The core curriculum movement, as of 1981, is in crisis and apparently declining. Among the discouraging signs are the abandonment of core curriculum programs by many school districts and the conclusion of a long-time student of the core curriculum movement that the democratic goals of the core curriculum program conflict with the more autocratic nature of the school as a controlled environment. However, schools (like parents) can be authoritative rather than authoritarian. There are also some encouraging signs for the core curriculum, such as the use of core curriculum ideas in the middle school movement, the group guidance movement (emphasizing helping young people deal with their problems), and the general education movement in higher education, where curriculum reformers are moving toward core curriculum or interdisciplinary programs. Several professional organizations are promoting aspects of the core curriculum program. Further, core curriculum ideas sometimes appear in conventional subject areas like science instruction. Educational innovations have in the past been borrowed from the core curriculum movement, and core curriculum programs continue to appear in some school districts. At present the challenge to the National Association for Core Curriculum is to keep the core curriculum idea alive. (RW)