Thailand's education system stands at a crossroads. Significant investment has widened access to education and the country performs relatively well in international assessments compared with its peers. But the benefits have not been universally distributed and Thailand has not received the return on its spending on education that it might have…

This paper addresses the role of learning progressions in informing many international standards documents, discussing the affordances and limitations of building standards and curricula from a learning progression model. An alternate model, the hypothetical learning trajectory, is introduced and contrasted with learning progressions. Using the…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is the most successful attempt to gain consensus across states for 21st century standards in language arts and mathematics. So far, 46 states have accepted these standards, with two consortia organized to translate them into resources and sample activities. A consultant firm has been hired to develop the…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe elementary level school teachers' experiences who worked with English Learners in a project-based learning model of instruction. The study focused on how teachers developed, planned, or utilized curriculum to support the language acquisition of their English Learners to meet state and…

The Common Core State Standards have been adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia. They enjoy a huge following of well-wishers and supporters who are optimistic that the standards will boost achievement in U.S. schools. Setting aside the cheerleading and fond hopes, what are the real chances of success? The most reasonable prediction is…

Counter to narratives of persistently failed school reform, we argue that reforms sometimes succeed and seek to understand why. Drawing on examples from the founding of public schools to the present, we find that successful system-wide reforms addressed problems that teachers thought they had by being consistent with prevailing norms and values,…

This article examines those aspects of curriculum relating to programmes that have developed across the further and higher education divide. It analyses one particular spiritual direction formation programme that has transitioned from a vocational training programme in the further education mode to a post-graduate academic programme in a higher…

An analysis is presented of the experience of modernising undergraduate educational programs using the TUNING methodology, based on the example of the area of studies "Fundamental computer science and information technology" (FCSIT) implemented at Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod (Russia). The algorithm for reforming…

"An International Study in Competency Education: Postcards from Abroad" seeks to highlight components of competency education in international practice, to inform US policymakers and decision makers seeking to implement high-quality competency pathways at the state or local level. Other countries are studying our innovations, and we are…

Instructional materials are a key means to achieving the goals of science education--an enterprise that yields unique and worthwhile benefits to individuals and society. As states and districts move forward with adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or work on improving their instruction to align with "A…

Science education can build a bridge between research carried out by scientists and relevant learning opportunities for students. The Broader Impact requirements for scientists by funding agencies facilitate this connection. We propose and test a model curriculum development process in which scientists, curriculum developers, and classroom…

During early accreditation visits by the Australian Medical Council (AMC), staff in the School of Medicine (SoM) were asked to demonstrate how and when AMC student outcome statements were being integrated into the MBBS course. As a result, the School Executive committed to developing a curriculum mapping system (CMS) that could systematically…

One of the major concerns of the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) is the need for an effective monitoring and evaluation of program outcome domains that can be associated with courses taught under the Mechanical Engineering program. However, an effective monitoring method that can determine the results of each program outcome using Bloom's…

New York is ahead of most states in its work to design detailed curricula and professional development for the common core and to build brand-new tests to reflect them. What's unfolding in the Empire State as a result of that work illustrates the way the common standards can pressure changes in the education landscape, and torque the tensions…

Learning progressions (LPs) are theoretical models of how learners develop expertise in a domain over extended periods of time. Recent policy reports have touted LPs as a promising approach to aligning standards, curriculum, and assessment. However, the scholarship on LPs is relatively sparse, and the jury is still out on the theoretical and…