Handbook of research on curriculum : a project of the American Educational Research Association /

Not since the landmark works examining teaching (Merlin C. Wittrock, ed., Handbook of Research on Teaching, 1986) has there been a comparable effort contributing significantly to the understanding of curriculum. This American Educational Research Association sponsored collection of 24 scholarly studies, written by leading authorities including Carl Bereiter, John Goodlad, Herbert Kliebard, Judith Langer, and Francis Schrag, focuses upon curriculum research and development at the elementary and secondary school levels. These carefully researched, well-written entries examine a broad cross section of curricular issues. The format employed includes historical analysis, a review of related quality research, suggestions for future research, and an extensive bibliography of recent literature in the field. Curriculum is explored in terms of issues relating to how it is thought about and studied; the forces shaping it; its impact on all students including those who reflect the social problems of racism, sexism, and classism; and its approach to conventional and extracurricular subject areas. This large, well-bound volume, with subject and name indices, will prove to be an invaluable addition to all libraries in search of a definitive study of exceptional quality, magnitude, and thoroughness that provides an incisive analysis of all facets of a critical area in education. Recommended for undergraduate and graduate students and for general readers.-F. X. Russo, University of Rhode Island