Annotated Bibliography of Resources for Educational Reform, Coherent Teaching Practice, and Improved Student Learning

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• Dempster, F. N. (1993). Exposing our students to less should help them learn more. Phi Delta Kappan, 74, 433-437.

Dempster constructs a rational for the battle cry of the Ô90s curriculum revisionistÑLess is More. Before this concept came into acceptance, the predominate curriculum decision-making guideline for teachers was that anything that will "enrich the meaning" should be utilized, the more the better. Dempster says that truly effective learning requires frequent distributed practice, and this can only be achieved by reducing the size of the existing curriculum. As a means of deciding what should and should not be taught, he advocates that educators consider taking a close look at the composition of each instructional unit, with an eye to removing elaborations that do not serve a curriculum purpose, and that the non-essential material be removed from the curriculum.

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