An elementary education professor taught first grade for a year and developed a balanced program for beginning readers that blended instructional methods from skills-based and holistic perspectives. The program consisted of five complementary parts: teacher read-alouds, sustained silent reading, decoding instruction, shared reading, and writing…

The Center for Children and Families at the Education Development Center, Inc., is working with Harvard University on the Home-School Study. By following 60 children over a 10-year period, they are identifying the types of environments and teaching practices that stimulate language and literacy development. The amount of writing children did in…

About 30% of U.S. students leave primary grades without basic reading competence and cannot fully profit from secondary education. A San Diego high school developed a multidimensional reading course that stresses building vocabulary through natural language and reading, reading at school and at home, listening to teachers read, practicing phonetic…

Presents a portrait of Japanese elementary schools--stressing close human connections, social and ethical development, and an indepth curriculum--that differs profoundly from the U.S. mainstream media's version. In Japanese elementary schools, learning is cooperative; success depends on setting and meeting rigorous personal goals and performing…

Researchers followed the progress of 10 restructured secondary schools as they "detracked" their curriculum. Most schools abolished low-level courses in favor of regular classes with honors options. Two middle schools developed a common curriculum; some high schools required all students to pass benchmark classes. Others created opportunities for…

Voluntary national exams in reading (grade 4) and mathematics (grade 8) would mobilize Americans to increase student achievement. Tests would be overseen by a public, independent governing board, based on respected National Assessment of Education Progress frameworks and standards, and given to individual students. Results would be released…

Proponents of national tests claim they are needed to provide individual student test scores and to yield aggregate statewide and nationwide data. However, other sources already provide mountains of data, and U.S. school children are already the most tested in the world. The tests proposed by Congress will be harmful, since there are inadequate…

While visiting school-to-work sites, the author observed numerous programs that teach students the "new basics" or "basics-plus" skills needed for success in today's economy. These skills include an ability to use technology, communicate ideas and information orally and in writing, work in groups, solve knotty problems, understand how systems…

A Virginia high school's Legacy program began six years ago when the Nature Conservancy, the Eastern Shore Historical Society, and Northampton County Schools joined forces to create an educational program to expose students to the area's ecological and historical richness. A boat-building project helped revitalize the hands-on learning project,…

Assesses effectiveness of three preschool curriculum models by examining the lives of 68 23-year-olds randomly assigned to one such group as economically disadvantaged preschoolers. Young people experienced fewer emotional problems and felony arrests if they had attended a preschool program based on child-initiated learning activities geared to…

Demographic, economic, and social realities make linguistic and cross-cultural competence essential skills for today's students. This article discusses three innovative program types that build on basic education while enriching it through second languages: second-language immersion for native English-speaking students; developmental bilingual…

The Basic School Network, Housed at James Madison University in Virginia, plans lessons based on Ernest L. Boyer's Core Commonalities--a system of eight themes underlying all human experience aimed at renewing early childhood education. Commonalities include the life cycle, use of symbols, membership in groups, sense of time and space, response to…

Many cherished school curriculum units are intellectually weak and fragmented because of confusion about what students are supposed to learn. A key component missing from curriculum design is the guiding question--the fundamental query directing the search for understanding. Such questions are neither leading nor generic but are succinct,…

The Council for Basic Education advocates for a strong liberal arts education, linked to high standards in core subject areas. A basic education has an academic focus centered on intellectual values. If students graduate from schools with high academic expectations, companies will have internationally competitive work forces. Equity can be…

Describes how a teacher helped transform a K-12 Christian school near Sydney, Australia, from a book-bound media studies program into a hands-on learning experience for students. Various projects allow students to operate advanced equipment, evaluate their own and their peers' work, present research results to the class, and produce live media…