This guide describes the nongraded phase-elective curriculum employed in the Cedar Falls (Iowa) High School. All students are required to take tenth grade English, which provides them with a relatively uniform background in the language arts. After that, the phasing classifies the courses according to difficulty and complexity of skills and…

Described as an "action" document, this guide for the development of high school English programs emphasizes the processes of curriculum development, rather than the product, and strongly advocates local control over curriculum development. Part I suggests the following five-step procedure for developing new curricula and for revising/updating…

A viable solution to the problem created by English curriculum designers whose course selections have failed to stimulate students' interests or to develop their language arts skills is to involve students in curriculum building, offering them a structure under which they may choose courses relevant to their needs. The free choice curriculum…

The course content in this nongraded phase elective curriculum is classified into Phase 1, designed for students who find reading, writing, and speaking difficult, Phase 2 for students who need to improve and refine basic skills at a somewhat slower pace, Phase 3 for those who have an average command of basic language skills and want to advance at…

Suggests that most current college English curricula, consisting largely of required survey courses, traditional electives, and new elective courses in subjects such as film and science fiction, do not appear to students to be coherent or to meet their needs. Offers two alternative curricula: one based on knowledge of alternative worlds, the other…

The role of high school English department heads as active leaders and departmental advocates, as well as their role in improving their departments' composition programs, is examined in this paper. The first section provides an overview of department heads' basic responsibilities, noting the need for them to have an active role in setting…

An approach to a language, literature, and composition curriculum designed to help students develop both an ability to think and an appreciation of themselves is summarized. Materials include (1) a listing of the main features of a communications curriculum from elementary through secondary school, (2) a rationale for the curriculum, which…

This report discusses the results of an evaluation of eleven high school elective, ungraded English courses offered by the Mount Diablo School District in California. The courses were evaluated by classroom teachers and administrators on the basis of modifications of nine of the twelve hypotheses derived from studies by Squire and Applebee…

Directed to Oregon administrators and language arts teachers at all instructional levels, this publication discusses numerous aspects of a goal-based language arts curriculum. Separate sections deal with goal-based planning for the language arts; assessment; relating language arts instructional programs to minimum standards; language arts program…

The 45 language arts courses described in this curriculum guide combine traditional teaching modes and content for English instruction with mass media, linguistic geography, and performance based evaluations. Course descriptions are classified under five major categories: language; composition; literature; media, speech, and drama; and…

Some objectives of this non-graded elective English program are to individualize language arts instruction, to deepen student interest in and appreciation of literature, to provide more meaningful sequences of courses, and to capitalize on the teaching strengths of the English faculty. Courses are divided into three areas--composition and English…

Procedures and course descriptions are provided for elective English programs in five Minneapolis high schools. These programs cover the areas of composition, American and English literature, language skills, speech, vocational English, drama, poetry, and media study. Some of the numerous courses include "Alienated Man,""Bookless Class,""Myths and…

The various physical environments for the teaching of English include the traditional classroom, the physically open school, schools without walls, and free or alternative schools. Curriculum and organizational strategies include the traditional English curriculum, teacher assignments, grouping, and elective programs. English teachers have a…

Eleven program outlines of elective English curriculums for grades 7-12 are collected in this package to serve as a convenient resource of examples of a variety of elective programs in English. Types of programs included range from non-graded "mini-electives," available 2 days a week, to curriculums made up of 30 twelve-week phase-elective…

This essay discusses the place of the nineteenth-century novel in our secondary schools. Although this paper deals essentially with British novels, much of what is said pertains to American novels also. The point is made that the place of these novels in the secondary schools has changed as previously most student in high school accepted the…