If American young learners are to become effective participants in a democratic society, then social studies must be an essential part of the curriculum in each of the elementary years. The purpose of elementary school social studies is to enable students to understand, participate in, and make informed decisions about their world. Social studies…

Fifth grade teacher Molly Toussant realized with chagrin that she habitually mouthed her precepts about teaching writing in the same rote way she had recited the Apostles' Creed in Sunday school, and that her students had no idea why they had to write "like every day." So she wrote this explication in which she shows, with many examples, how her…

Studies have shown that the amount of time students spend engaged in learning tasks is related to learning outcomes. However, schools often offer to the students only a fraction of the time that governments pay for, and schools in lower-income areas often offer less time than governments plan for students. Instructional time ought to be an…

Outlines critical elements of restructuring: three focal properties (curriculum standards, performance assessment, interdisciplinary teaching) and four facilitating properties (block schedules, technology, self-directed teacher teams, and parental involvement). (SK)

Answers day care directors' questions concerning children's injuries; liquid versus bar soap; and the length of time perishable foods remain safe when not refrigerated. (BB)

Under a block schedule, students generally attend fewer but longer classes. Teachers who have tried the approach say they accomplish more in each class session and use a variety of teaching strategies and learning activities. A chart explains the most common varieties of block scheduling. (MLF)

How people experience, interpret, and enact time--personally, collectively, and transcendentally--is educationally significant. One's temporal hopes and fears, limitations and potentials, are the fundamental stuff out of which is forged "the constitution of human life in time." In this article, the author offers various perspectives on individual,…

The temporal organization of the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City is examined in terms of daily or microtime, calendric time, and developmental time. The question of continuities over time, that is, the interweaving of past, present, and future, and the relation of these continuities to the transformations of education are also considered.…

This report is an excerpt from the National Education Commission On Time and Learning Final Report, "Prisoners of Time," published in April, 1994. In it, the Commission concludes that the reform movement of the last decade is destined to founder unless it is able to harness more time, and better management thereof, for learning. The…

A current educational trend involves looking for ways to make the most efficient use of the time students spend in school. As schools embrace curricular reform, those on the front lines are reevaluating traditional beliefs about how schools are structured. This book contains a collection of articles that present information necessary to making a…

Addresses the problem of how schools should cut their curricula to make room for state-mandated additions, such as AIDS education. Recommends state guidelines for allocating time and assessing the effect that teaching new curricular content will have on an existing curriculum. (TE)

Maintains that many schools have changed to a form of block scheduling. Describes and discusses the impact of several models of block scheduling. Asserts that, when music educators understand the consequences of various scheduling options, they can be more credible participants in discussions of how best to schedule school time. (CFR)

Examines the potential benefits of intensive scheduling, an alternative to traditional school day structuring that allows students to take fewer classes but stay in them longer. Suggests that fewer and longer classes accommodate more cooperative learning styles and enhance student academic performance. Includes descriptions of several intensive…

This paper advocates a more active role for administrators in curriculum supervision, claiming that two of the most neglected areas in supervision are the content and the amount of time allocated to that content and its objectives. An essential task of curriculum supervision should therefore be to make sure that content and corresponding time…

A study attempted to determine if block scheduling in secondary schools affected curriculum and student achievement in English courses. Interviews were conducted with 22 teachers, 4 principals and 1 former principal; questionnaires were collected from 44 students. Of these, 10 teachers, 3 principals, and 23 students were in schools with rotating…