A model has been developed that proposes five different perspectives on the curriculum--the ideal, formal, perceived, operational, and experiential. Each perspective has a different data source, and it is hypothesized that each perspective will produce a different picture of "the curriculum." Data collection for a national study of schooling will be guided by this general model as well as by a grid containing more specific dimensions that allow for the documentation of discrepancies that exist in the varying perspectives. The methodology for the study will include a naturalistic description of curricular phenomena in the classrooms and schools studied as well as quantifiable ratings of operationally defined variables. (Author)