The 17 articles in this journal issue focus on a response to the basics movement. Specific topics covered in the articles include the following: a definition of literacy, the meaning of the basics, the back-to-the-basics movement from a historical-linguistic perspective, behavior modification and the teaching of English composition, developing…

This report explores one avenue for health education and promotion for audiences with low literacy levels: embedding empowerment health education directly in adult literacy programs. This approach emerged through participatory action research (PAR). The four sections correspond to the four questions around which the PAR process organizes the…

This brief is a combination directory of contact persons and annotated bibliography designed to provide information on developing and implementing basic skills training programs for workers in the health care industry. The first section contains information on 33 contact persons currently operating employee basic skills programs for health care…

The articles in this journal issue present a rationale and methods for using elements of the humanities to teach remedial reading and writing. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "The Humanities and Basic Skills Project" (Nan Dougherty); (2) "The Humanities and Basic Skills" (Robert L. Horn); (3) "Beyond Fragmentation;…

Fourteen research reports related to mathematics education are abstracted and analyzed in this publication. Five of the reports deal with sex differences in mathematics learning and instruction, and three reports deal with assessment or prediction of mathematics achievement. Remaining reports involve the topics of calculators, logical implication,…

The Regents Competency Testing Program has been designed to assure that all students develop adequate skills in reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics before graduation from high school in New York. This bulletin provides information on two of the program's three basic elements that contribute to the accomplishment of this goal. First,…

This issue of "Forum for Reading" contains four essays of interest to reading instructors at two-year colleges. Joan Gregg, Beth Pacheco, and Serena Nanda discuss the benefits for students of providing thematic unity in reading courses. The essay considers the selection of a theme, such as rebellion, identity, or family, that will lend…

Teaching the general student is the focus of this journal issue. The nine articles deal with the following topics: teaching the noncollege-bound students, strategies for teaching complex literature to general students, teaching western novels as an introduction to literature, linguistics for the junior high school general student, teaching how to…

This monograph chronicles a field-based investigation of children's learning in a second grade mathematics classroom over the course of a school year. The interrelated aspects of the processes by which children learn mathematics with meaning are illustrated here. The investigation was expanded to include a sociological analysis in an attempt to…

Six articles by Lynn Olson, published in various issues of "Education Week" starting in January 1993 and ending May 1995, describe a Maryland project to improve elementary education in the State: (1) "Winning NASDC (New American Schools Development Corporation) Project Takes Flight" (the basic skills children need to succeed in…

In educating children with disabilities, training for independence should begin early, and the "technology" may be very simple. This paper lists activities designed to increase gross, fine motor, cognitive, and eye-hand coordination skills needed for independent living. It encourages caregivers to engage young children in active learning…

Over 80 short activity ideas covering many areas of the curriculum are compiled for teachers of preschool, kindergarten, and the early grades. Six "readiness roundup" sections, which feature ideas for use in classroom learning centers, give activities for teaching: (1) likenesses and differences; (2) direction; (3) letter and sound…

A seminar was held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in August 1987 on the subject, "Illiteracy and the Underclass: Are They Permanent?" The contributions of Chall, Comer, Epstein, Dash, and Rivera identified where illiteracy problems begin--in families with intergenerational patterns of illiteracy. Problems in estimating the numbers of…

Initial general discussion of reading and writing is followed by discussions focusing on the process of learning to read, methods and texts, and ways to promote reading. The topic of the way one learns to read is addressed in terms of: (1) a definition of "knowing how to read"; (2) the distinction between teaching and learning; and (3) basic…

This manual presents a program of instruction, the Basic Skills Instructional System, which coordinates a number of teaching strategies into a single instructional system. Section 1 describes the organizational phase of the system: (1) teacher expectation; (2) resistance from low achieving students; (3) avoiding confrontations; (4) management of…