The views of biology department heads concerning the state of the art in program development were surveyed. A random sample of 132 biology department heads in state-supported colleges and universities responded to questions focusing on program development and curriculum aspects. The responses were compared to those of English, history, and mathematics department heads. Findings include the following: over 50 percent of the biology departments were not engaged in experimentally testing small units of curriculum or courses prior to full implementation, while English departments were doing far more in this area of concern than were the other three departments; 64 percent of biology departments incorporated objectives in their curriculum efforts more than a small amount or to a great extent; 43 percent of the department heads in biology stressed individualized instruction, but only 26.5 percent of biology departments were accommodating for differences among students more than a small amount or to a great extent; English departments were doing more in the area of individualized instruction; over 83 percent of the biology departments used the straight lecture approach to teaching; and 15.2 percent of the biology departments were doing more than a small amount and 3.8 percent were doing a great deal to provide the time, consultants, inservice training, and financial resources to adequately attempt curriculum evaluation. Based on responses to other questions, it is recommended that a greater effort should be made to help faculty learn a variety of teaching strategies and a number of different ways to individualize instruction. More diagnostic testing of students is also recommended. A questionnaire is appended. (SW)