Without a change in grading practices, elective English programs can become simply old programs with new names. (JH)

Sharing explicit grading criteria with students does much to facilitate both student and teacher growth. (JH)

This guide is intended to help senior high school social studies teachers develop elective courses on Canadian history, culture, and economic life. There are four modules: Regionalism; The French Fact; the Cultural Mosaic; Canadian Identity; and Canada in World Affairs. For each module concepts to be developed and understandings to be reached by…

The role of achievement in mathematics during high school is a critical barrier for women. Very few who were not planning a math-related career in the 12th grade later switch into a math-related career. Math skills are highly correlated with math-related career plans, and math skills developed during high school are both an essential component of…

This study provides English teachers who teach, or plan to teach, film courses, with an analysis of the unique structural elements of film, suggestions for the teaching of a high school elective course on film, and activities that teach visual literacy skills. The first part of this study analyzes and defines visual literacy. Chapters provide…

In an effort to meet the diverse interests of the students and to move away from a rigidly structured curriculum, the Civil Engineering Department at the City College of New York has offered the civil engineering student an elective program that incorporates engineering and science electives as well as liberal arts electives. It was readily…

The purpose of this study is two-fold: it determines and describes quantatively the current status of multiple-elective programs in English in the public schools of New Jersey, and it analyzes and appraises qualitatively--using case study--two-semester elective programs for grades 11 and 12, the predominant pattern of course offerings of New…

This guide for teaching composition to grades 9 and 10 sets up a specific writing focus for each elective course period. The guide is divided into four units--the paragraph, description, narration, and exposition. Each unit contains a statement of the focus and lists of specific objectives, guidelines, suggested activities, and teacher resources.…

The report provides information concerning the variety and content of secondary social studies electives in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The main goal of the report is to encourage the exchange of ideas and curriculum information among educators. Questionnaires, inquiring about the social studies curriculum for grades 7-12, were mailed to the…

Developed as part of a high school quinmester unit on approaches to literary criticism, this guide provides the teacher with teaching strategies for an investigation of five major intellectual points of view from which literary works are analyzed and judged. A specific literary work (in novel, poem, short story, or other form) is discussed and…

Developed as part of a quinmester unit for high school on advanced performance in argumentation, this guide provides the teacher with suggested teaching strategies for a course of continued development of the concepts learned in "Performance in Argumentation and Debate" and provides training for varsity debaters. Range of subject matter…

Minicourses, one of the most popular educational developments to appear in a long time, are the subject of this working paper. It is designed to illustrate the impact of and to provide information about short courses or mini-courses, in the Pennsylvania secondary social studies curriculum. An attempt is made to answer questions that are frequently…

This curriculum guide describes a quinmester course which provides a workshop for students interested in writing poetry and which emphasizes the encouragement of individual writing styles. Student performance objectives which are listed include: expressing ideas about words, phrases, pictures, sounds, and/or emotional experiences in a poetic…

This curriculum guide presents syllabi for seventeen ten-week "midi-courses" for juniors and seniors in high school. For each course, the syllabi contain a course description, goals, subject matter, materials, an annotated list of audio-visual aids, a list of behavioral objectives, some suggested activities, a glossary of terms, and a…

This dissertation examines the basis for adoption and development of elective English programs in the school district of Philadelphia's 21 comprehensive senior high schools. Personal, structured, executive interviews conducted in the work setting with English department heads were the source of data for the study. It was hypothesized that elective…