As more states mandate study about religions, educators now have support for including religion in the curriculum. To address religion's role in American history and culture, three new curriculum publications from the Wiliamsburg Charter Foundation, the National Council on Religious and Public Education, and the World Curriculum Development Center…

In 1985, the National Geographic Society launched a new Geography Education Program to revitalize geography instruction in the nation's schools. Geographic Alliances in 27 states mobilize teachers, administrators, and policymakers to push for improved geography curricula. The society also produces high-impact publications and sponsors special…

Drawing on his maritime background, a teacher at a rural middle school in California decided to use a "Pacific Rim and Basin" theme as the focus for his gifted class. Students learned about the Far East by tracking and communicating with a cargo ship bound for Yokohama, Japan. (MLH)

The American International School in Mallorca, Spain, addressed students' appalling ignorance of geography without overhauling the curriculum. An innovative geography fortnight incorporating geographical places, terms, and concepts across the curriculum vastly increased students' knowledge and enthusiasm. (MLH)

Poor student achievement in history and geography is mainly a curriculum problem, not an instructional one. The social studies have been moved to the curriculum sidelines to clear the way for intense, test-driven instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics. To educate future citizens, schools must improve social studies instruction and…

The problem of student ignorance is really about adult ignorance of how to achieve thoughtful and long-lasting understanding. We will not escape our predominantly medieval view of curriculum, premised on knowledge as static and finite, until education learns the lessons of modern intellectual inquiry. Curricula should be organized around essential…

During the past decade, arts programs in many American schools have been systematically dismantled. One-third of the seniors in the class of 1982 had no high school instruction in the arts. By denying children the arts, we starve our civilization and produce graduates suited more to an age of barbarism than an era of high technology. Includes…

Jim Gray's vision of "teachers teaching teachers" writing, through dogged persistence, has become reality as the National Writing Project, precursor to the Bay Area Writing Project. These projects, depending on cooperative university-school relations and effecting meaningful change over time, have influenced nearly one million teachers since their…

Teachers who regularly "enable" or rescue students are inadvertently reinforcing irresponsible behaviors that undermine students' self-esteem. This article discusses how and why "enabling" occurs in schools, how it affects students, and how "codependent" adults can minimize behaviors allowing students to avoid responsibilities and opportunities…

Homework probably involves the complex interaction of more influences than any other instructional device. Because of differing home environments, homework fails as the great equalizer. Homework's value is also influenced by student characteristics, subject matter, and especially grade level. Guidelines and recommendations are provided. Includes…

Cooperative learning can benefit all students, whether "average," low-achieving, gifted, or mainstreamed. Teachers trained at the University of Minnesota's Cooperative Learning Center expect to see students in small, heterogeneous groups using special skills and caring about each others' learning. Tips on cooperative spelling groups are provided.…

Summarizes one expert's structural approach to cooperative learning, including its positive effects on social behavior and race relations. Structural techniques such as "numbered heads together" help foster both positive interdependence and individual accountability. The conventional individualistic orientation can be very adaptive, but is also…

The structural approach to cooperative learning is based on the creation, analysis, and systematic application of content-free ways to organize classroom interactions. Structures (outlined in a table) have differing uses in the academic, cognitive, and social domains, such as team building, communication building, mastery, and concept development.…

In group investigation, students actively plan what and how they will study by forming cooperative groups according to common interests in a topic. Based on a six-stage process, group investigation is an effective medium for encouraging and guiding students' involvement in learning. A sidebar summarizes relevant research. Includes 17 references.…

Team Assisted Individualization (TAI) in mathematics and Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) are among the best researched and most effective of all cooperative learning methods. TAI was developed to apply cooperative learning techniques to solve individualized instruction problems. Relevant research on both methods is discussed.…