Educational standards have become a popular choice for setting clear educational targets for students. The language of standards is that they are “objective” as opposed to typical tests which may suffer from bias. This article seeks to further analyze the claims that standards are objective and fair to all. The author focuses on six issues which illustrate the problematic nature of educational standards. Examples from the Common Core standards are chosen to show the range of problems associated with standards-based systems. Given these arguments, it is questionable as to whether educational standards represent a better alternative to norm-referenced tests.

In response to the global educational reform we have developed a new education paradigm, the Global Morfosis paradigm which has been implemented at the American Community Schools of Athens (ACS Athens) Greece for the past decade. This dynamic paradigm consists of three inseparable, interconnected, and interrelated components: the Educational Philosophy of Morfosis (Μορφωση), the i2Flex Delivery Methodology, and the Aristeia (Αριστεια) Leadership Approach. Morfosis is defined within the 21st century framework, as a holistic, meaningful, and harmonious educational experience, guided by ethos (Gialamas, 2014). The vehicle to implement Morfosis, is the i2Flex (isquareFlex), a non-traditional learning methodology that draws on the fundamentals of blended learning, and integrates face-to-face and technology-supported instruction with faculty-guided and independent student learning, aiming at developing higher order cognitive skills within a flexible and inspiring learning design (Avgerinou, 2104). The Aristeia Leadership approach is defined by its two essential components (a) the establishment of an Authentic Leadership Identity (ALI), and (b) the creation of a Collective Leadership-Partnership Approach (CPA) (Gialamas, Pelonis, & Medeiros, 2014).

The study aimed at presenting how materials developers can design materials based on the tenets of Critical Pedagogy (CP). Having reviewed the literature on CP, the present study attempted to propose ideas for the selection and gradation phase of Materials Development in line with the tenets of CP. The distinguishing feature of the study was to exemplify a critical class with critical materials by drawing upon Freires’ Problem Posing, Generative Themes, and Concentric Circles concepts. Additionally, the study proposed Immediacy and Comparison to be employed as tools to select and gradate the content of critical materials.

In this study to what degree the modeling based science education can influence the development of the critical thinking skills of the students was investigated. The research was based on pre-test – pst-test quasi-experimental design with control group. The Modeling Based Science Education Program which was prepared with the purpose of exploring the influence of the modeling based science education on the critical thinking skills of the students was designed in the way to include the objectives and the modeling process steps of the units of Physical Phenomena Learning Field, Electricity in Our Lives of Science and Technology Teaching Program of the 7th grade level which was enacted by the Ministry of National Education (MEB) in 2005. The study was conducted with four groups from different secondary schools; two were experiment groups and the other two were control groups of which were availability samplings. In the study the participants were 56 girls, 58 boys and in total 114 students. At the end of the research, it was found that there existed a significant difference (p<0,05) between the pre-test and post-test average scores of the control group. However, it was ascertained that there was not a statistically significant difference (F1,111 = 3,332, p = ,071 , π2 = 0,029) between the post-test average scores which were refined according to the experimental and control groups’ critical thinking pre-tests.

Curriculum is generally defined based on the philosophical perspectives of the individuals. One of the definitions of curriculum states that curriculum is a field of academic study and research, having an intrinsic research systematic, theory, and tradition. From this perspective, this study is designed as three main chapters. The first chapter consists of the development process of curriculum as a field of academic study. In the second chapter, the period between 1918 and 1938 in the USA, during which curriculum studies have been institutionalized, was described and then the development process of the curriculum history as a field in curriculum studies was analyzed. In the final chapter of the study, the significance of the studies developed around the education history in Turkey within the context of the curriculum history