Discusses the need to address the ambiguities regarding literature in the standards-based foreign language curriculum. Suggests that by allowing students to explore personal responses to language and literature, it will easier to forge crucial connections across the undergraduate curriculum and to reassert the usefulness of a coherent program in…

In recent years, US curriculum policy has emphasized standards-based conceptions of curricula in mathematics and science. This paper explores the data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to argue that the presence of content standards is not sufficient to guarantee curricula that lead to high-quality instruction and…

This policy research document is intended for Arkansas policymakers to use when examining possible changes to the Arkansas state assessment's alignment with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 2009 NAEP test is not yet in existence, so the purpose of this report is to give policymakers a head start in determining where they…

This article addresses some of the issues that surround national science education standards for Grades K-12 and presents a more general and updated introduction to national and state science standards. It also provides a brief overview of the science content standards movement in the United States, insights into the forces that have caused the…

Today's climate of anxious expectation and critical blame for failing schools have led to numerous calls for change. Nearly every educational organization has developed its own set of standards for teaching and learning. The Interstate New Teachers Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) standards are a prime example of expectations being…

This summary report provides samples from and highlights of the national assessment in arts education at the eighth-grade level conducted in 1997 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The arts assessment measured students' literacy in the arts through their knowledge and skill in creating, performing, and responding to…

Focusing on the most recent standards movement and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) framework for civics and government, this paper attempts to use the standards and framework to construct a synthesis model of civic education, to analyze the model through the perspectives of five civic education theorists, and to subject the…

The conceptual framework is vital in linking elements of quality assurance in teacher education. The development of professional accountability in teacher education is a continuum that links colleges of education responsible for teacher education to the state, to teachers' induction processes within the schools, to professional and learned…

The National Research Council is coordinating the effort to develop national standards for science education. The goal is to develop, and publish by fall, 1994, science education standards that represent the consensus of teachers and other science educators, scientists, and the general public about what is important for all students to attain in…

National Board Certification[R] is a nationwide program designed to identify, recognize and reward teachers and school counselors who meet the highest standards of their profession. To achieve certification, teachers must demonstrate thorough mastery of the subjects they teach, the methods of instruction to use, and the skill to apply that…

Ancient times comes to life when a student can hold in his/her hand or read about an artifact, such as a coin of the Greek or Roman era. Students are familiar with coins, and this commonality helps them understand the similarities and differences between their lives and times in ancient Greece or Rome. Many symbols on the ancient coins can be…

"Save Our History" is The History Channel's national campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. As part of the campaign, The History Channel produces a videotape, "America's Most Endangered," based on a list developed annually by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The videotape focuses…

This collection of lesson plans helps social studies teachers and teacher educators implement the various national and state standards in their classrooms. The collection illustrates how classroom implementation can be achieved through the application of the powerful teaching and learning principles devised by National Council for the Social…

The United States subscribes to the original premise of the framers of the Constitution that the way to safeguard against tyranny is to separate the powers of government among three branches so that each branch checks the other two. At no time in the 20th century was the devotion to that principle more vigorously evoked than in 1937, when…

This small manual presents 12 learning scenarios designed to teach the Japanese national learning standards to American learners of Japanese. It is written by teachers for teachers. These scenarios are designed to teach interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication; practices and products of culture; cultural comparisons; language…