Curriculum Reform and School Performance
"An Evaluation of the "New Basics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9744170 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karl L Alexander (corresponding author), Aaron M Pallas (0000-0002-9916-1503) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 92 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 391-420 |
| Publication date | 1984-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0195-6744 • E-ISSN: 1549-6511 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/443767 |
| OpenAlex | W1994751711 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 18 |
| References cited | 5 |
The National Commission on Excellence in Education report proposed the imposition of a new high school curriculum, organized around "Five New Basics." We examine whether the commission's New Basics are likely to enhance levels of cognitive performance, which is the commission's central concern. Using data from the ETS Growth Study, we find that completion of the core curriculum has sizable effects on senior year test performance, even when prior levels of test performance are controlled, and enhances test performance beyond the effects of course work in a particular outcome area alone. However, core completion is effective only if students perform at relatively high levels in their courses. We conclude that the New Basics effectively promote generic verbal and quantitative skills. For this, the commission gets high marks. However, the commission fails to take stock comprehensively of the condition of American education
Commission · Curriculum · Excellence · Mathematics education · Medical education · Pedagogy · Political science · Test (biology · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Innovations in Educational Methods · Law · Medicine · Psychology · School Choice and Performance
Raising the Bar
Exposure to Same-Race or Same-Ethnicity Teachers and Advanced Math Course-Taking in High School
Secondary School Tracking and Educational Inequality
Midlife Women’s Misaligned Educational Expectations and Serious Mental Illness
Opportunities to Learn and Student Diversity
The Stratification of High School Learning Opportunities
On the Right Track? Curriculum and Academic Achievement
Social Positions in Schooling
Maestro, Aula y Aprendizaje en América Latina. Los Datos del Serce
Tracks as Emergent Structures
A Population at Risk
Measuring High School Curricular Intensity over Three Decades
The Organizational Context of Tracking in Schools
For Whom the School Bell Tolls
The High Costs of High Standards
Do Catholic High Schools Improve Minority Student Achievement
Race, Poverty, and the Student Curriculum
Educational Policy and the Growing Latino Student Population
| Unique citing works | 18 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,44 |
| Citation span | 1985 - 2025 (41) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 18 |