The curriculum development process is complex and developing a worthwhile process to support curriculum inception is a valuable endeavour. This paper explores the experiences of the curriculum development process through the lens of an expert advisory committee charged with developing a post-primary curriculum for publicly managed schools in line…

During the course of international curriculum reform, decision making about socioscientific issues (SSI)--open-ended controversial issues with connections to science, technology, and society--has been labeled a critical tool for achieving scientific literacy. Therefore, enhancing students' socioscientific decision making as part of science…

Research-based science curriculum has become a common means of supporting best practices in science teaching. In response to his middle school's transition from one such commercially available science curriculum to another, a seventh-grade science teacher elected to make certain changes to the newly adopted curriculum in its first year of use.…

As concerns about the skyrocketing costs of a college degree have converged with the increasing availability of open educational resources (OER), higher education administrators are asking faculty and curriculum designers to use OERs to design courses and programs. This case study explores the decision making process and outcomes of an online,…

According to Johnson (2001) and Rest (1979) a leader who has developed a high level of moral reasoning will tend to make decisions that are better from an ethical/moral perspective than a leader who has achieved a lower level of moral reasoning. The mission statement at this university states that graduates will be prepared through training in…

Governments around the world continue to grapple with issues relating to how preschool services should be delivered, what type of provision is most appropriate, and for what purpose. These issues are particularly pertinent in a fast evolving early years sector such as the United Kingdom and many parts of the world where early years education has…

States have been given flexibility under No Child Left Behind to create need-driven comprehensive school improvement plans with an approved accountability system, however those unable to show increased student learning will be deemed as failing. Schools labeled as failing require a comprehensive framework for improvement. Research has identified a…

Conference papers reviewing the role of decision making in social studies education since 1960 are presented. The focus of the discussion was a paper by Shirley Engle published in 1960 entitled "Decision Making: The Heart of Social Studies Instruction." The first part of the booklet contains the text of that paper. Engle maintained that the…

Examines the impact of politics on curriculum decision-making from a political theory viewpoint. To deal with problems resulting from an authoritative allocation of values in curriculum decisions, the relation between the political system and the school system must be modified to include mutual respect. Includes 11 references. (MLH)

The author proposes that science curriculums be altered from teaching specialized subject matter and that more time be devoted to applying the disciplines to practical problems as well as imparting competencies in inquiry and values and attitudes concerning evidence and argument, certainty and uncertainty. (BR)

The World Order Models Project is discussed from the standpoint of the problem of values as they effect diagnosis and prognosis for world order by the multi-national program participants. (JH)

This paper examines the politics and values of the secondary school curriculum in Greece and attempts to find out the influences of cultural tradition and centralized control on curriculum development. In particular, it studies the decision-making process and the politics of educational control, employing some theoretical elements from centralist…

Designed for use at the senior high school level, this career decision making mini course is based on Peter Blau's Model of Occuational Choice. The course has been pilot-tested with college bound and non-college bound students. It may be offered as an elective unit for one-half to one full semester in one to three class periods per week or it may…

Discusses components of moral competency. Concludes that students need to develop decision making skills which will enable them to make rational judgments about increasingly complex social problems. Values education generally does not accomplish this objective. (Author/DB)

A collection of papers by leaders in the curriculum field, this book offers educators a scholarly look at current theory. The introduction provides a historical perspective and definitions of major curriculum theories. The book considers curriculum theory in the light of five major concerns: values, rational decision-making, psychological…