approach has contributed to the reform and development in the teaching of modern languages in the United Kingdom during the past 10 years. The introduction of shorter-term goals has revolutionized the way in which large numbers of teachers think about what should be taught to their students, and how…

Although required to use the National Preschool Curriculum for the five- to six-year-old age group, preschools in Malaysia can add to this curriculum to suit their individual purposes. Thus, preschools with religious emphasis are common in Malaysia. Parents send their children to the religiously affiliated preschools in the hope of inculcating…

Two heads of department in contrasting schools explain why they do not use Level Descriptions at all, other than at the very end of Key Stage 3. Influenced by "assessment for learning" principles, Sally Burnham and Geraint Brown develop a case for using assessment to help pupils grow in understanding of how the discipline of history…

This paper discusses the role of assessment in educational accountability in England. A national curriculum was introduced in England and Wales in 1988, and national assessment against the national curriculum was introduced progressively from 1990. Students are assessed at the end of the key stages (at ages 7, 11, and 14) using a combination of…

Proposes that once the elements of procedural understanding have been explicitly defined, appropriate teaching strategies can then be used to enable student understanding. Argues that explicitly teaching these concepts may add rigor to GNVQ assignments. (DDR)

Summaries of the interim report of the working groups for mathematics and science are presented. Describes the list of attainment targets for science 5 to 16, assessment proposals, the attainment targets for technology 5 to 11, and a timetable. (YP)

The Australian government's reform policy treats education as a mechanism for economic development. To achieve national goals, the government is stressing skills education, private-sector involvement in skills education, increased participation in education, increased school retention rates, improvement in overall education quality, and…

Analyzes some policy-practice lessons learned from Britain's Technical and Vocational Education Initiative as its influence diminishes. Considers how TVEI affected the culture of teaching, learning, and curriculum in unintentional ways. Although TVEI's social effects have been limited, the program's legacy is evident; education policy that fails…

Design and Technology activities, a required part of the British National Curriculum, are assessed by the students themselves with a framework of eight statements of attainment. The activities cover a range of skills, techniques, and processes involved in creating artifacts, systems, and environments. (SK)

Great Britain's National Curriculum places insufficient emphasis on handwriting instruction, and its suggestion to begin joined-up writing in Level 3 is inappropriate. A historical perspective on variations in handwriting style leads to a recommendation for a simple joined style, which would be based on the skeletal italic and taught by example.…