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…

Conflict over whether Dutch standardized tests and national standards are appropriate relates to goals ascribed to student evaluation (a measurement goal for selection decisions or a pedagogical goal to support learning). Interviews with Dutch secondary teachers who worked in a context that combined national standards in the final year with…

Discusses case studies of the United States, Germany, and Japan included in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Highlights national standards, teacher training and working conditions, attitudes toward dealing with ability differences, and the place of school in adolescents' lives. Compared to Japanese and German…

Assessing students' achievement of the new national "Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning" is complex and involves the whole school. Assessment should be tied to content learning; measure students' ability to do and know; test real experiences; consider inquiry's overlapping, recursive nature; involve qualitative measures;…

Provides a strategy, from the book entitled "Strategies for Teaching High School Band," that addresses Standard 8B of the National Standards for Music Education. Explains that students will discover relationships among music, visual art, and architecture of the Classical period. (CMK)

Provides background information on the presidio, a frontier palace or garrison. Offers a lesson to help students understand the chronological context of events in presidial California in relation to developments in the English colonies and Europe. Includes four handouts. (CMK)

Provides a strategy from the book "Strategies for Teaching High School Chorus." Students identify and compare three features of Japanese visual art and music: (1) the principle of understatement; (2) the attention to form and formalism; and (3) the emphasis on nature themes. Lists materials, procedures, and follow-up ideas. (CMK)

Describes an art project used with eleventh- and twelfth-grade students in which they created plaster self-portraits inspired by the work of George Segal. Includes directions for the casting and lists the art materials needed for the lesson. Explains that the project requires half a semester to complete. (CMK)

The transition to technology education has been grounded in the dramatic changes that technology and technological innovations have brought to all aspects of society. Thus, the need arose to assure that all students have experience in technology education in order to acquire technological literacy. While there are many of models for technology…

For several decades, the Maltese educational system was almost entirely reliant on English examination boards for certification in secondary and post-secondary education. In the 1990s, Maltese policy-makers decided to establish an affordable local examination system aimed at a wide range of students. This paper focuses on the review of the…

Teachers of world history are placing less emphasis on Western culture and rote memorization in favor of more global, diverse, and creative content. This book is intended to serve as an example of some of the innovations that are occurring in today's classrooms and as encouragement for future exploration. The book presents new subject matter, new…

Maritime history is an important part of this country's past and provides a critical foundation for understanding the settlement and development of the North American continent over the past five centuries. Teachers, historians, and maritime experts have worked together to create this manual, providing educators with materials to incorporate the…

In 1893, in just 184 days, 28 million people, about one-third of the U.S. population, visited the World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago (Illinois). This lesson focuses on petitioning the federal government, peaceably assembling, and exercising freedom of speech and religion, all of which are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S.…

Discusses the standards controversy as it relates to school curriculum. Discusses studying curriculum in action. Characterizes curriculum as a domain for conversation. Outlines four general principles for curriculum evaluation: quality of contributions to the conversation; quantity of material to be dealt with; relatedness of the contributions to…

In a time of unprecedented information growth and rapid social change, the school library program should shift from collecting resources to developing a community of learners. The Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning should help students become lifelong learners, think critically and ethically, and develop social responsibility. (10…