A comprehensive composition course for the college level should include the strengthening of cognitive skills, language skills, social organization, and language patterns. The subjects which students are asked to read and write about should be multi-cultural in nature so that students learn more about other cultures while they analyze their own…

According to a recent survey, school superintendents in Illinois generally favor the kinds of educational reforms being urged by national commissions on educational excellence. Over 100 superintendents from randomly selected elementary, secondary, and combined school districts in Illinois responded to the 104-item questionnaire. The survey sought…

Selected college programs designed to increase students' science literacy are described, and perspectives on science education are addressed in an article by E. James Rutherford, "Sputnik, Halley's Comet, and Science Education." The article suggests that leadership and consensus are needed at the national level to improve science…

This paper presents information on the development and adoption of a proposal for changes in teacher certification requirements in New Jersey. The proposal "permits the exclusion of college level professional preparation" for certification of elementary and secondary school teachers. Sections of this report discuss: (1) factors leading…

This document contains appendices and supplementary materials to Ken Carlson's paper on a Jew Jersey teacher certification proposal. The following appendices are presented: (A) "An Alternative Route to Teacher Selection and Professional Quality Assurance: An Analysis of Initial Certification" (Saul Cooperman); (B) a letter to the members…

Reviews curriculum reform being implemented at the Library School of Stuttgart for students planning to work in public libraries. Components of the new curriculum include core courses in library science, electives in special areas of librarianship, seminars in chosen subject disciplines, and field work in libraries and government agencies. (LRW)

This study investigated the effects of two sequences of instruction--theory-to-application and application-to-theory--on medical students' cognitive preferences in preclinical science teaching. Results indicate that presenting an example of the clinical application of biochemical theory before presenting the theory itself increased students'…

This article explores some of the complexities of the question as to whether or not American Sign Language (ASL) is a foreign language. It reviews the historical oppression of the deaf, the development of ASL and its defining value to proponents of deaf culture, mentions other language systems (including foreign sign systems) used by the…

"Kindly send me copies of junior high-school programs of study or tell me where I may obtain copies of such programs" is the content of numerous letters received by the Bureau of Education. In order that these requests may be granted, this leaflet, which contains 25 programs of study selected from those on file in this office, has been…

Examines efforts made in recent years to introduce ethics into the curricula of graduate studies programs in public affairs and administration. The questionnaire asked a broad series of questions eliciting both quantitative (program size, organizational structure) and qualitative information (educational goals). Includes statistical and tabular…

Describes the development and impact of a fine arts high school graduation requirement. Discusses how music, drama, and art teachers relinquished some of their independence to form a fine arts department. Includes six strategies that might be used to institute a fine arts graduation requirement in other schools. (CFR)

A national survey of 172 colleges and universities was conducted to determine the topical content of exceptional children curriculum for preservice regular education teachers. Of 15 content areas, the most heavily emphasized were characteristics of exceptional children, mainstreaming, facilitating positive attitudes toward exceptional children,…

Transcript data were analyzed to determine changes in course taking among graduates of high schools including mostly lower achieving students in California, Florida, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, which adopted high graduation requirements in the 1980s. Average credits per student increased in all academic subjects, as did the courses' difficulty…

This study examined whether concept-based or experience-based training designs and their subsequent execution would create different training effects in teachers (depending on whether trainers took into account diagnostic information on existing teacher beliefs and preconceptions). Pretraining and posttraining data indicated that teachers' beliefs…

Describes the University of California (Irvine) one-year humanities core course as hermeneutically and contextually oriented. Explains course development, structure, and organization and provides the reading list. Students assignments include essays and a dialectical notebook. Provides a three-day fall seminar for the teaching staff. Finds course…