The books listed below will be supplemented with readings that will be placed on electronic reserve.  Reserve readings will be in HTML format (so that you can read and print them in your Web browser) or in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, which you can read and print with the Acrobat Reader that you can download for free and install on your computer. There's a good chance that you already have the Acrobat Reader installed, but if you don't have it already you can click here to get the current version.  Note: The current version of the free Acrobat Reader is version 7.0; if you have an earlier version on your system you should upgrade to the new version.

EDUC 897 - Spring 2005
Note: The assigned and recommended books have all been ordered through the UD Bookstore. You can order them online and have them shipped to you (start by clicking on the UD Bookstore logo ==> ).
   The list below [except for Standards Deviation] also includes links for each title from other sources, in case these work better for you.
!!! CANCELLED !!!

 This is the book that I wanted us to start reading first. Unfortunately, it is out of stock at the publisher, and the local bookstores tell me that they are not able to locate copies. I am canceling plans to use this book, and I will prepare a revised syllabus with substitute readings.

Spillane, James P. Standards Deviation: How Schools Misunderstand Education Policy.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN: 0674013239
Meier, Deborah. In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2002. ISBN: 0807031518

Lampert, Magdalene. Teaching Problems and the Problems of Teaching.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. ISBN: 0300099479.

The following books are not assigned, optional reading:

Purchasing Suggestion: This book is not a required purchase for this course. For those who are involved in curriculum development, however, I think you will find this to be a book that you will want for your own professional use.

Note: The publisher has just announced that a Second Edition of this book is scheduled for release in March. This information was not available last semester when the book order for this course was placed. Before this week the UD Bookstore had the older edition on the shelf for this course. They have returned their copies to the publisher and ordered copies of the new edition. If you have just purchased a copy for this course, you might want to return it and wait for the new edition. If you had the first edition earlier, you might decide you don't need to also get the new edition. This is an OPTIONAL book for the course, so you are not required to get it in any case.

Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition.
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005. ISBN: 0871203138.

  
This ASCD link will also lead to related materials available from them, with a discount for ASCD members.
Abbott, Edwin Abbott. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884)

Note: This book will be described in class as a way of demonstrating some important ideas; but you don't need to read the book for this class. However, students who have read the book in past semesters have unanimously said they are very glad to have read it; so I like to make it available as a recommended text. There should be inexpensive new and used copies in the bookstores, as well as the options linked below. This text is in the public domain, and all editions should be the same (although there are some places on the Web that have the text without the author's illustrations, which you should see as you're reading it).